HIGHLAND – The Town Board of Highland received two letters of correspondence at their meeting on February 13, one being from Town Attorney Steven Mogel on the status of the chairmanship of the Planning Board, and the other from Yulan Fire Chief Phil Deyermond on the implementation of a dry firehouse.

The correspondence from Mogel stated that the legal counsel had been reviewing the planning and zoning board leadership and membership for compliance of applicable statuses, of which Planning Board Chair and member Norm Sutherland’s status as such has been vacated as of April of last year.

As the position is by appointment from the Town Board, Supervisor John Pizzolato noted that the town plans on discussing their next steps at the upcoming Town Board meeting.

According to the Town Attorney, after reviewing a handful of documents which included Town and Planning Board minutes stretching back to 2018, it was determined that Sutherland’s five-year term began in or about March or April of 2018. Mogel determined furthermore that “no later than April 3, 2023, Mr. Sutherland’s position as a member of the Planning Board became vacant by operation of law.”

However, Mogel noted that his actions on the board since the vacancy are not vulnerable because he is “holding over” pursuant to Public Officers Law Section 5 until his successor is appointed.

Dry firehouse

Supervisor Pizzolato also read aloud a letter of correspondence from Phil Deyermond, Fire Chief of the Yulan Volunteer Fire Department, who announced the immediate prohibition of alcohol on the firehouse property on February 5.

The letter read aloud was in response to a request from the Town Board inquiring of the Fire Company’s updated Standard Operating Guidelines (SOG’s) policies regarding alcohol on site and use. 

“We are in the process of updating our SOG’s to include not just emergency dispatches but all aspects of department events,” Deyermond said. “Moving forward, the Yulan Fire Hall will no longer hold alcohol. Exceptions will be made for non-firematic events such as outside groups holding gatherings at the meeting hall or ballfield.”

The only other exception will be the annual Von Steuben Festival which will receive a single day permit to distribute alcohol during the event.

It goes on to state that according to Article 10: Appendix, Section 5: Alcohol and Drug Policy, no member of the department impaired by drugs or alcohol will be permitted to make any emergency dispatches, which includes prescribed, or over the counter drugs not being used for their intended or authorized purposes. It also states that no member shall consume or make visible any alcoholic beverages or illegal substances at any active emergency scene.

“We’ve had a longstanding discussion regarding the removal of alcohol from our firehouse. After consulting with the officers and trustees, I ordered that all alcohol be removed,” Deyermond told the Democrat. “Having alcohol in the firehouse increases our risk of liability, and in my opinion, removing it was the correct call.”