TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake Town Board covered a lot during Tuesday’s regular meeting, but only one item missed approval: a resolution to put out a request for engineers to repair the Setting Pole Dam.

“I want to make sure we have a good review on it,” councilman John Gillis said.

Setting Pole Dam maintains the level of Tupper Lake and helps regulate the downstream flow of the Raquette River. It sits on the river’s outflow from Tupper Lake, between Raquette Pond and the Piercefield Dam near state Route 3. Larkin explained that during a dive report completed last fall, divers found spalling — cracking and delamination — on the concrete spillway, as well as undermining — erosion — at the dam’s toe. The whole surface will need to be chiseled away and resurfaced, Larkin said.

Councilman Tim Larkin drafted the two-page report, which details in steps the scope of engineering work involved in the project.

Gillis acknowledged Larkin’s draft was quite thorough, but expressed a desire to run it past the Development Authority of the North Country prior to approval, saying that the organization is transparent and independent with no financial stake in the project, as well as an authority on such matters. DANC has a good history with Tupper Lake, Gillis explained, as they’ve worked with the town on broadband, water and sewer projects.

The town wants to get the ad for bid out in the next month to ensure repairs begin in the summer of 2025.

“We’ve got to be smart about who we pick for this project,” councilman Rick Donah said. “Our board should be proactive and smart about it.”

Approval was tabled until next Tuesday’s special board meeting, to give Larkin time to reach out to DANC.

“I’ll have an answer by then,” he said.

The board also discussed at length the many grants the town is working toward. In committee reports from Gillis, the councilman spoke on a detailed application for the Junction Square area, which encompasses the block outlined by Depot, Oak, Pine and Main streets. The submitted application is for $3.9 million, as well as a $300,000 Smart Growth grant for trails, sidewalks, art installations and landscaping. Gillis explained that all of this is to create a welcoming area for the “many travelers who will be arriving by train and trail for years to come.”

Gillis also asked the community for big-picture ideas, such as “how do we best greet our visitors?” and “what would we like to offer them there?”

He went on to report that Tupper Lake is seeking a Pro-Housing Community designation, which gives localities priority in applications for funding like the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which the town has already received, and the NY Forward Program. North Elba was recently among 20 municipalities named a Pro-Housing Community by the state.

The Pro-Housing Community Program comes from New York State Homes and Community Renewal, the state’s affordable housing agency.

Currently, both the town and village of Tupper Lake are involved in a joint grant application for $400,000, which would go toward helping residents upgrade their homes for energy efficiency and do other maintenance.

The town board expects around 10 homeowners to each receive awards of around $35,000, Gillis said, but the more applicants they receive, the more times they can run the program through to benefit more residents.

Gillis also brought up the potential for a community compost drop off in town. He said Blue Line Compost offered to supply a 35-gallon container, which would stay at the transfer station, for the community to use. Gillis thought it would be nice to have the container in town for the winter months. If there is interest from the community, he said, Blue Line could do a presentation on how it would work.

“It’s amazing what happens when you take all the food waste out of your garbage, how little garbage you have,” he said.

At the start of the meeting, town Supervisor Rick Dattola took a moment to acknowledge the great work of the town recreation department, which he said is excelling. He pointed out that the department does things for both kids and adults, and brings in a lot of money to the community.

“I want the taxpayers to know it really is working,” he said. “Sometimes government works, and this is it.”