EARLVILLE – Large puddles of standing water that are often splashed up against Scott Ogden’s new cabinet-making shop on West Main Street in the Village of Earlville don’t seem to be anyone’s responsibility.

The Village of Earlville street splits Madison County from Chenango County right down the middle, and despite a maintenance agreement between the two, neither county wants to shoulder the full cost of installing drainage on the western end.

“Water just builds up along the edges. The puddles are big enough that the splash reaches up on the building when cars go by. There’s no drainage. No ditching. The road edges have become higher than the road surface and actually hold the water in,” the owner of West End Cabinet Shop said.

Ogden first noticed the drainage problem out front after he began his business in June of 2004. After filing a complaint with the Village of Earlville and, later, Madison County officials, he was directed to contact the Chenango County Department of Public Works. The highway superintendent there “tried to not own up to responsibility of road,” he said.

“As time has gone by, I’m hot and cold on the problem. I forget about it. But then after a heavy rainstorm, it bothers me again,” he said. “I can’t walk out to the mailbox safely.”