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Delaware moves forward with highway barn

Isabel Braverman - Staff Writer
Posted 4/18/19

HORTONVILLE — The current Town of Delaware highway department barn and salt shed is falling into disrepair and has a host of other problems, said Town Supervisor Ed Sykes. One of the biggest …

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Delaware moves forward with highway barn

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HORTONVILLE — The current Town of Delaware highway department barn and salt shed is falling into disrepair and has a host of other problems, said Town Supervisor Ed Sykes. One of the biggest problems is that it's located in the floodplain and has had issues with flooding in the past.

The town purchased property a few years ago for a new location and now they are finalizing plans to build the facility, located on Route 17b. Representatives from Delaware Engineering, the firm that is overseeing the project, came before the board at the regular board meeting on April 10.

Dave Ohman, President of Delaware Engineering, said the project will be completed in two phases. Phase 1 is site preparation, which will include building a road and entrance to the facility. They also need to clear a large amount of soil from the site. Phase 2 is actual construction of the structure.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $5 million, Delaware Engineering said. When they started the project the cost was $3.5 million, but because of the large amount of soil that needs to be removed at the new site, as well as time and an increase in price for materials, the cost went up.

The town has already secured half a million in funding, and the remainder will be funded through a bond.

“The original process was to do it all at once, [but] we broke it into two pieces so we could secure some money,” Ohman said. “We've got everything in place now; we can move forward.”

The new facility will include a larger salt shed, which is currently a need of the Highway Department. The current storage is in bad shape, Sykes said. “It's about to collapse,” Sykes said. “There's holes in it the size of snowballs, all over the place.”

During the floods of 2006 and 2007 there was equipment damage and sand piles washed away. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it would not cover the cost of damage from flooding in the future.

Sykes said it's time to make the move. “We have to be prudent, this is the right thing to do,” he said.

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