Town of Monroe terminates Dial-a-Ride services with Town of Woodbury amid animal shelter dispute

Following a tense exchange between Monroe Town Supervisor Maureen Richardson and Woodbury Town Supervisor Jacqueline Hernandez at the Jun. 4 Woodbury Town Board meeting, the Town of Monroe terminated its Dial-a-Ride intermunicipal agreement with the Town of Woodbury, ending a transportation service that has operated between the two municipalities since 2009.

A June 8 notice sent to Hernandez from the Town of Monroe cited an absence of a formal agreement and a failure to remit payment. Because of this, Supervisor of Transportation Ed Morales wrote, continuing the service was “no longer financially sustainable” and “effective immediately, all Dial-a-Ride transportation services provided by the Town of Monroe to Town of Woodbury residents are hereby terminated.”

While the notice cites issues over a formal agreement, officials in both municipalities say the decision unfolded amid a broader dispute over a separate intermunicipal agreement for animal control services.

Contract dispute over animal shelter costs

One of the main disagreements was over how animal shelter costs were calculated and communicated during contract negotiations.

In a statement, Hernandez said, both supervisors agreed at a March 25 meeting between them that the prior animal services and Dial-a-Ride contracts “lacked details that would guide how fees were determined” and discussed revising the agreements to provide greater transparency regarding costs and fee structures.

During the June 4 Woodbury Town Board meeting, Hernandez said the two sides agreed the Town of Monroe should keep the fees of the Animal Control Services agreement. She added that they also agreed the $33,000 base fee should remain in place for the current year while additional information on per-dog costs was gathered.

“When we negotiated, I negotiated in good faith with the Town of Monroe supervisor,” Hernandez said during the meeting. “I followed up with a recap email. [Richardson] then corresponded and stated she had done further research and believed that it was no longer a fair contract. And that’s what led to the disagreement.”

Hernandez said Richardson requested a per-dog cost analysis to support the proposed fee structure, and that the additional information was later incorporated into the contract. According to Hernandez, her analysis estimated that animal shelter services cost the Town of Monroe approximately $1,534 per dog for a 10-day stay.

Richardson, however, said no detailed cost breakdown or financial analysis was provided on March 25, and the materials presented included prior-year contracts, Monroe’s fee schedule and a draft revised agreement.

“We did not receive any information from Supervisor Hernandez showing increased costs for animal services, until mid-May 2026,” Richardson said in a written statement.

Richardson said the proposed contract would have significantly increased the Town of Monroe’s costs compared with previous years and appeared to add charges for services she believed were already covered by the agreement’s base fee.

Contract renewal disagreement and allegations of denying animal control services

In addition, Richardson alleged the Town of Woodbury failed to honor an automatic one-year renewal provision in last year’s animal control services contract, which she said contributed to a disruption in animal control services for Town of Monroe residents.

In a June 5 email to multiple local officials, shared with the Photo News, Richardson argued the 2025 agreement signed by the previous administrations should have been automatically renewed.

“Under the explicit terms of our current agreement, the contract includes an automatic annual renewal clause unless a formal 180-day written notice of change or termination is provided prior to the conclusion of the cycle,” Richardson wrote.

Richardson added that no such termination notice was issued by either party and alleged this resulted in a lapse in animal control coverage lasting about three weeks. She said during that period, the Woodbury Animal Shelter would not except a stray dog that picked up by a resident.

Richardson also said the contract designates the New York State Police Department as a point of contact for animal pickups. In the email, Richardson said she had spoken with NYSPD leadership, who she said were willing to continue the arrangement.

Hernandez denied Richardson’s claims that the animal shelter halted service to the Town of Monroe, saying in a written statement that the shelter has continued accepting dogs from the municipality throughout the year, including as recently as June 7.

Responding to allegations that a dog was denied service, Hernandez said at the June 4 meeting residents must coordinate animal drop-offs through a designated town contact assigned by the Town of Monroe rather than bringing animals directly to the shelter.

“All that was needed is that the Town of Monroe had to designate a person and provide that person with the dog to bring to our animal shelter and the animal shelter would have been accepted,” Hernandez said. “That’s our procedure, that’s our contract. So, the Town of Woodbury has honored our contract... We continue to provide services and anything that implicates anything other than that is a lie.”

Dial-a-Bus IMA fees contested

At the same time, Richardson alleged that the Town of Monroe had not received $16,500 in Dial-a-Bus service fees from the Town of Woodbury.

“Woodbury is only paying the $17.50 per rider fee, and we believe that the intention of Supervisor Hernandez was never to pay the lump sum as she vocally protests about the combination of upfront and ridership fee,” Richardson said in a written statement. “She continues to misunderstand that the total cost of the contract is approximately $34,000 per year. We break out fixed costs versus variable costs, so that if no one uses the service, Woodbury is not inappropriately billed for variable costs such as fuel and equipment usage.”

Hernandez said the Town of Woodbury had signed the contract on April 6 and paid the first quarter rider fees. She said the town was waiting to transmit the contractual portion of the payment until Richardson signed the Dial-a-Ride agreement. According to Hernandez, Richardson did not sign the agreement unless the Town of Woodbury also finalized the animal control services agreement.

“According to what we do in our office, we receive a signed contract, we pay the contractual amount,” Hernandez said at the meeting. “We did not receive a signed contract because [Richardson] said that if she wasn’t going to get a fair contract for the [Dog Control Services], she was not going to sign the contract for the Dial-a-Bus. Both contracts are separate contracts and you cannot hold one contract hostage for another contract, especially if it was a contract that was provided by the town.”

Richardson countered the transportation agreement’s pricing was approved by the Town of Monroe board with the understanding that an animal services agreement would also be reached.

“It was made very clear to all parties that this was limited to a signed animal contract,” Richardson said in a written statement.

Officials seek alternatives following service termination

Following the termination of the Dial-a-Ride IMA, both supervisors said they are seeking alternative arrangements for residents.

In a written statement, Hernandez said she is pursuing “permanent solutions for [the] community that protects the needs of [Woodbury] seniors.”

The Dial-a-Ride service provided Woodbury residents with “curb-to-curb” transportation every Tuesday and Thursday to shopping plazas across the Town of Monroe, as well as the Woodbury Senior Center.

“Currently, our senior population has been left without services without justification,” Hernandez said. “We have had wonderful community members volunteer to help. This is truly what community looks like.”

Richardson said she has also begun exploring replacement options.

“In the time it has taken for Supervisor Hernandez and her hourly contractor attorney Joe McKay to get their bearings — I have personally scoped Dial-A-Ride services with three other neighboring municipalities including a backup to our animal services contract,” Richardson said.

As both towns pursue alternative arrangements, it remains unclear whether a new transportation agreement will be reached.