Wawarsing board approves budget modification, vendor payments, engineering retainer for rail‑trail and legal retainer in Rage Excavating suit

At its regular meeting, the Wawarsing Town Board approved a set of fiscal and contracting items including a budget modification, several vendor payments tied to airport projects, personnel hires for summer programs, an engineering services agreement for a rail‑trail connection and a legal retainer to defend the town in litigation.

The board moved to increase the appropriated fund balance (account 599B) by $36,250 and to increase expense code 3620.4B by the same amount. Members then approved routine voucher payments, including amounts recorded in the transcript for airport‑related environmental assessment and design work, and purchases for water/wastewater supplies. The transcript records some invoice amounts with unclear formatting; the board approved the payments as presented.

On contracts, the board authorized the supervisor to enter into an agreement with an engineering firm recorded in the minutes as "Barton Ljudus" to provide services for the Delaware & Hudson/ Ontario & Western Railroad trail connection to Route 55; the motion was described as intended to move the project toward a shovel‑ready status and to help the town secure additional funding.

The board also authorized a retainer agreement to hire a law firm recorded as "Work Law" to defend the town in a contract dispute lawsuit brought by Rage Excavating Inc. in Ulster County Supreme Court. The motion to retain counsel was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.

Other actions approved included hiring seasonal camp staff (names and rates recorded in the minutes) contingent on pre‑employment checks, and amending a January motion to correct a rental invoice amount for portajohns from United Rentals. Several airport projects were discussed; board members noted that such projects are largely federally funded with a local match.

Why it matters: the engineering authorization advances a long‑standing rail‑trail legacy project toward construction readiness; approving legal counsel allows the town to respond in pending litigation. The budget change and vendor payments keep ongoing projects — including airport maintenance and summer programming — moving forward.

Next steps: contracts will be executed by the supervisor and staff will follow up on the rail‑trail procurement and the legal retainer. The board did not provide additional details on the lawsuit’s merits during the meeting.