Fulton County Office Building

JOHNSTOWN — The Fulton County Board of Supervisors will see a proposed $116.6 million budget Nov. 10, and will consider setting a date to hear public comment on it Nov. 24.

The proposed budget increases spending 6.3% from this year, but the proposed property tax levy, $38.6 million, is up 16.2% from this year’s $33.3 million.

The board’s Finance Committee approved unanimously sending the budget to the full board, but committee Chair Greg Fagan (R-Perth) said a number of workshop sessions involving the full board have yet to be scheduled.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, yet,” he said.

The hearing, if the full board approves, would be 1:30 p.m. Nov. 24.

Also at the meeting:

The committee voted unanimously to recommend to the full board that it pay the Stratford Snow Drifters Snowmobile Club $33,164 for past years’ maintenance on snowmobile trails.

The county had withheld payment after club President Chad Daley had been charged in 2024 with stealing more than $8,000 from the club and with falsifying business records to land more than $40,000 in grants.

The case was settled with a plea agreement, the resolution states, so County Attorney Jason Brott, who recommended withholding the payments, reversed his recommendation.

The money comes from state grants, which would otherwise have to be returned to the state, county officials said.

Supervisors voted unanimously against a request by the city of Gloversville to transfer four properties in the city to city ownership so it could pursue a state pilot program where the state would build homes valued about $250,000 and sell them to owners with a stable income able to afford a $100,000 mortgage, thus returning the properties to occupancy and generating property tax revenue.

“I’m going to recommend against this request,” Brott said. “The county would be on the hook for the value of the properties.”

The four properties — 79 Broad St., 17 Lincoln St., 406 N. Main St. and 44 4th Ave. — were all taken in foreclosure proceedings, but the county would need to pay the owners the difference between the amount it would get at auction and the appraised values, if the auctions bring in more than the county is owed.

The program would create 10 or more homes of 1,500 square feet with an attached garage, three bedrooms and two bathrooms, Mayor Vincent DeSantis said in a letter to the county earlier this month. But to take part, the city would need at least 10 eligible properties, but has only seven hence the request for the four county properties.

“The program was introduced last year in Syracuse and Schenectady with considerable success and is now being expanded to include other upstate cities,” he wrote. “The successful participation of Gloversville in this program would result in 11 new single-family owner-occupied homes significantly increasing the taxable assessed value of these properties and the quality of their neighborhoods.

“Nothing would preclude the city from bidding on these at auction,” Fagan said.

“The only other option would be to have the city pay for the appraisals,” said county Administrative Officer Jon Steadman.

Spouses Christina and Jeff Porn stand inside their Atom Apothecary in the town of Mohawk, Montgomery County. They had planned to have a brewery on their farmstead but instead have decided to continue with the apothecary and open portions of the farm for birthday parties and other events aimed at children.

The front sign for the Atomic Farmstead in the town of Mohawk is made with the top of a barrel used for aging beer. The owners had planned to open a brewery on the site but decided against it because the craft beer industry had become crowded with many beers.

Atom Apothecary operates from this small building at 1939 Hickory Hill Road in the town of Mohawk. The business, which will close for the season in late November, sells handmade items including soaps and skincare products.

There is a greenhouse at the Atom Farmstead, and the owners said they plan to sell vegetables raised there at their Atom Apothecary next summer. The building to the right was intended to house the Atom Brewing Company after it was moved from Colorado. But the craft brewing industry is crowded with thousands of beers, so owners Jeff and Christina Porn instead will use their hosting birthday parties and other events aimed at children.

This road sign, near Atom Apothecary in the town of Mohawk, alerts travelers on Hickory Hill Road that they are passing through a heavily agricultural area. The apothecary sells handmade items including soaps and skincare products.

All in the family: Marge Carman, the mother of co-owner Jeff Porn, makes these crocheted hats and other goods for sale in the Atom Apothecary in the town of Mohawk.

The owners of Atom Apothecary in the town of Mohawk stress that nearly all the items sold in their small store are made by hand, and most of them are made in Montgomery County.

Top: Spouses Christina and Jeff Porn stand inside their store, Atom Apothecary........

© The Leader Herald