Louisville official: don't plow in Waddington

LOUISVILLE — At least one town official isn't sure the municipality can justify plowing a stretch of state highway that reaches into the town of Waddington, knowing that Louisville taxpayers have complained highway crews don't spend enough time on the community's own roads.

The town board recently signed a contract to continue plowing state routes 37 and 131 in the town of Louisville and a two-mile section of Route 37 in the town of Waddington.

In return for agreeing to plow those roads to the state's standards, the town will be reimbursed for the effort, including manpower, the use of plowing equipment and materials used such as salt and sand.

But Councilman Larry J. Dishaw wants the board to think about eliminating the two miles of state highway in Waddington from the town's schedule in order to give town crews more time to take care of town-owned roads.

"I don't think we should be plowing Waddington," he told the board. "The time we spend on that is time that's taken away from Louisville roads. With the amount of complaints we get about our roads, I don't think we should continue to spend time out there."

Town Supervisor Larry R. Legault said Louisville has been plowing the stretch of Route 37 between the Louisville/Waddington town line and McGinnis Road in Waddington for about two years.

The town of Waddington does not participate in the state's plowing program, in which the state pays municipalities to provide snow removal services for state-owned roads instead of plowing them with state crews. The town of Louisville, the state and the county each take care of plowing sections of state roads running through Waddington.

Mr. Dishaw said the extra plowing actually adds about eight miles to the town highway crew's work.

"They have to go up and back twice to get each side of the road and then they go back through two more times to push back the snowbanks and get the shoulders cleaned," he said.

The state also has rigorous standards for how its highways are plowed, which takes even more time away from Louisville roads as crews do their best to ensure Route 37 is clear, the councilman said.

"They want them as bare as possible," Mr. Dishaw said.

Town officials also have raised concerns about the county's plowing reimbursement schedule, in which a flat rate is paid to towns for plowing services provided to the county, no matter how mild or wild the winter weather may be.

While the contract does seem to cover the cost of plowing county roads during some plowing seasons, Louisville officials have argued that in bad winters the arrangement puts an unreasonable burden on communities.

No major changes have been proposed for the upcoming winter, but Mr. Dishaw believes the town should give serious consideration to the issue in the coming years.

"I just think we should make sure we're taking care of our people and our roads," the councilman said.