Town wants county accountability for road fix
The Town Board wants the county commissioner of public works to back up his response to a request for a permanent fix to a section of county Route 85/Mill Road.
At a board meeting Monday evening, Councilman Alan Scherr said the information used by Commissioner Robert Balkind should be provided to town officials.
“I’d like to see what somebody who knows what they’re talking about ... has said,” Scherr said.
In a Sept. 25 letter, town Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia wrote: “Often, the road surface is deeply rutted and therefore difficult, if not dangerous, to drive over. The guardrail is continuously moving downhill to the point where it provides no real protection. Crews from [the county] periodically restore the surface of the road, sometimes on an emergency basis, and move the guardrail back into its proper position, but these fixes are only temporary.”
In an Oct. 18 response, Balkind wrote that county investigations of the road have been conducted for “many years” and officials consider it better to only conduct routine maintenance because of the road’s low traffic volume.
“Numerous geotechnical investigations have been conducted, and based on these studies, the cost to stabilize Mill Road will likely exceed $1 million and could also involve significant property acquisition from the Sisters of St. Ursula or other landowners,” Balkind wrote.
“In contrast, the routine maintenance that the department performs on Mill Road each year is much less costly and far less disruptive to adjacent properties,” he added. “With consideration to the very low traffic volumes recorded on Mill
Road, the department will continue to maintain Mill Road as it has done previously.”
However, Balkind said, if town officials do wish to “create a plan to stabilize Mill Road and implement such plan at the town’s expense, you can expect to receive the department’s full
cooperation.”
Scherr said he was annoyed by Balkind’s letter, which he said directly contradicts information he has received about how difficult some aspects of the project would be. He said he has been told St. Ursula would provide the necessary property at no cost to help stabilize the road.
“They say it’s less costly to do maintenance,” he said. “Show me the numbers.”