Supervisors Request State Comptrollers Office Review AECOM Contract

The Schoharie County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Friday afternoon to send a letter requesting the Investigations Unit of the Legal Services Division of the Office of New York State Comptroller look into several matters regarding the conduct and execution of the stream bank remediation project.

Conesville Town Supervisor Bill Federice, who drafted the letter with assistance and support from the freshmen class of legislators, introduced the request for the entire board's approval following the county board's lunch recess. 

Speaking in support of the request, which comes in light of the growing controversy surrounding the $2.6 million budget shortfall in the stream bank project being administered by AECOM, Broome Town Supervisor Bill Smith said that he believed, "taxpayers in the county deserve answers."

Board Chairman Tony VanGlad, who reported that he has been in discussions with state officials over opening avenues of additional funding to cover the project's unexpected costs, cautioned against sending the letter too soon as he has received nothing definite yet, although he added that he should know by next week.

In late March it was revealed in separate articles published by the Times Journal and the Schoharie News that the stream bank project was in economic peril, due in part to county lawmakers and AECOM officials working under two different budget assumptions that resulted from the contract being altered retroactively. 

After contemplating Chairman VanGlad's concerns, Supervisors agreed to hold off on formally sending the letter into the State Comptroller's Office until May 1, when funding issues should theoretically be resolved, or at least stand closer to being addressed.