Highway.. moved from town council thread

[cheekman]

not much. you now have three stooges running the highway dept, now with Charlie in there. same old crap. high taxes, more crime, people leaving the area, and more trash moving into the west side of cheek. they bring in two more chicken places into the a high crime area of cheek. no control or presure to be put on the galleria to control the crime.

[WNYresident]

The highway department doesn't really control our town taxes. They also don't handle the crime issues.

What is the highway department duties?

I figure plowing, pot holes and traffic lights etc

[gorja]

The highway department doesn't really control our town taxes. They also don't handle the crime issues.


What is the highway department duties?


I figure plowing, pot holes and traffic lights etc

What about his mismanaging payroll records and overpaying his deputy and then having the balls to sue the town for defamation character.
His character wasn't famed. He was just a dufus

[Electric Eye]

The highway department doesn't really control our town taxes. They also don't handle the crime issues.

What is the highway department duties?

I figure plowing, pot holes and traffic lights etc

The Town Board only controls the Budget for the highway dept, They have no say or control over how it is managed by the ELECTED Highway Superintendent,

He also oversees the milling and paving of the town roads, watches over the contractors that do the sidewalk and curb replacements, cares for all town owned street lights including the ones on the 33. Leaf collection and more

For the town board to have control they would have to create a "Public Works" Dept., Not sure what is involved in creating that or dissolving the Highway Superintendent position as it is a elected position so it may have to go to the voters.

The Unions are controlling the town, Union employees have more power then their bosses. Their contracts are taking away many things from the tax payers in order to keep the tax increases low. Time for the unions to give back or take a pay freeze to save approx $2mil per year in contracted cost increases.

[WNYresident]

What about his mismanaging payroll records and overpaying his deputy and then having the balls to sue the town for defamation character.
His character wasn't famed. He was just a dufus

I have no clue what actually happened with payroll records and/or if anyone was over paid or not. Many items tend to be "one click" on the town board trying to one up or trash the "other click". "Mismanaging" can be a matter of opinion. I think the entire town tends to be "under managed" while people on the town board pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

What I simply don't agree with is when the town is sued over "internal BS" of the people running the town board. If Mark believes a few people on the town board defamed him then he should sue them directly. Why should us property owners cover any legal expenses for them?

[gorja]

He overpaid his deputy $28,000.
The Phillips Lytle report is no longer online.
It was here - https://artvoice.com/avdaily/2015/07.../#.XCzaplxKiM8

But no longer is.
His depositions proved that he was a bigger ape that the new deputy he hired. "ape" is his word regarding the deputy

[WNYresident]

He overpaid his deputy $28,000.
The Phillips Lytle report is no longer online.
It was here - https://artvoice.com/avdaily/2015/07.../#.XCzaplxKiM8

But no longer is.
His depositions proved that he was a bigger ape that the new deputy he hired. "ape" is his word regarding the deputy

The way he framed his comment at that time was rather lame.

[WNYresident]

The Town Board only controls the Budget for the highway dept, They have no say or control over how it is managed by the ELECTED Highway Superintendent,

He also oversees the milling and paving of the town roads, watches over the contractors that do the sidewalk and curb replacements, cares for all town owned street lights including the ones on the 33. Leaf collection and more

For the town board to have control they would have to create a "Public Works" Dept., Not sure what is involved in creating that or dissolving the Highway Superintendent position as it is a elected position so it may have to go to the voters.

The Unions are controlling the town, Union employees have more power then their bosses. Their contracts are taking away many things from the tax payers in order to keep the tax increases low. Time for the unions to give back or take a pay freeze to save approx $2mil per year in contracted cost increases.

That is why in my opinion it should be a hired position with the full ability to fire the person. I don't mean "fire" the person because because of political reasons. IE: New group controls the town board so they decide to hire one of their supporters and replace the current Highway Supervisor just for that reason. We all know there are idiots that would do that.

Do you have an idea how milling and paving are tracked? I know by condition but in what order of importance is work scheduled?

I wonder what type of system is in place to track potholes, light standards and basic maintenance items the department is responsible for.

Why "re-create" the department? Just eliminate the position and make mark an employee then go from there. Any town board worth their salt would know if the department is ran as it should be. How long do issues take to be repaired? How many issues are repaired compared to other localities? If a street light is out in Amherst, Lancaster etc... how long before they are repaired? We all know some items in town are old so you can't expected a lamp post from the 60's having spare bases available.

Why did we get stuck with the lights on the 33? The 33 seems to service more than one area so you would think it would be a county issue.

There is just so much stuff that needs to be reviewed and audited it would take a lot of time.

[Electric Eye]

The town budgets, $2mil every year for milling and paving. they bond it out for 15yrs.

IMO we should not bond the milling and paving, but should use reserve funds for it, Or at the very least only bond for 5-10 years. The town pays about $7mil per year in bond interest on many different bonds that I would bet many town employees plus their friends and family benefit by purchasing the tax free municipal bonds. It is the only thing that makes sense for the amount of time they are bonding. They are seeing a lower payment but fail to add all the extra interest. Even with low interest rates your still spending a small fortune in interest EVERY single year!!!

The town is like the person who wants the new car, so the salesman ask how much of a payment can you afford? The replay is as low as possible, Ok we can get you in it for $150/mo for 120 months at 3% instead of paying $300/for 50 months at 3%.

[WNYresident]

$7 million in bond interest? How much in bonds is the town carrying?

[Electric Eye]

$7 million in bond interest? How much in bonds is the town carrying?

My $7mil was incorrect, The 2018 numbers are $47.8mil in bond debt.

For 2019 $1.9mil in interest and $3.255mil in principle will be paid.

Over the next 10 years we the tax payers will pay $17,485,199 in interest

[WNYresident]

That is a lot of wasted money in interest.

Are they borrowing at a longer term than the milling/paving seems to last?

[Electric Eye]

They did my street about 4 yrs ago, maybe 5, it is already cracking, IMO it will not make 15yrs especially when you consider they did not oil it down before they paved therefore there is no "glue" to hold the topcoat to the old binder.

Then you have the ice rink repairs they bonded for 20 or 25yrs.....Low payment now equals lots of interest paid.

Also there is the sewer repairs, these are bonded the longest. Not sure of the term.

Their logic is the interest rate is low and that is true.....My logic is EXPENSE is EXPENSE is EXPENSE!!! and as it shows that interest adds up to some serious cash!


SO what will they bond this election year with 5 seats up for reelection....

[Electric Eye]

Another way to look at this is what is being cut that this interest could replace?

Or combined with union pay and benefit increases this is about $4mil/yr or $40mil on the low side over 10yrs....the town really needs to find a way to stop or at the very least greatly reduce the flow of cash to these 2 items as increases in taxes to make up for it will cause more people to flee the town.

[WNYresident]

That really isn't all that wise... Paying payments past the life time of the product then borrowing again to redo the job again. How do 7 people sit in a room and come up with this?

Are you sure you have your facts correct?

This would be like buying tires for your car that you know will last 4 years yet you borrow the money over 8 years. 4 years goes by and your borrowing once again to replace those tires while still paying for the original tires. You end up carrying a never ending balance that cost us interest.

That can't be correct.