WESTERLO —  The town had a winding road of indecision in 2014 as it grappled with what to do about high-volume hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and hesitated to approve bids for badly needed repairs to the highway garage.

Moratoria and reports on gas drilling passed by Westerlo and other town boards across the state were cast in the shadow of a state ban announced in the last month of the year.

Some projects did move forward, with a stream restoration sponsored by the town completed along Route 143, and changes recommended by the state comptroller’s office to the town’s budgeting process quickly acted upon.

A stunning crime involving the killing of a horse by an arrow had investigators on the trail of a man who was ultimately not charged with the horse’s killing and not connected with the crime in court.

Hydraulic fracturing

As it has researched the process of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, the Westerlo Town Board has regularly passed a moratorium on gas drilling in the town. But some councilmen grew weary of the local law, questioning its usefulness as both the town and the state had at the time been in a drawn-out deliberation over its potential risks.

A handful of residents asked about the town board’s progress on compiling and approving a report on the process at most regular meetings since 2013, while the state’s Department of Health was conducting its own review of its risks, and cases on whether a town could prohibit the process were heard at the state’s top court.

The intense method of extracting natural gas from underground shale deposits is commonly called hydrofracking.

“We’ve had a moratorium for two years, and nothing, absolutely nothing, has been accomplished,” Councilman Alfred Field said last July, when the four board members in attendance voted, 2 to 2, on extending the town’s moratorium on gas drilling. The local law says it is designed to allow the town time for examining the appropriate zoning changes or any other action, if any, it would take.

The state’s Court of Appeals ultimately affirmed municipalities’ authority to prohibit the process within their boundaries.

Councilman William Bichteman and Anthony Sherman later expressed their desire to make changes to the town’s zoning law that stopped short of banning the process.

Westerlo’s boundaries include the watershed for the Alcove and Basic Creek reservoirs, which supply drinking water for the city of Albany.

Highway garage

The town’s highway buildings are not well insulated and its roof is leaking into the courtroom during rainstorms. The board wanted to address its condition in 2014, but it ended without construction started.

In a deadlocked vote in October, four councilmen failed to accept a bid for repairs to the buildings, including a new roof, that would have had an estimated project cost of $478,000.

“If we’re looking at spending half-a-million dollars, why not go all the way?” Councilman Anthony Sherman asked. Field also felt that the bids were too high and that the town should investigate building a new structure.

After a long discussion between board members and residents weighing the options of repairing the garage with a mix of funds or replacing the whole thing with borrowed money, the board decided to hear from an engineering firm on what a new building would cost.

In November, the board resolved that it was in favor of using bond-anticipation-note money for a potential reconstruction of the garage, along with repairs to Town Hall.

Horse case fizzled

On an early Sunday morning in May, Robert Duncan found his horse dead in its pasture with an arrow in its side.

In the investigation that followed, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office secured a warrant to search the home of Duncan’s 35-year-old son, Shawn Duncan, in Knox. Police said they found a stun gun, in violation of Duncan’s probation, marijuana, and bows and arrows in the home. He was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. He wasn’t arrested for killing the horse, a retired racing Thoroughbred named Belle.

In the months that followed, Duncan was held in jail, then released on bail. His father and stepmother, Lorraine Duncan, started a fund for troubled horses, for which they said they would start caring and finding homes.

When Shawn Duncan appeared to face his charges in Knox Town Court — the felony had been reduced to a misdemeanor when his probation violation was withdrawn in county court — the case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal.

“Our position is their investigation fell flat because those were unfounded suspicions and the search warrant was inadequate,” said Lee Greenstein, Duncan’s attorney. “They had insufficient facts to get a search warrant to go into my client’s home.” He said Duncan denied killing the horse.