Riccardella Swears In

Swearing-in ceremony was held recently for newly elected Lexington town supervisor Robert Riccardella, accompanied by his wife Ann, with town justice Devon Russ administering the Oath of Office.

By Michael Ryan

LEXINGTON - No time is being wasted by newly elected Lexington town supervisor Bob Riccardella regarding what could be an arduous detour established by the State Department of Transportation.

And even before he administered his first town council meeting, earlier this week, Riccardella was warmly welcomed to the position.

Government leaders gathered on Tuesday night, marking the new supervisor’s official debut while making all the appointments and designations needed to conduct annual taxpayer business.

It is normally a ho-hum session and was no different on this occasion, other than a letter Riccardella was authorized to send to the DOT and one of their project managers, Corey Barringer.

The missive is related to a planned culvert replacement job on busy Route 42 which the DOT, in their preliminary report, said could be closed for as long as 60 days during the construction.

Nothing is set in stone at this stage but Lexington isn’t waiting to inform the State agency that even thinking about the closure, apparently unfolding between the Notch and Ulster County, is unacceptable.

Riccardella, in the letter to Barringer, stated, “thank you for taking my call on Friday, January 2, 2026.

“As I stated then, and stating for the record now, the Town of Lexington strenuously objects to the timing and staging of this project. Not the need for the project itself,” the letter states.

“Route 42 is the only road that exits the town south and connects us with Route 28 and everything south of us,” the letter states.

“The obvious inconvenience to our residents aside, having to detour through the village of Hunter and Route 214 south into Phoenicia to get to Route 28 is a burden,” the letter states.

“The project as defined now, 60 days of full road closure, presents us with very serious safety concerns,” the letter states.

“After speaking with my Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Chief, we agree that the complete closure of Route 42 would cut off a section of our town from fire, rescue and ambulance response,” the letter states.

“We would be forced to ask multiple agencies to cover our responsibilities in that section of town,” the letter states.

“We would also be forced to re-route our ambulance; many of our transports are south to Kingston Hospital. We would have to send them north to CMH in Hudson or Albany Medical Center,” the letter states

“I look forward to working with you and your team to adjust the staging of this project. Again, we do not object to the project itself,” the letter states.

Several alternatives were bandied about by council members and they will all likely be suggested to the DOT before the agency’s project team sits down, later this month.

Riccardella noted that Barringer, during the phone conversation, was “very nice,” emphasizing, “he understands our objections.”

There was no compunction about rolling out the red carpet for the new supervisor, elected in November to follow Jo Ellen Schermerhorn who opted not to run for another two-year term.

Prior to his chat with the DOT engineer, Riccardella was feted by residents of the Spruceton Valley and hamlet of West Kill at a New Year’s Eve gathering hosted by Nick Aster and Jo Piazza.

“We’re excited to see Bob take the helm for us here in the valley as well as the greater Lexington Community” said Piazza.

“Bob’s been a great neighbor and introduced us to the workings of the community here. I’m confident the town will be in good hands,” Aster said.

Spruceton Inn co-owner Steven Weinberg, reflecting on Riccardella’s role as an emergency first responder and reputation as a pasta chef said, “who else do you know who can come to your house at midnight for a chimney fire, fix that, roll pasta at noon and then run a community meeting at six?”

“I am honored to be supervisor of Lexington,” Riccardella said. “I thank everyone for their support.

“I really want to hit the ground running and get out in front of some of the issues we face…a new Public Works facility, renovate town hall, making sure that all of the new businesses are good partners for Lexington,” Riccardella said.