HIGHLAND, NY — Highland supervisor John Pizzolato offered town board members a path out of their hostile stand-off.

At the March town board meeting, he suggested using the Dispute Resolution Center (DRC), a nonprofit established in 1981 by the New York State Legislature, with funding by the Unified Court System, as an alternative to traditional courts.

Counseling can help “when there is a big change in the community when there’s a change in leadership,” he said, “and when there’s a large influx of newness.” 

The center serves four counties: Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, and Ulster. The regional office is in Middletown. 

No formal action by the town board is needed to use the services, and there was no discussion of the topic at the meeting.

Board member Kaitlin Haas and Pizzolato have deployed personal digs at one another as they disagree openly and publicly on number of topics. Haas told the River Reporter she is willing to use the service. 

As the only member of the board who was also a member of the old board, Haas said she’s offered her institutional knowledge to the new board members, but they have not made an effort to take her up on it. She noted that she was taken off several committees.

Animosity between Pizzolato and Jim Akt, who was appointed to the town board late last year to fill a vacancy, has also been evident during meetings.

“So let’s talk it out,” Pizzolato said when suggesting the DRC.

“I’d like to make the recommendation that we as a board can [work with] other colleagues that we may have differences with so that we can find a way to work productively with each other in every stretch, and in everything we do,” he said. “Sometimes you need a third party to say, ‘Hey, wake up, we have a huge opportunity in front of you.’”

This article has been revised from the original.