Orleans agrees to 30% increase for towns to plow county roads

Towns, however, recently hit with 25% hike in road salt as well as fuel cost increases

Photo by Tom Rivers: Yates Town Supervisor Jim Simon, speaking during Thursday’s Town Board meeting, said the towns just want to break even for plowing and salting county roads and doing roadside mowing.

The 10 towns in Orleans County will be getting a 30 percent increase to plow and salt county roads, as well as doing roadside mowing. But it shouldn’t be viewed as a windfall.

“We need to at least break even,” said Jim Simon, the Yates town supervisor. “We’re not doing it to make a profit.”

The 10 towns in recent months have pressed the county for the 30 percent increase, plus 5 percent more the following two years. The towns currently get $7,218 a mile for their work on county roads. But that isn’t nearly enough to cover the town’s expenses, said the Orleans County Town Highway Superintendents Association which is led by Tracy Chalker, the highway superintendent in Clarendon.

The contract at the $7,218-rate expires Dec. 31. The new agreement provides a 30 percent increase or $2,165 more per mile in 2027, for $9,383. The towns then receive a 5 percent increase each following year in the three-year agreement.

The new deal was discussed at the Yates Town Board meeting on Thursday. Town officials are thankful for the higher amount, but they said it still may not cover the town’s costs due to rising fuel and salt expenses.

“I’m excited we got the contract with 30 percent, but I fear we might be trapping ourselves again,” said Sue Hrovat, a town councilwoman.

The highway superintendents were expecting a 10 percent increase for road salt for the upcoming winter, but that cost will be up 25 percent. That will be about $10,000 more in salt costs for Yates to salt the county roads in town.

The new agreement with the county allows for an option every May to review the deal f there have been dramatic changes in costs.

Chalker, president of the Orleans County Town Highway Superintendents Association, sent a letter to all 10 towns, thanking the town supervisors and boards for their work in securing the 30 percent increase.

The letter was signed by the following highway superintendents: Dale Root of Shelby, Dale Brooks of Barre, John Olinger of Ridgeway, Kurt VanWycke of Carlton, Dirk Lammes of Murray, Roger Wolfe of Yates, Mike Neidert of Albion, Eric Mason of Kendall and Tracy Chalker of Clarendon. Mark Radzinski of Gaines also pushed for the higher amount.

“You all played a very important role in our success to achieve our needs of 30 percent in our snow and ice and mowing contracts to get us closer to where we want to be,” Chalker wrote. “Your input and support was definitely a huge part of our success. Also it was great to see the towns come together and unite. So much can happen when we unite.”