Shared North East/Millerton Highway Department update: Third phase of joint highway garage expected to be done by September

MILLERTON — Having engaged in countless discussions about shared services between the town of North East and the village of Millerton, town and village officials are now waiting patiently as the four key components of the much-anticipated shared town and village highway garage come together along Route 22. 

With two phases of the project completed, one underway and another anticipated for next year, both municipalities are on their way to having new and improved garage space for their trucks and highway equipment.

Discussions regarding the need for a new highway garage have been going on for years, according to North East town Supervisor Chris Kennan, given that both North East’s and Millerton’s respective garages are aging and inadequate. As of this time, the town’s Highway Department at 11 South Center St. in Millerton, adjacent to the Webatuck Creek, is falling apart, while the village’s facility adjacent to Eddie Collins Memorial Field is in slightly better condition.

“There are some great similarities to the work that is done,” Kennan said, “so this is an area we feel we can collaborate.”

One of the goals of this project, Kennan explained, is for the village and the town to share services, which saves on costs.

“It makes sense for the town and village to share a location and potentially, at some point in the future, maybe even share a highway department,” he said. “I think it’s our job as town and village leaders to look for places where we can collaborate and make our services more efficient for the benefit of our residents and taxpayers.”

Completing this project through a four-phased approach, the first phase of the shared garage entailed the construction of a storage building, which was completed in December 2019. Built to store highway equipment, three of the building’s four bays have been set aside for the town’s equipment while one has been set aside for the village’s equipment. The configuration of the four bays was determined based on the size of the municipalities and the amount of equipment, according to Kennan. Above all, Kennan said the building will ensure all of the equipment is protected from the weather, which wasn’t possible at South Center Street where many pieces of equipment were exposed to the elements when stored outside.

“This equipment belongs to the public, it belongs to the taxpayers of the town of North East and one of our jobs is to take care of it,” he said.

The project’s second phase, the installation of fuel storage tanks and a dispensing system, was completed just last month. 

Moving on to the third phase, a storage building for sand and salt is now underway to store the materials for the wintertime. Kennan noted that this component is something he’s really pleased about, given the inadequate size of the existing sand and salt structure at South Center Street and environmental concerns about the materials leaching into the nearby creek.

“It was an inappropriate place to store salt because it was on the banks of the Webatuck Creek and on a flood plain,” Kennan said. “So this was one of the main goals, to get that material off the banks of the creek and out of the flood plain and to have a facility large enough to hold it all.”

The sand and salt storage shed’s construction was initiated this spring and is expected to be completed by the end of September. 

Last but not least is the construction of the highway garage itself, which is certain to be the biggest and most expensive component of the entire project. It’s within the garage that both municipalities’ trucks will be stored, maintained, washed, prepared and serviced, and where highway personnel from North East and Millerton will have space for their gear and a break room. Construction for the project’s fourth and final phase will hopefully begin some time next year.

Breaking down the project by cost, the contract amount of the storage building totals $429,219 while the fuel storage tanks and dispensing system totals $140,674 and the sand and salt storage building totals $557,000. The price of the highway garage’s construction has yet to be determined at this time. As far as how the town and village plan to acquire the funds necessary to finance the final project component, Kennan reported that they will be looking for help from Dutchess County and New York State and plan to bond a portion of the funding, taking advantage of the “very low interest rates” currently available.

In terms of how the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the project’s progress, Kennan said it was fortunate that the project work was set outdoors and that all highway-related construction was deemed essential by New York State at the start of the pandemic. Though it’s taken some time to complete some of the office work and acquire the necessary permits from various government agencies, construction hasn’t been significantly affected by the pandemic, he said.

When asked if he foresees any obstacles in moving this project forward, Kennan replied, “It really depends on what kind of help we’re able to get. This is a big project for a small town.”