NEW SCOTLAND –– The town board is considering appointing a new highway superintendent after Darrell Duncan accepted a job as head of Public Works in early March.

Darrell Duncan served the New Scotland Town Highway Department for the last 18 years.

After Duncan’s departure in March, Supervisor Thomas Dolin said, the newly appointed Deputy Superintendent Kenneth Guyer took over day-to-day operations while the board decides on whether or not to make a permanent appointment.

In the wake of last year’s flood damage caused by topical storms Lee and Irene, the highway superintendent’s office has also been coordinating disaster relief and repairs with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state officials, which are still underway. Dolin said the town board agreed to give Duncan, then highway superintendent, the responsibility of organizing disaster relief last fall. He noted Guyer was a member of the highway Department for 12 years who assisted Duncan in the recent relief assessments and planning. Dolin also said Guyer took over the process in January.

“All of the claims have basically been prepared and accepted by FEMA except for two major ones, Wolf Hill Bridge and Countryman Lane,” said Dolin referring to two areas that received severe flood damage last year.

Guyer, along with applicants Joseph Iacobucci and Wayne LaChappelle, are currently seeking appointment to the two-year position. Dolin said the board was currently exploring the option of making an appointment and would likely make a decision by early May. He said the board also has the option of leaving the position vacant and allowing Guyer to continue operating the department as deputy superintendent until the November elections.

Since Duncan vacated the position about a year into his term, his next regular election would have been in November of 2013.

“Anyone who might run for the position this fall will have to ran again next fall,” said Dolin. He said state law required an appointed candidate run for the position by the next election cycle. The winner of November’s election would serve the remainder of Duncan’s regular term, which ends in December 2013.

The supervisor explained anyone appointed by the board, as opposed to being elected, would serve as highway superintendent until November 2012 when he would have to run against any other candidates in a special election for the position. The elected candidate in that contest would then serve the remaining full term, until December 2013, before having to run again for a full two-year term.