Jim Rich

In a surprise move Tuesday, the Olive Town Board voted unanimously against a resolution that could have eased restrictions on workforce housing development in the hamlet of Shokan. The proposal would have withdrawn the town from an agreement with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection that limits development of land it acquires. The […]

Officials in the Town of Olive are warning residents about a scam involving emails sent in the name of the town’s planning division requesting payment of exorbitant, fictitious fees.  Supervisor Jim Sofranko said his office began fielding inquiries around Jan. 21 from residents who had received the fraudulent messages. About six people contacted the town, […]

The New York State Department of Public Service said Hudson Valley Water Company was “unwilling or unable” to provide safe and reliable service, citing years of water outages and repeated failures to notify customers during emergencies. The state investigation began in February 2024 following years of complaints from the company’s 435 customers in Ulster and […]

Jason Huppert, an Olive police officer who had been on unpaid administrative leave since May while facing disciplinary hearings for allegedly waving a gun at construction workers, was placed back on the town’s payroll. The reinstatement, which took effect on Nov. 28, was confirmed by Olive Supervisor Jim Sofranko. Huppert, a 10-year veteran of the […]

Olive Town Clerk Dawn Giuditta, who was unseated in November by challenger Kimberly Daley, unexpectedly resigned this week, stepping down a month before her term was set to end. Her deputy, Amanda Winne, also resigned. Giuditta, who has worked for the town in various roles since 1989, surprised many over the summer when she switched […]

After 45 days without potable running water, Boiceville customers of Hudson Valley Water Company had their service restored Tuesday. The Ulster County Department of Health lifted a “do not drink” order for nearly 75 Boiceville residents who had been without water due to arsenic contamination. For nearly two months, county and state officials argued over […]

Joann Rex’s 43 years of peaceful coexistence with the region’s 3,000 bears came to a sudden end on Nov. 12 when she and her husband awoke at 2:30 a.m. to a ruckus in the garage of her Longyear Road home in Shokan. The culprit: A black bear that demolished a storm window and casement window […]

Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger and the New York State Public Service Commission traded criticism this week after Metzger urged the agency to take stronger action to help Boiceville residents who have been without potable water for more than three weeks. In a letter sent just days after The Overlook first reported the outage, Metzger […]

The old general store on Route 28a in West Shokan—which has been around in one form or another since 1917, when construction of the Ashokan Reservoir transformed the region—is poised for a new chapter.  Whether you know it as Skin’s Place, the American General Store, or, most recently, Marty’s Mercantile, the vacant shop on Route […]

Dozens of Boiceville residents have been without potable water for nearly three weeks due to what they say is negligence from a troubled water supplier they have been battling for years.  Hudson Valley Water Company, based in Woodbury, supplies water to about 435 customers across the Hudson Valley and Catskills. The company issued a “do […]

Olive voters on Tuesday will decide whether to approve a nearly 50% funding increase for the Olive Free Library. The referendum seeks to expand the taxpayer contribution to the library’s budget from the $193,142 to $289,642, a jump of $96,500. The increase, which would amount to about $59 a year for the average Olive household, […]

After months of pushback from residents who raised environmental and traffic concerns, a proposal to repurpose a former aerospace site in Shokan for warehouse use is advancing toward approval. The Olive Planning Board said Wednesday that the project’s most contentious issue —truck traffic—appears to have been addressed. KSE Suppliers, a wholesale linen provider based in […]

Politics have never been more local than the race for town clerk in Olive, where the 12-year incumbent flipped to the Republican ticket after losing the Democratic primary in June by a 3-to-1 margin. “I’m not a liberal and I’m not a conservative,” said Dawn Giuditta, 58, who has worked for the town in various […]

Suspended Olive police officer Jason Huppert accused Police Chief Sean Ryan of falsifying or destroying documents relevant to Huppert’s disciplinary proceedings in retaliation for his discrimination complaint to the town supervisor. Huppert, who is on unpaid leave while facing accusations of flashing his gun and badge at construction workers while off duty in 2023, filed […]

Shokan residents packed an Olive Planning Board meeting for a third month to decry a proposed warehouse development on DuBois Road, citing traffic and environmental concerns. KSE Suppliers, a wholesale linen provider based in Hillburn, N.Y., wants to turn a 100,000-square-foot structure at 167 DuBois Road into a storage and distribution hub. Residents said developing […]

The Town of Olive is engaged in an ongoing legal dispute with a former town police officer who was put on unpaid administrative leave following an alleged confrontation with a local construction crew in 2023. Officer Jason Huppert, an eight-year veteran of the Olive Police Department at the time, is accused of getting into an […]

Boiceville residents and patrons of the Ashokan Rail Trail got an unexpected addition to the landscape last week: a new bridge. Construction was completed on the new crossing that replaces the existing bridge—known locally as the Five Arches Bridge—at the west end of the Ashokan Reservoir over the Esopus Creek near the intersection of Rt. […]