A North Harmony property owner has come forward with some interest in a section of Drake Forest Road that North Harmony officials are considering abandoning.

Mike Leach, who lives on Eggleston Hill Road, said he read mention of the Drake Forest Road abandonment in The Post-Journal and wanted to know how abandoning the road effects his property. The town is considering abandoning 3,676 feet of Drake Forest Road, as measured by the town Highway Department, from Warner Road to a snowplow turnaround. Abandoning the road will help the state Department of Environmental Conservation to work in the area to handle a beaver problem, with the DEC maintaining the area. Leach said he owns road frontage into the bottom of a ravine with a piece of rights access into Drake and Warner roads.

David Stapleton, town attorney, said the town’s position is that it has never had interest in the road and never spent money to maintain it. In the attorney’s opinion, the town’s abandonment of the section of road doesn’t change Leach’s title rights. Robert Yates, town supervisor, said the town won’t plow or maintain the road in the future. Leach responded that he has lived on the property for more than 40 years and that the road has always been maintained, though not to the degree that the snowplow turnaround on Eggleston Hill Road has been. Leach said he used Drake Forest Road as a shortcut to Panama over the years and that the road has only begun to seriously deteriorate over the past three to five years.

Dan Strickland, town highway superintendent, said the only road maintenance in the area has been by New York state crews.

Carolyn Leach said the Leaches were considering questioning their property tax assessment and said the family had been told by the town assessor that if they built a house on the road frontage on Drake Forest Road the town would be obligated to plow it. Stapleton said if the Leaches felt they were being taxed on frontage that isn’t accurate they should discuss the issue with the tax assessor. If the owners of property on Drake Forest Road want to prove they have title to the land it is the obligation of the property owners to prove ownership. Previous searches by the town of the county tax map and an abstract search showed no property ownership could be determined in the area.

No public hearing is necessary under the state highway laws.

In other business:

¯ The town is nearing a water service agreement with the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities for service to the Sunset Cove and BOCES area. Stapleton said he had a concern with a portion of the contract that said if consumption in North Harmony increases to the point that Jamestown, Lakewood or Busti pipelines exceed their respective capacities, the town is responsible for the cost of system improvements in the other municipalities. Stapleton said the town needs to be sure that the current capacity of the system is enough for the town, otherwise development could not be allowed to happen in the town. There was discussion how the clause in the contract affects discussions of extending water service to Chautauqua Institution, though Stapleton said it was important to worry about Sunrise Cove and BOCES.

Stapleton, Dick Sena, board member, and Brad Lawson, town zoning CEO, all said it was important to consider the BPU’s capacity issue because agreeing to the contract could limit housing and commercial development in the town. The issue was tabled until the year-end meeting, which was held Dec. 20.

¯ Board members discussed a proposed $3,600 a year increase for transfer station costs proposed by Beichner Waste. Yates said Beichner officials said the prevailing rate wage increasing is the reason for the cost increase. Discussion of the contract was tabled until the year-end meeting.

¯ Lawson asked about the board’s progress on a proposed transient rental law provided earlier this year by the town Planning Board. Lawson said the issue could become a problem in the spring because current town zoning laws don’t allow for such rentals. The law, as proposed, would give property owners the right to legally rent their property for short-term tenants with some stipulations. The law would also fix the issue of short-term rentals not paying the county’s bed tax. Sena noted there are hundreds of Air BNB ads for North Harmony homes, as was demonstrated at a previous town Planning Board meeting. Transient rentals are typically considered rentals for periods of 30 days or less. Louise Ortman, board member, replied that a public hearing shouldn’t be held until the spring because a transient rental law would affect seasonal property owners. A public hearing could be held in January or February.