Town Supervisor Rickey Dattola and village Mayor Mary Fontana smile at the Republican caucuses in June. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

TUPPER LAKE — For the first time in several years, the town and village boards are set to hold a joint meeting.

Their goal is to hear each other out on the biggest issues presently before each government, examine where additional services may be consolidated and see where they can work on a united front to provide for a better and secure future for the community.

It’s scheduled for 6 p.m. on Feb. 10 at the Emergency Services Building, 21 Santa Clara Ave. A formal agenda is expected to be released later this week, according to village Mayor Mary Fontana, and should be posted on the village and town boards’ websites. The village’s is available at tinyurl.com/hk35fzu5 and the town’s can be found at tinyurl.com/4vky89ah.

Town Supervisor Rickey Dattola told the Enterprise the principle of working together is making tax dollars go as far as they can for community members.

“I hope we make it about the taxpayers, that’s the important thing,” he said. “Especially attracting new people to move here. How do we do that? And then the people who are on fixed incomes. How do we keep them here, and keep them in their houses?”

As Tupper Lake’s population has declined and services have become more expensive, it has left the tax base ever more strained, heightening the need for government efficiency. He cited the recent consolidation of the court and code enforcement as two areas where a single umbrella made a lot of sense and is saving taxpayers money on both ends.

“Those are good things,” he said. “How do we keep doing that? How do we keep those lines of communication open?”

Dattola said he’s fortunate to have a strong working relationship with Fontana. She was the one who initially suggested the joint meeting, and he said he was happy to take up the idea.

Dattola added that he intends to present information at the joint meeting about demographic and population shifts, as well as changes in the median household income — to paint a quantitative picture of where things stand now, compared to the past.

“We just want to have an opportunity to sit down together and talk about what our individual board goals are, and what our collective goals are,” Fontana said.

She added that there will be a public comment period, and some business items apart from the open discussion, such as appointing two new members to the joint zoning board of appeals, where there are currently vacancies.

Fontana said that the village remains vigilant for services that could be merged.

“We are looking at opportunities for consolidation as they come up, as we approach our budget,” she said. “We know the courts were a very obvious one. We’re looking at other avenues and opportunities.”

The village mayor added that she will discuss looking into a consolidation study at the Feb. 10 meeting.

“That doesn’t mean that’s the direction that we’re heading,” she said. “But the study at least gives us the information that we need to make those educated decisions. Is consolidation going to be a savings for the taxpayer? Maybe, maybe not. But it will show us areas of gaps and areas of overlap — so that we’re making responsible decisions with people’s taxpayer dollars.”

Depending on how the boards’ discussion goes, Fontana said she would then reach out to the Development Authority of the North Country — which the village and town both contract with currently — for preliminary information, such as how much a study would cost, what it’s timeline would be and how municipalities in similar situations have handled that cost sharing.

Dattola said that despite the challenges, he was optimistic that between the new train station, revitalized Park Street and the opening of Tupper Lake’s corridor of the Adirondack Rail Trail, the community has a lot on the horizon.

“I think there’s some good things coming, and I think it’s one of those things where it’s not just the town, but the village is going to benefit,” he said.