Ryan Falk, a 13+ year sanitation worker and motor equipment operator with the Town of Highlands Highway and Sanitation Departments, has been named to replace retiring Superintendent Greg Maher, effective January 1.

The Town Board made the appointment at its October 12 meeting.

Falk was one of six people interviewed for the position, Supervisor Bob Livsey said after the meeting, and clearly the person the board wanted. “He is an outstanding employee, and naming him as the highway superintendent is absolutely the right choice.”

Livsey added that Maher gave Falk a strong recommendation for the position.

The appointment is for two years, with one year of probation. Falk will work under a contract separate from the Highway Department’s unionized employees. The supervisor said the board would soon be advertising for a laborer to replace Falk.

Falk is excited for the new position, and thanks Maher and other former highway superintendents for helping him get to where he is today. He said if it weren’t for former Highway Superintendent Tony Squicciarini, a mentor of his, he wouldn’t even be working for the town. He’s also grateful for the support of the rest of the department’s employees, and insists that they will continue to work together as the “team” that they are.

A resident of Fort Montgomery, and native of the community, Falk is the former four-year chief of the Fort Montgomery Fire Department.

Falk is not the first with that last name to lead a town department – his brother Aaron has been the town’s recreation director for nearly a decade.

The board approved Falk unanimously, with the exception of his aunt, Councilwoman Nancy Sporbert, who abstained. “While I did not feel it appropriate for me to vote for Ryan’s appointment because of our close family relationship, I could not support this move by the Town Board more enthusiastically,” she said. “Ryan has proved himself to be a real asset to the Highway Department over the years, and I’m sure he’ll do a great job in his new role.”