Huntington, county settle yearslong road maintenance dispute

A yearslong dispute that ended in a lawsuit between Huntington Town and Suffolk County over the cost of road maintenance is about to wrap up, officials said.

The county legislature is scheduled to vote next month on a measure conveying certain county-owned roads to the town, following a settlement between the two parties.

The settlement calls for the town to take over those roads and for the county to waive past maintenance and repair charges for them, town and county officials said.

"The settlement saved us over $5 million in outstanding invoices from the county, and overall this has been going on over multiple roads for six years," Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said. "Residents will benefit from having local town Highway Department control of and response to matters requiring regular and emergency maintenance of these roads."

The roads in question are sections of 10 county road systems — most notably, the west side of Bread and Cheese Hollow Road in Fort Salonga between Pulaski Road and 25A, town officials said.

In December, the town board and county legislature's Ways and Means Committee approved the settlement. The full legislature is set to vote on the transfer of the roads on March 8, county officials said.

The roads in question were historically maintained by the town.

A court ruling in 2011 said the county was responsible for the maintenance but was authorized to charge back maintenance and repair costs to the town, county officials said.

In March 2016, the county adopted a policy of apportioning the maintenance costs associated with the county road system to the municipalities where the roads were located.

In May of that year, the county informed Huntington Town of its financial responsibility up to that point and outlined certain costs anticipated for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years.

That September, the town sued in state Supreme Court to annul the county resolution and declare it invalid. In February 2017, the court dismissed the proceeding because the lawsuit was not filed within the statute of limitations. The town appealed that decision but lost.

A motion this past September from town officials to take the case to the state Court of Appeals was ongoing when both sides decided to settle.