CARMEL – An issue with a legal notice required for a public hearing not being printed on time in the Putnam County official newspaper earlier this summer, forcing the cancellation and rescheduling of the forum by the county executive, has resulted in the county legislature amending a previous resolution concerning the designation of the official publication and publication of future county notices.
The legislature’s Rules Committee Tuesday evening designated the “official Putnam County website” as the “official publication forum” for all resolutions, election notices, official canvasses, enactments and other matters required by law to be published for the remainder of 2026 except where publication was required by law.
Committee members Legislators Amy Sayegh, Dan Birmingham and Bill Gouldman moved the resolution to the full legislature for its vote next month which states: “Where publication in a newspaper is required by law, the Putnam County Press shall serve as the county’s official newspaper.” Should the Press be unable to publish within the time required by law or fails to confirm in sufficient time the Journal News will serve as the designated newspaper for that publication.
Legislator Nancy Montgomery further amended the resolution to add the Highlands Current, a weekly newspaper based in Philipstown, as a supplemental publication. Sayegh then requested that the weekly Mahopac News also be added as a supplemental newspaper.
Legislature Chairman Dan Birmingham called it “emblematic of the fact that we have so few newspapers in Putnam County. Previously three newspapers were chosen so that if this would have occurred, we could have relied on one of the other two newspapers.”
The Putnam Courier and Putnam News and Recorder ceased publication at the end of March leaving the Putnam Times-Press as the only official publication.
Naming a website as an official publication for legal notices raises a question of state law since general municipal law requires that legal notices must be printed in a general circulation newspaper in that area.
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