The regular meeting of the Varick Town Board was called to order by Supervisor Robert Hayssen at 7:00 p.m. Present were councilmen Richard McCulloch, Tom Fox, James Velie and Eric Riegel, Town Clerk, Donna Karlsen, Water Operator, Ben Karlsen, Town Justice Elect Alan Bulckley, and Attorney for the Town, Emil Bove. Also present was Miles Persing. Absent: Bookkeeper, Angela Testa
Petitioners to Address the Board: Judge Elect Alan Buckley introduced himself to the board and provided some background information about himself. He reported that he has been attending court sessions with Judge Jeff Hogue and other local courts and will be attending school the week of December 8th.
Abstract: A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by James Velie and so carried unanimously to approve Abstract 12, Vouchers 359 to 391 in the amount of $197,448.32.
Highway: A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by James Velie and so carried unanimously to create an MEO position for the highway department.
Supervisor Hayssen reported that the bridge work that is to be done on South Townline Road cannot be financed in full by Seneca County. Seneca County will be able to underwrite segments of the project at a time, to be repaid once the grant funds are received by the town through the funding agency.
Judge: Supervisor Hayssen received a letter from Judge Jeff Hogue inviting a board member to audit their 2025 books. Councilman Riegel will schedule a time to meet with court clerk Courtney Andrews to audit their books.
Code Enforcement: No report.
Water & Sewer Operator’s report: November 2025
· Marked Out Dig Tickets as requested
· Called in Dig tickets for upcoming jobs
· Read each master meter and did calculations of daily usage
· Answered customers question in each sewer and water district
· Did final reads as needed
· Changed out grinder pumps as needed
· Took Bac T samples in each water district
· Filled out and submitted monthly report to health department
· Ordered parts for upcoming projects
· Serviced hydrants and valves in Varick #3
· Serviced hydrants and valves in Varick #4
· Leak detection in Varick #1
· Did inventory for parts
· Built sewer adapters
· Rebuilt sewer pumps
· Purchased/ Placed order for generators for Sewer # 1
· Water turn offs as needed
· Organized and cleaned shop and truck
· Checked on status of pump for lift station in sewer #2
· Put new tires on Work truck
· Pumped out any hydrants that would not drain before cold weather
· Cleaned shop out on East Lake Road
Varick Sewer District No. 1: Ben Karlsen reported that he submitted the bill for the two generators to be purchased through Varick ARPA funding. Town of Romulus will be provided with a copy of the billing for their cost percentage to be reimbursed to Varick Sewer District No. 1. There will be some additional fees for electric connection of these generators.
Varick Sewer District No. 2: Yaws is following up on the status of the repair from Flyght of the pump for the lift station and will report back to Mr. Karlsen once a status is provided. The department has rebuilt all the grinder pumps in the shop currently.
Proposed Capital Project: Varick Sewer District No. 3: No Report.
Varick Water District No. 1: There was a small leak in front of the fire house. It has been requested that a ditch be dug to place loggers to find the exact location of the leak. He reported that another leak was located in the Town of Romulus where approximately 18,000 gallons of water per day had been leaking for about a week. The homeowner will be billed for this water loss as it went through their meter.
An email was received by the town clerk from Daniel Schmalzel, Seneca County, notifying the Town of Varick and Town of Romulus that the Romulus/Varick meter will be used for billing purposes this quarter and going forward. The piping was corrected August 26, 2025 and the meter accuracy was verified by Brad Selmon (M.A. Selmon Company) on October 14, 2025. The accuracy was found to measure -0.08%. The board noted that almost two months of this third quarter may be billed using the meter that was not working properly. Supervisor Hayssen will discuss this letter received from Mr. Schmalzel with the Town of Romulus Supervisor and will monitor the bill being sent from the county for payment for this quarter.
Seneca Lake Water District: Maintenance will continue in this district with exercising of the valves. They will not be flushing hydrants due to the freezing temperatures.
Varick Water District No. 3: Valves and hydrants have received annual maintenance.
Fayette Supervisor Jeff Trout sent an email to Supervisor Hayssen and Town Clerk Donna Karlsen that outlined a conversation that he had with Supervisor Hayssen at a recent water and sewer committee meeting at the county. Supervisor Trout put the county on notice that his town board was not going to authorize payment of the water invoice related to flushing in water district 5 and 8. Their board is protesting against the poor water quality management at the Hillside Tower as the result of the county’s failure to implement the necessary improvements requested by Jim Bromka and the Town of Fayette’s engineer, Pat Nicoletta from MRB. Supervisor Trout and his board are hoping that the Town of Varick will join them in this fiscal protest with the ultimately getting the county to finally adopt the longstanding recommendations by Jim Bromka and make the necessary repairs.
Ben Karlsen, Town of Varick’s Water Operator, reported that Mr. Bromka has been filling the water tower approximately halfway to address the inoperable chlorine mixer. He also noted that the Town of Fayette has been having to flush thousands of gallons a week due to low chlorine levels at the dead ends of their line and through the new construction of their District 8. Mr. Karlsen has flushed approximately 10,000 gallons once this entire year during a known week the chlorine levels in the Hillside water tank lowered and flushed at Swedish Hill. He feels Mr. Bromka has done a good job addressing chlorine issues. Supervisor Hayssen addressed the line size installed in the Town of Fayette Water District No. 5 at the time of construction. He expressed his concern to the Town of Fayette when they increased the size of pipe at that time with so few consumers. The town board tabled any action on Supervisor Trout’s request to support the Town of Fayette’s protest to the county. The town of Fayette will still be billed by the Town of Varick for water loss and flushing for their Districts 5. It was noted that the Town of Fayette did not install any meters where Fayette 5 and Fayette 8 meet to monitor separate water loss and flushing for each separate district. Varick Town Board did acknowledge the poor condition of equipment and ongoing water leaks that Seneca County Water 1 has and that district’s lack of funds to address known issues.
Varick Water District No. 4: Valves and hydrants have received annual maintenance.
Town Clerk’s Report: A motion by Eric Riegel, seconded by Richard McCulloch and so carried unanimously to approve the Town Clerk’s November 2025 report: Supervisor: $175, Department of Ag & Markets: $3, Total Disbursements: $178.
Minutes: A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by James Velie and so carried unanimously to approve the minutes of November 5, 2025.
Personnel: Nothing to report.
Assessor: Address changes/bank codes and deeds are current to November 1, 2025; Annual Exemptions have been printed, labels attached and are ready to stuff, stamp and mail; File was delivered to the Director on November 21 to process 2026 Town and County tax bills. Anne Morgan will be attending a class on December 12 (zoom). This is a mandatory class for all new or reappointed assessors.
Zoning Board: Nothing to report.
Planning Board: Mr. McCulloch reported from the last meeting he attended that the Planning Board would continue to review code changes pertaining to docks and moorings and solar. They would like the board to consider approving the minor changes they presented.
The board reviewed the Planning Board’s summaries of what each candidate would contribute to the Planning Board and their developed three criteria that they found useful. Based on the criteria developed by the Planning Board and information presented by the three applicants, Eric Heitz, Tanner Leto and Eileen Percevault the board determined currently, the two best candidates for the open vacancies would be Tanner Leto and Eileen Percevault. It was noted that Eileen Percevault sits on the Assessment Board of Review. The town attorney will research if she can sit on both boards and report back to the board as soon as possible. The board tabled Eileen Percevault’s appointment until Attorney Bovy provided an answer to the question raised.
A motion was made by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Eric Riegel and so carried unanimously to appoint Tanner Leto to the Planning Board to fill the vacancy that will expire December 31, 2027.
Mrs. Karlsen, who is filling in currently for the vacant position of STR clerk, reported that the STR renewals have been emailed with a cover letter and the file brought current. She reported the code enforcement officer, Tim Dorn and the previous STR Clerk, Cindy Lont have been very helpful in helping get the file updated and ready for renewals to be sent. Mrs. Karlsen informed the board that her office will be quite busy with end of year, STR applications, water billing and tax season. She requested the board to find a replacement for the STR Clerk by December 31st.
New Business, Old Business, Correspondence:
Sheltering of Varick Dogs: Supervisor Hayssen reported that the Seneca County Board of Supervisors is looking into developing a shelter in the south end of the county. Further discussion will be held regarding this development.
Seneca County 2026 Budget: Mr. Fox asked the board to support a motion requesting Supervisor Hayssen vote no on the proposed 33% increase proposed by Seneca County for the 2026 proposed budget. Mr. Hayssen discussed the budget and noted that the sales tax revenue could be increased to help offset some of this increase. Other county expense items were discussed with the following motion being presented:
A motion by Tom Fox, seconded by Richard McCulloch and so carried unanimously to direct Supervisor Hayssen to vote no on the 2026 Seneca County Budget unless the Seneca County Board of Supervisors substantially reduces the proposed 33% tax increase.
A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Eric Riegel and so carried unanimously to hold a year end meeting December 29, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. to process end of year bills and to address any business that may come before the board
Seneca County Chamber of Commerce will be holding the Annual Dinner Meeting on Thursday, January 22, 2026. This is also a fund raiser for the Chamber and helps support many programs and services that have enabled them to become one of the most influential business organizations in the Finger Lakes Region. They provided an RSVP form for those interested in attending.
A motion by Eric Riegel, seconded by Richard McCulloch and so carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted: Donna Karlsen, Town Clerk