3 from Orleans will be honored by Public Works Association
Photo by Tom Rivers: An inspector stands in a culvert and watches the Orleans County Highway Department and the Town of Albion Highway Department put in and compact fill material on Aug. 19 for a new culvert on Clarendon Road. The Genesee Valley Branch of the American Public Works Association is recognizing the collaboration as a “Project of the Year” for small cities/rural communities.
Two highway department leaders and a project in Orleans County will be recognized on Jan. 30 during an awards program by the Genesee Valley Branch of the American Public Works Association. The program is at 6 p.m. at the RIT Inn and Conference Center in Henrietta.
Ed Morgan
Ed Morgan, the Town of Murray Highway superintendent the past 30 years, will be recognized as the Public Works Leader of the Year.
Morgan has been a key leader for the town as it expanded water districts and also helped to develop the Holley Business Park, putting in the roads, water and sewer lines.
Morgan this morning said he has had the support of the Town Boards in Murray and the highway department workers.
“I do what I do not looking for a pat on the back,” Morgan said this morning. “The employees are willing to take on the challenge.”
Steven Fuller of the Orleans County Highway Department will be receiving the APPA’s Douglas C. Zefting Award for “outstanding meritorious achievement of an operational/maintenance level employee.” Fuller is instrumental in the county’s paving program.
The Town of Albion Highway Depaertment is receiving a “Project of the Year” award for a transportation project for small cities/rural communities.
The town replaced the culvert on Clarendon Road in a collaboration with the Orleans County Highway Department.
The award recognizes a municipality that shows “creativity, ingenuity, and efficiency in the delivery of Public Works projects that have a profound impact on the community.”
Albion was awarded a $174,000 Bridge NY grant to cover 100 percent of the project’s costs. However, the construction bids for the project were way over that cost, with the low bid $130,000 over budget.
The town was looking to replace the culvert with a 3-sided precast concrete culvert. The County Highway Department, led by John Papponetti, re-evaluated the project to see if the costs could be lowered. Papponetti is an engineer.
Papponetti and the Labella Associates engineering firm determined an arch pipe would work for the culvert. That was significantly less money.
The town and county highway employees worked together on the project, which was done under budget.
