The simmering feud between Town Supervisor Melinda McKnight and Highway Superintendent Mike Shultis boiled over into the public sphere this week as the dispute from last week's emergency town board meeting to approve highway department funding continued to be a bone of contention.

Highway Superintendent Mike Shultis’ refusal to sign the 284 Agreement amended by the town board last week has prompted a back-and-forth concerning the usually routine agreement’s purpose and scope, and leaves the status of what the department will be working on this paving season in question.

Section 284 of state Highway Law requires town boards and highway superintendents to write and sign an agreement for the expenditure of “moneys levied and collected for the repair and improvement of highways, including sluices, culverts and bridges.” On April 4, Shultis said, he prepared the agreement and sent it to the town board to sign. However, he said, the board put off signing the agreement at the workshop meeting and the two following meetings, citing concerns about the expenditure for paving projects as compared with other towns and telling him it needed more discussion.

On May 3, Shultis emailed the town board stating that two days prior, the highway department’s budget shifted seasons and he would be legally unable to spend money unless the agreement was signed immediately. Town Supervisor Melinda McKnight called an emergency town board meeting for that evening and signed an amended agreement with councilmembers Peter Humphries and Gregory Simpson.

The agreement signed that Wednesday devoted $435,000 to general repair funds but excluded the permanent improvement funds Shultis wrote in — paving projects for several town roads. In a press release, the town stated, without explanation at that time, that “funding for paving projects is to be considered at a later date.”

But Shultis says the 2023 funding for the highway department has already been approved, and that all the 284 Agreement does is authorize his usage of allocated funds. Shultis said the amended agreement appears to have added $300,000 from the paving line on the 2023 budget to the $135,000 devoted to general repairs. Without a budget resolution, he said, the board is not allowed to move funds around.

“They just moved money arbitrarily without discussion or legal resolution,” Shultis said.

McKnight said the town board can move funds because the budget is under its control — it approves it and amends it when necessary during the year. “The funds are allocated by the town board, not the highway superintendent,” she said.

Meanwhile, the town has stated on its social media it excluded the paving projects to devote more money towards fixing long-standing drainage problems.

“Of greatest importance in Hurley are drainage problems, the repair of which fall under the Highway Department's purview,” the town wrote in a Facebook post. “Such problems have generated considerable concern among town residents, many of whom have spoken about them at town board meetings, while the Town Hall has not received a single concern, complaint or request related to paving.”

Shultis sees it differently. He says that the majority of drainage projects fall under the capital fund (Section 14H), which covers stormwater repairs.

“Some of these drainage issues came before me as [town] supervisor back in 2006,” he said. “That’s how long they can take. There is no quick fix.”

Shultis cited projects on private property that require a town-hired engineer to move forward as an example.

“Some of the areas will require the town to secure an easement to work on private property,” McKnight said, but added, “A number of other areas where there are drainage problems are along public roads where town drainage has not been maintained. The town board wishes for the highway superintendent to address the areas where there are issues specific to drainage.”

In a response to Shultis’ Highway Department Facebook page post last week stating that the town board “has brought a halt to all repair work as of May 1st,” town Public Information Officer Jeremy Schiffres made this response: “No money needed for repairs made by the Highway Department is being withheld, and the superintendent is fully aware that paving projects will be considered — and likely approved — individually as they become necessary. The only thing holding up repairs and other non-paving work at this point is the superintendent not signing the agreement approved by the Town Board on Wednesday, May 3.”

But Shultis maintains says he can’t sign it because, in his view, it’s illegitimate because funds from the approved 2023 budget can’t be moved around.

“Plain and simple, the town board cannot cut the 284 [Agreement] in half and think it’s a proper document,” he said. Shultis has endorsed Councilman Mike Boms in his campaign against McKnight for the Democratic nomination for town supervisor in next month's primary. “This whole debacle proves that they don’t know what they’re doing, and there needs to be a change.”

In Other Hurley News:

Reformed Church Yard Sale

The Fifth Annual Hurley Reformed Church Yard Sale will be held on Saturday, June 3 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at the church on Main Street. Spots can be rented for $25 for the day. Please call Kelly at 845-532-2995 to reserve a spot. Refreshments will also be served.

Planning Board Meeting Time Change

According to an announcement from the town, beginning in June 2023, meetings of the Hurley Planning Board, which are held on the fourth Thursday of each month, will start at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. Planning Board meetings are held at Hurley Town Hall, 10 Wamsley Place, and are open to the public.

Grievance Day is May 23

The Hurley Board of Assessment Review will hear property assessment challenges starting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, (Grievance Day), at Town Hall, 10 Wamsley Place.

Property owners wishing to challenge their assessments that day must make an appointment in advance by calling the Town Assessor’s Office at (845) 331-7474, ext. 4, or by emailing assessor@townofhurley.org.

Property owners who grieve their 2023 assessments will need to submit a Grievance Application (Form RP-524) to the Town Assessor's Office by May 22. The Grievance Application can be found online at tinyurl.com/39edz84d. (Instructions for filling out the form are at tinyurl.com/3e66hd58.)

Completed applications should be emailed to assessor@townofhurley.org or mailed to Town Assessor's Office, P.O. Box 569, Hurley, NY 12443.

For more information, contact the assessor’s office at the above phone number or email address.

Kingston Wire's new coverage of the Town of Hurley is underwritten by Hurley Up. Kingston Wire has complete editorial control of what is reported and published. We accept submissions of letters to the editor, longer opinion pieces, community event notices and story ideas: email us at info@kingstonwire.com