ELDRED — The Town of Highland Town Board approved a 16-month moratorium Tuesday night on certain large package wastewater treatment systems as the town continues work on its comprehensive plan and awaits the completion of a county aquifer study.

Town officials said the temporary pause applies to new applications for “package plants,” defined during the meeting as advanced wastewater or water treatment systems intended for larger-scale use with capacities of 1,000 gallons or greater per day.

Supervisor John Pizzolato said the moratorium is intended to give the town time to review future development in relation to water availability and long-term planning efforts.

“Our water is our best asset and resource in the town,” Pizzolato said. “We want to protect the residents against overdevelopment or potentially doing irreversible damage to our water table.”

Pizzolato said Sullivan County is currently conducting an aquifer study expected to be completed around this time next year. He said the town plans to use the results alongside its evolving comprehensive plan to guide future land-use decisions.

“We are going to leave our comprehensive plan as a living open document so that we can make laws as a town board in response to development,” he said.

The board approved the moratorium unanimously.

The discussion followed an executive session, prompting questions from residents about transparency and whether the moratorium was connected to a specific pending development application. During public comment, one resident referenced Camp FIMFO, though town officials stated projects already in the approval process would not be affected by the moratorium.

Pizzolato said the executive session discussion involved “potential litigation,” but added that the moratorium would not apply retroactively.

“A moratorium cannot address the current applications that we have,” Pizzolato said.

Residents also questioned whether discussions related to the moratorium should have occurred in public rather than in executive session.

Town officials said additional information and a fact sheet explaining the moratorium are expected to be released in the coming weeks.