Dover Planning Board chair resigns after years in position

DOVER PLAINS — Planning Board Chair Ryan Courtien has resigned, two weeks after his disappearance triggered a multiday search involving police, firefighters, K-9 teams, drones, and helicopters from across New York and Connecticut.

The Town Board accepted Courtien’s resignation at its July 27 meeting. That night, it also appointed two new Planning Board members, filling Courtien’s seat and another that had been vacant for several months.

Courtien disappeared from his home on July 12 and remained missing for nearly a week. Authorities ended the search after determining that he had boarded a train to Manhattan shortly after his disappearance.

Courtien was located by Dutchess County sheriff’s deputies at the Harlem Valley-Wingdale train station on Friday, July 17.

Town Supervisor Rich Yeno said he has had sporadic contact with Courtien and his family in the weeks following his disappearance.

“I know they’re going through some things,” Yeno said. “That’s about it.”

He said the Town Board received a letter before its July meeting from Courtien’s wife, Suzanne Calligan-Courtien, asking the board to accept Courtien’s resignation from the Planning Board and the chair position.

Calligan-Courtien sent the letter on Thursday, July 23. She cited “sudden, unexpected medical complications” as the cause for her husband’s resignation but did not provide further details in the letter.

The town’s Planning Board did not meet this month due to a lack of permit applications. Yeno said interim chair Valerie LaRobardier handled behind-the-scenes work through the month, and the board will return with a full slate and a designated chair when meetings resume in September.

Dick Hermans, founder of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association and a current board member, said Courtien had been removed from his position as operations manager for the trail earlier this month. He did not provide further details. Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association President Phil Meeks could not be reached for comment.

Courtien has not responded to requests for comment on his disappearance or his resignation from the Planning Board.