GOSHEN – Orange County will team up with the eight municipalities in the area of Kiryas Joel to challenge the annexation of 164 acres of land from the Town of Monroe into the village.
The county legislature voted 19 to 1 Thursday evening to authorize the litigation with the county contributing up to $200,000 toward the legal fees.
County Executive Steven Neuhaus addresses legislators
Legislature Chairman Stephen Brescia is hopeful the annexation will have to be revisited.
“At the very least Kiryas Joel and the Town of Monroe are going to have to go back and do the SEQR process properly and hopefully look at 20 years hence as opposed to 10 years what the magnitude of that growth and the impacts are going to bring,” Brescia said.
The municipalities and the county believe the state-required environmental impact study did not properly address impacts on water, sewer and other issues in the southern portion of Orange County.
“It is important that we speak with one voice on this issue,” said County Executive Steven Neuhaus in a statement released later. “Kiryas Joel’s environmental review failed to depict the true impacts of this annexation.”
