GLEN SPEY, NY — A notification problem prompted the rescheduling of a December 13 public hearing to decide the disposition of an uncollected rubbish citation at West Indian Trail in Mohican Lake.

Attorney for the Town of Lumberland Danielle Jose-Decker had just finished reporting that the town had received no responses to the notice of the public hearing, when one of the respondents, Cheri Bodnaruik, arrived in the town hall.

Bodnaruik said she had not received the notice and only heard of the hearing earlier that day. Bodnaruik is the widow of Greg Bodnaruik and the home is that of her late mother-in-law, former Lumberland town clerk Christina “Tina” Bodnaruik, who died in 2007.

Bodnaruik said she was involved in a two-year dispute over the property with the other respondent, Laura Bodnaruik Henry, who inherited but resides in North Carolina and formerly expressed no interest in the property. “I was hoping it was going to be resolved months ago, Once it’s resolved, it will be cleaned up, whether she does it or I do,” she said. She said had cleaned her mother-in-law’s possessions from the residence into a tent, which was then damaged by a winter storm.

Bodnaruik said code enforcement officer Dave Sparling knew of the situation.

Sparling said the building department and a neighbor offered to clean it up and were turned down by both women. The stuff is still there, he added.

Councilman Leigh Sherman said Bodnaruik could not dispose of the articles. “It’s not her stuff.”

Supervisor Jenny Mellan said she understood the situation, but added that if the town cleans it up, the bill is going to be added to the taxes as a lien.

Sparling said the property could not be transferred with an outstanding lien.

The board finally decided to adjourn the hearing until 7:05 p.m. on January 10 at the board’s next regular meeting.

Separately, the board approved a posthumous proclamation of appreciation for former town tax collector, clerk to the planning board and zoning board of appeals and 2000 Lumberland Senior Citizen of the Year, Phyllis Knapp, who died on October 9 at the age of 81.

They also: appointed Don Hunt Jr. as the town’s representative to the Sullivan County Fire Advisory Board, replacing Joe Mellan, who did not seek re-appointment; appointed Nicole Bury to the joint position of building department clerk, and clerk to the planning board and zoning board of appeals; approved a $2,250 dog control contract to the Port Jervis-Deerpark Humane Society; and scheduled a public hearing for a local law to extend the 10-year sunset on property tax exemption for Cold War Veterans for January 10 at 7:15 p.m.