ELDRED, NY — There is a nice new parking lot, as well as connections for electricity, water and sewage in place on the Route 55 site for the new Highland town highway garage. But while the steel building kit has been delivered, it has not been completed.

In fact, it has not yet been started. Supervisor Jeff Haas told the town board that the town may need to pursue contract discussions with general contractor Verticon regarding the project, which was originally scheduled for completion in December 2018.

“We’ve done our part. Everything is done up to 10 feet from concrete slab, the remainder is the general contractor’s obligation,” Haas said.

A frustrated Haas said the Monroe, NY company has reneged on deadlines and provided numerous implausible excuses for the delays. “You couldn’t ask for a better winter to work outside,” he said.

The latest problem would require the town to front a portion of Verticon’s unpaid payment to the steel building’s manufacturer, he said.

The owner of Verticon, Alan Zuckerman, said the erector who had been scheduled to put up the building had pulled out of the job, but a new erector has signed onto the project and it will move forward.

The current starting date for the project is the second week of February. A “finished” point, scheduled for April 1, will allow interior work by heating, plumbing and electrical contractors to begin. The tentative “final completion” of all work is expected by May 1, six months past the original completion date.

Delays have prevented the town from marketing the existing town garage property in Eldred. Its sale is expected to defer some of the cost of the new building. “We can’t go ahead with it, without knowing when we’re going to be out of it,” Haas said.

In other business, the town’s revised zoning ordinance is nearing completion. Councilman Jim Hanson said he has spoken with Laberge, the town’s consultant, about the finalization. Hanson said a new issue, light pollution, has been a problem. Haas reminded the board that the town was up against a March deadline for Sullivan County grant funding. The board scheduled a 7 p.m. February 5 hearing for the ordinance.

With Camp Koinonia in Highland Lake closed indefinitely for repairs, an additional warming center location is needed. The board agreed to speak to church officials at Yulan’s St. Anthony’s RC Church, for the use of church hall.

Regarding the town’s state “green community” efforts, Councilman Jim Gutekunst said Highland will need to provide two sites for electric car charging. Gutekunst said his efforts to find a willing host for the sites have not yet been successful.

Councilwoman Kaitlin Haas reported that paperwork for county grant funding of the town’s summer youth program has been completed and filed.