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Town Board Minutes of September 8th, 2026 The meeting of the Wales Town Board was held on the 8th of September 2026 at the Wales Community Center, 12345 Big Tree Road, Wales Center, New York. The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Howard at 7:00 pm EST. ROLL CALL Supervisor Howard Councilman Gallo Councilman Newman Councilman Butcher Councilwoman O’Connor Present: (4 ) Residents whose names are on file. INVOCATION: led by Councilman Butcher PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: led by Councilman Gallo ADOPTION OF AGENDA: MOTION # __By Councilman Gallo, second by Councilman Newman, approving the agenda with the addition of Executive Session for Highway contract. Carried ayes-5 noes-0 ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: MOTION # __ By Councilman Newman, second by Councilman Buther, approving the Town Clerk’s minutes of August 11th. Carried. ayes-5 noes-0 INVITATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS Doug Sernoffsky 11036 Centerline Rd – Wanted to thank the town historian Pat Sphan and her crew for their wonderful display at the fair. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Battery Storage Systems Councilman Newman, so the town of Colden has not approved their battery storage. We got copies of their law at the last meeting. As the chairman of the code committee, I’ll setup a committee meeting with a member of someone from the planning & zoning and conservations boards. This is an important law and we need as many eyes on it as possible. 2. Update - Dog Control Supervisor Howard explained that the town received the new SPCA contract renewal. He explained some of the changes to this years contract. The Dog Control officer - Dan Whitehead said the few times that he has reached out to the SPCA, they don’t answer or say they can’t help. Dan said he doesn’t think we need the SPCA as much as they think we need them. I still have my foot in the door in Cheektowaga. When their construction is done, I'm almost guaranteed a spot. Supervisor Howard said it doesn’t cost the town anything to sign the SPCA contract, we only pay for them if we use them. Supervisor Howard said we can just sign the contract as a backup if we need it. MOTION# __ by Supervisor Howard and second by Councilman Butcher to sign the new contract with the SPCA, the new contact starts Oct 1st, 2026. Carried ayes -5 noes -0 3. Draft of short-term rental applications and fees Supervisor Howard would like to make a motion to forward to the Planning Board for their recommendation, from the latest draft of July 20th, 2026. MOTION# __by Supervisor Howard and second by Councilman Newman to forward to the Planning board for their recommendations. Carried ayes -5 noes -0 4. 250th Celebration payment request from Marilla Councilwoman O’Connor said we should put on hold, so Marilla has time to sort things out since the passing of Skip Gingerich. Any further discussion will be tabled for now. 5. Update on Annual Salt Contract Supervisor Howard spoke with Phyllis Todoro, our Town Attorney. She stated we should be getting a letter from the county attorney who has taken the position that all the towns are entitled to purchase the salt at the previously agreed upon price. The county attorney will be pursuing that with the company that's trying to default. Highway Superintendent Billy Swyers said that right now the barn is about 85% full but you're supposed to fill the barn by August 31st so that it's full for the winter season. Then it gets filled again after the winter's over, for the following season. So, this might carry over for next season. We need a solution Well, we need a solution for this going forward anyway, so we're going to have to figure that out. Supervisor Howard said we will table this for now, maybe by the next meeting we'll have it resolved. NEW BUSINESS 1.Call for a Special Board Meeting to present Town of Wales 2027 Tentative Budget on Sept. 22nd, 2026 MOTION # __ By Councilman Newman, second by Councilwoman O’Connor, approving a Special Board Meeting to present the 2027 Tentative Budget. Carried. ayes-5 noes-0 2. Call for Public Hearing on Erie Community Erie Community Development Block Grant on October 13th MOTION # __ By Councilman Gallo, second by Councilwoman O’Connor, approving a public hearing for the Erie County Erie Community Development Block Grant on October 13th. Carried ayes-5 noes-0 3. Renewal of annual maintenance for e-code for the website $1295.00 MOTION # __ By Councilman Newman, second by Councilwoman O’Connor, approving the annual maintenance the town code on the website at $1295.00. Carried. ayes-5 noes-0 COMMUNICATIONS Councilman Newman mentioned a letter to town received from the Erie County Comptroller’s office, regarding the county’s short-term registry. A copy of the letter is on the town website, September 8th meeting as one of the important documents. 9/11 ceremony at 7pm Matt Malican Deputy Sheriff – August had 87 calls. 60 traffic stops, 2 accidents and 1 DWI charge.