No Shared Police in Middleburgh

By Joshua Walther

SCHOHARIE - Last Tuesday evening, the Schoharie Village Board held their regular meeting to discuss the shared services suggestion with Middleburgh, as well as the property at 326 Main Street.

Last month, Middleburgh Mayor Timothy Knight came before the Board to ask if it was possible to share police services between the two municipalities.

Mayor Knight claimed that the traffic violations were getting out of hand, especially on Route 145, and thought to reach out to see if Schoharie could lend an officer for an hour occasionally as a deterrent.

Since then, the Board has asked their officer Jason Temple to look into if such a thing was possible, and his investigation turned up negative results.

To begin, there would need to be a legislative change, followed by mounting costs for hiring new officers, purchasing new cars, and insurance policies that would fall on Schoharie’s shoulders.

When Mayor Colleen Henry reached out to Mayor Knight and told him that it couldn’t be a reality, he was cordial and agreed that the piles of work needed were too much.

“So, it’s just not going to happen,” concluded Mayor Henry.

In other news, a concerned resident took the podium during the public comment period to ask about the 326 Main Street property where Jeremy May lives.

The Village has been in a battle with Mr. May since 2018 over the state of his house and property, and with recent discussions to place a pocket park next to his lot, the resident wanted an update on where things were.

Mayor Henry explained that after the county courts transferred the case to the New York State Supreme Court, the Village was finally able to serve Mr. May with a complaint on May 4th.

The complaint says that if the property is not cleaned up by May 24th, he may be subject to fines or imprisonment for every subsequent day the demands are not met, according to Deputy Mayor Peter Johnson.

In addition, the Board also passed Resolution 9 of 2025 to formally demand that Mr. May clean up the property and pay any outstanding fees or fines, as that was not done before the complaint was served.

While the Board waits to see what will happen, they’ve decided to table any discussions surrounding the fencing and landscaping that they were planning to hide the property with.

Finally, the Board closed the meeting by entering into executive session to discuss the applicants for their open Superintendent of the Department of Public Works position.