Amenia Open House at Town Garage focuses on critical replacement need

WASSAIC — Residents were invited to the Town Garage on Borden Lane in Wassaic for an open house on Saturday, May 4. Doughnuts and coffee accompanied a tour of the facility to point out its worsening conditions and provide a view of conceptual plans for a new facility.

Hosting the open house were Highway Department Superintendent Megan Chamberlin and Finance Officer Charlie Miller. Conceptual drawings of the proposed new town garage facility were on display.

“We cannot stay in this building,” Miller said, citing cramped quarters and deteriorating conditions. “The equipment should not be out in the weather.”

Chamberlin recalled that she first joined the highway department in 2004, rising to the position of superintendent in 2017.

Constructed before 1955, the yellow cement block garage building measures a scant 80 by 50 feet and stands on a 2.5-acre parcel, along with a 2006 salt shed and a separate small pole barn for equipment storage. Road maintenance vehicles are larger today and the old garage does not accommodate their garaging and maintaining, evident to those attending the open house.

The Amenia Highway Department maintains the 31 miles of town roads, bridges and culverts, paving needs, tree and brush maintenance, winter plowing and sanding, and more.

A new facility is proposed to be built on five town-owned acres south of the Ten Mile River rail station next door to state DOT property. The new 16,000 square foot facility would offer a spacious garage with six double drive-through bays, a higher-capacity salt shed, fire suppression and generator.

The capital project costing an estimated $6.3 million would be funding through grants, ARPA funds, and bonding, Miller said.

For more information about the project, go to www.amenia.gov/highway.