Years ago, the highway department went through 2,000 yds. of sand a year. Now with the new snow removal standards that residents demand, it goes through 6,000 yd. a year. With this tremendous increase of materials, storage space is inadequate for the town's barn that was built in 1956.
"Our facility is really getting quite old. We virtually have no room for sand and salt storage, which can be quite a problem. In addition, the town's equipment inventory virtually has tripled since then. When I came to work here, we owned one 10-wheel truck, now we have five. We really need a new town barn and the town has bought into the idea," said Tony.
"Our real challenge has been looking for the right piece of land. I need to find a facility that's close to town and is accessible to village water, yet it needs to be somewhat protected from future development.
"No one is going to want a town barn in the middle of the residential area and housing in this area has been showing some good growth," he said.
In addition to the new town barn, the highway department will be maintaining more road miles.
"We'll be taking over the private roads around Oneida Lake. For generations the homes on the lake were seasonal properties, but over the years those properties have become more and more valuable to the point where more and more residents are staying in them all year," explained Tony.
"It seems inevitable that eventually the town will be taking over the maintenance and snow removal of these roads. Most of the roads are dead ends and are very narrow to access. It will be quite a challenge.
"When I first took over, the town maintained seven dirt roads. Now that is down to two. Those roads have no residents on them and we keep them open strictly on a seasonal basis," he said.
