Closure outraged farmers

GOSHEN – A piece of Indiana Road in the heart of the black dirt farm region of Orange County was in such bad shape, according to Goshen town officials, that they shut it down late last week. Farmers were in an uproar because they couldn’t reach their fields.

County Executive Edward Diana, meanwhile, brokered a deal with Goshen officials to rebuild the entire two mile stretch of the road with the county spending $10,000 and the town spending $17,000.

The town and county will use joint workforces with a private contractor brought in to reclaim the roadway, which will be rebuilt with an item four material.

While farmers’ spokesman Chris Pawelski praised the partnership arraignment, he said they still want a commitment that the road will be maintained.

“This in no way absolves the Town of Goshen from its responsibilities to maintain and care for that road in the future,” he said. “If the town board thinks that after this is done, it is going to dump responsibility on the landowners or pay a special tax on top of the tax we already pay, that’s unacceptable.”

Diana said work will begin today with completion of the road by Friday.