Lyme delays Highway Department move

CHAUMONT — The village of Chaumont and the town of Lyme's three-phase plan to relocate their joint Highway Department has been delayed a year.

Town of Lyme Supervisor Scott G. Aubertine said the municipalities were unable to secure funding necessary for the first phase of the project, which would have relocated the joint salt and sand barn next to the fuel depot shared with the Lyme Central School District on Route 12E. The municipalities planned to build a new sand and salt barn and a heated loader building on the site with state grant money.

"We were not accepted for that grant," he said. "But we have reapplied for it and we have our fingers crossed," Mr. Aubertine said.

In January, the town and village applied for a $238,000 Local Government Efficiency Implementation grant. The two municipalities reapplied for the same amount in September.

In the meantime, Mr. Aubertine said, the joint Highway Department will continue to finish portions of the project with in-house labor.

"We've started work on the parking lot and we have moved some sand to the site," he said.

The goal of the relocation of the barn is to stop the runoff of sand and salt into Horse Creek. The heated loader building also should reduce the labor involved in mixing and loading sand and salt by keeping the materials dry, Mr. Aubertine said.

The barn and loader building construction project is part of a larger plan to relocate the entire joint Highway Department from its current location at the municipal building on Route 12E to the new site next to the joint fuel depot. The move is expected to help the municipalities cut back on operational costs and reduce traffic in the downtown area by moving the department away from the center of the village.

Mr. Aubertine said the municipalities might proceed with the actual construction next year without state funding if the grant request is denied a second time.

Once the new barn and loader buildings are completed, the municipalities plan to build two new truck bays and a washing and maintenance bay next to them.

In the final phase, the municipalities will construct four additional truck bays, build a highway superintendent's office and the department would move into the new facilities.

A municipal office expansion could follow, Mr. Aubertine said, because relocation of the Highway Department would make room for more office space at the joint municipal building on Route 12E.

Mr. Aubertine said the municipalities hope to relocate the entire department within the next three years.