The lawsuit brought by jail neighbors to stop the construction of the new facility in Schoharie has been halted, but the battle is not over.
A stipulation of discontinuance was agreed by the two sides in November, but that does not mean legal action is done, warned Lynn Basselan, one of the neighbors involved in the original Article 78 proceeding that was brought by residents who neighbor the proposed jail site at the former Seebold farm on Route 30 in Schoharie.
Residents have submitted a list of alternate sites and will continue to fight for a new location for the jail, Ms. Basselan said last week.
The county will fully comply with the state environmental review for the Seebold site, according to Bill Cherry, the county's flood recovery coordinator.
Two had differing opinions on the future of any lawsuit.
"We didn't drop the lawsuit," Ms. Basselan explained. "We put it on hold. We postponed it."
She continued, "We have a right to sue if they don't comply and we don't like the end result.
"We're still looking for it to be moved."
County officials, she noted, agreed to look at alternate sites.
Mr. Cherry has a different take.
"The lawsuit has been dropped," though he admitted that the residents reserved the right to sue.
"It's not on the back-burner. The lawsuit has been dropped."
The county, he added, has followed all the rules for the environmental review and will continue to do so.
"We're doing it by the book. We're not going beyond what SEQR requires...We're following SEQR by the book."
Mr. Cherry does not expect any issues to disqualify the Seebold site.
The residents have sent in a list of possible alternate sites, including the Zicha Road location, Mr. Cherry said.
Looking at the alternate sites is part of the SEQR process.
"We have done that," he noted.
The residents' suggestions have been forwarded to the county's attorneys.
"We're going to take her suggestions seriously. We'll give it due consideration."
He did add, "We're not just going to walk away from the Seebold site because of a letter from Lynn Basselan."
Ms. Basselan is hoping that the county will consider the new sites.
"We expect fair play from them."
The list of alternate sites contain areas that have much lower resident impact and helps the Town of Schoharie more than the Seebold site, according to Ms. Basselan.
She declined to name the alternate sites, but said they would be a better choice for the county than "a disgraceful place that doesn't comply with the (town's) comprehensive plan."
She noted that she has already collected more than 70 signatures on a petition asking for a different site or to rebuild the jail in its current location with a DEC waiver. Only six people said no.
Ms. Basselan went door to door in both the village and town and not in the area near the proposed location.
She will present the petition at a future meeting of the county board or at a public hearing on the issue.
The jail needs to be rebuilt since it was heavily damaged in the flood of August 2011. FEMA is providing the funding for the purchase of the land and the construction of the new facility.