HIGHLAND, NY — Javid Afzali of the Harris Beach law firm will serve as special counsel in Town of Highland zoning and planning board matters where the  town attorney has a conflict of interest.

The attorney for the town and planning boards, Steven Mogel, has previously recused himself from matters related to the Barryville Oasis, an out-of-compliance restaurant co-owned by the supervisor, Johnny Pizzolato.

Afzali was hired at a special town board meeting on April 16.

Board member Tom Migliorino confirmed that Afzali will handle cases in which conflicts of interest arise, but he could not say whether the Oasis will be among them.

Pizzolato said Afzali was hired to handle another case involving Caroline Akt, the wife of board member Jim Akt, and the zoning board of appeals—not his Oasis business. He said there was as yet no special counsel to handle matters related to the Oasis. The hiring of special counsel for conflicts will be done on a case-by-case basis, he said.

Caroline Akt told the River Reporter that she had little to do with the case at the heart of the matter. “The application before the [zoning board of appeals] for a variance is for a Guillermo Morales,” she wrote in an email. “Guillermo hired surveyor Bob Ewald of Conrad, Close and Ewald to represent him before the ZBA and planning board. I was only supplying Bob with some background that he was not fully aware of as I had handled all the sales within the subdivision. Bob Ewald is a friend and I always help when asked.” She said there was a conflict of interest because Morales had previously retained Mogel on a different matter before Mogel became a town attorney.

The River Reporter has found that the Oasis is operating with a valid liquor license. The NYS Liquor Authority confirmed there is a cidery license valid not only for Pizzolato’s main business in town, the Stickett Inn, but also for the Oasis, his branch location. The businesses can serve New York State spirits only.

However, the license does not seem to have been submitted to the code enforcement officer. It is among 10 outstanding items the code enforcement officer identified last summer.

Pizzolato told the River Reporter that his business was undergoing a reinspection last week that would provide more information.

Highway contract delayed

The board put off the highway department contract for the second time. The contract was tabled at the March meeting because Mogel, the town attorney, was not present and had not reviewed it.

The contract guarantees raises for highway workers over the next five years. Because they are the town’s only full-time employees, said Pizzolato, it’s important to offer them the contract as proposed.

Councilmembers Jim Akt and Kaitlin Haas said it may be difficult to find funds to cover the raises. But Pizzolato countered that money from CHIPS (Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program), a state program that funds local roads, will be enough.

Haas said CHIPS funding is not a guarantee. 

The personnel committee negotiated the five-year contract with the highway department’s union representative. In March, Akt and residents expressed their concerns about the length of the contract, the cost to the town, and the absence of the town attorney at the contract negotiations.

At the April 9 town board meeting, Pizzolato asked for a vote on the latest version, which he said remains substantively the same but has since been reviewed and “stylistically” edited by Mogel.

However, board members Akt, Haas, Laura Burrell and Tom Migliorino had not received the new version for review. “I don’t feel comfortable voting on this, “ said Haas. “I haven’t ever read it, and it’s a long contract.” 

Haas also wanted to know if the contract included a clause that would allow the town to break it before five years.

“I don’t see why it’s an issue” to put off the vote, said Burrell.

Other personnel changes

The board made other personnel changes, as follows:

• Helene Hoffman will serve as planning and zoning secretary and has been offered the part-time code enforcement clerk position.
• Stephanie Helm will continue to stay on as planning and zoning clerk but, because of child care responsibilities, won’t be able to continue long term. The board hired her in March under a 30-day provisional officer.
• Malory Greenfield was also offered a 30-day provisional job in March to serve as code enforcement clerk, but the town board at its April 9 meeting did not say if Hoffman would now be filling that position instead of Greenfield, or if both will serve. • Ted Knitter will fill the open alternate position on the planning board.

For more news about the Town of Highland, see related story "Feuding Highland officials to meet with mediator."

Editor's note: This article has been revised and updated with information about the Akt case, which was not discussed at the meeting, and the fact that special counsel will be hired on a case-by-case basis and is not currently assigned to advise on matters related to the Barryville Oasis. In a more recent update, Caroline Akt clarified that she had little to do with the case at the heart of the matter, and the article has been revised to reflect this.