The Village of Albion Board of Trustees met Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at 6 PM at Village Hall, 35 East Bank Street, with only three of its five members in the room. Javier, Mayor, and Riley, Deputy Mayor, were both marked absent, leaving Barry, Trustee, Buczek, Trustee, and McMurray, Trustee, to carry every vote of the night 3-0. That was still true nearly an hour later, when the same three trustees moved into executive session "for personnel matters" at 6:50 PM, emerged 35 minutes later at 7:25 PM, and immediately voted to hire an outside attorney and raise pay for five village staff members. Coming out of that session, the board voted to hire Dechert, Attorney, of the firm Webster Szanyi, to work on the employee handbook and related managerial-handbook items. In the same sitting, trustees approved what the minutes call "a compression increase" for five employees: Delores Hansel to $15.75, Piccirilli, Village Employee, to $17.00, Reiner, Village Employee, to $20.00, and Jessy Holz to $22.00. A fifth, Gary Van Wycke, did not get the proposed $18.70 rate; instead the board gave him three additional vacation days, which the minutes attribute to a New York State earnings threshold that applies to state retirees, adding that the board would revisit the figure if that threshold changes. The personnel business came after a public forum in which residents raised two recurring village concerns. Mark Brown and Jacqueline Starkweather objected to fluoride being added to the water, while Jeff Holler asked who decides when sidewalks get plowed of snow; McMurray, Trustee, said he would ask Pahura, DPW Superintendent, for clarification. Holler separately asked that department heads' monthly reports be made available to the public, possibly on the village website. On the financial side, trustees approved a $13,100.00 invoice from Edmunds GovTech for a payroll system upgrade, to be paid from water, sewer and general fund balance, and adjusted the budget to add $30,364.10 to an insurance-recoveries revenue line. They approved payment of village bills for vouchers 45115 through 45245, totaling $73,472.43 in the general fund, $17,225.54 in water and $5,790.05 in sewer. Trustees also awarded CDBG grant administration services to G & G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing, noting in the minutes that no other proposals had been submitted by the required time frame. Other business handled by the reduced board included accepting two applications for sewer treatment plant operator trainee, from Thomas Burton and Joseph M King; approving a cemetery deed for Shawn R. and Cynthia D. Arnett; moving two spring board meeting dates and the tentative-budget public hearing up by a day each; scheduling the April 1 organizational meeting; and approving street closures for the Strawberry Festival 5K/8K in June. Trustees also discussed cyber security, naming Reiner, Village Employee, as liaison to the Cyber Readiness Institute and giving him responsibility for completing its readiness program and training village employees on its policies. The meeting adjourned at 7:26 PM.