Town of Owego Supervisor holds press conference to negate board actions

Times have changed, and so has the climate surrounding politics in the Town of Owego. With a newly elected Town of Owego Highway Department Supervisor mid-term into his appointment, the Town’s Supervisor, Don Castellucci, feels that the current board is trying to undermine highway superintendent’s responsibilities, and defended the processes used by the town recently related to highway maintenance and spending.

Much of the recent controversy amongst the board stems from the purchase of a 1-Ton Ford, at a cost of approximately $55,000. Several current board members claim that the town’s budget, which was ratified and concluded in November of last year, did not reflect any budgeted amounts for two F-350 TXS pickup trucks. The board members noted that the trucks also carried $5,100 of accessories each.

With a $7,700 fee imposed to return the truck, the board will now have to decide the best avenue to take, a decision that has not been made at the time of this reporting. The possibility of auctioning off of the truck to avoid the return fees, as well as other resale options were discussed.

Castellucci, during the conference, claimed that the trucks were in the budget, although the vehicle purchase proposal was dated Jan. 13, 2023, and the town’s resolution authorizing the purchase, is dated June 6, 2023.

To this, Castellucci defended the highway superintendent, noting that the town board was undermining him, and that any errors could be corrected with a resolution.

Castellucci continued to voice his frustrations, stating that the board was merely trying to control the daily operations of the highway superintendent, and that he overheard conversations by a councilmember that talked about a “smoking gun”, lending towards his suspicions that the actions of some of the council members was out of spite.

Another highway task the council members were accused of interfering in was work to repair a culvert at Frank Hyde and McLean Valley Roads in Owego. A Highway Department letter that went out by the Highway Superintendent on July 6, 2023 informed residents that the bridge located there would be closed indefinitely for repairs.

Upon this news, residents living in that area packed the town hall meetings in opposition to the road’s closure. To remedy the situation, a fix was offered through several councilmembers to repair the culvert without the studies and evaluations being proposed. As of the date of this reporting, the repairs were only a day or two away from being complete and things reopened.

Another issue included the proposed purchase of a 6-ton Hot Box at a cost of $78,000 for highway use. Some council members argue that the current 4-ton Hot Box could be repaired for a couple of thousand dollars, thus saving taxpayer dollars.

Castellucci, in response to questions surrounding the Hot Box, stated that purchases by the former superintendent were never questioned in this fashion, further lending to his suspicions of spitefulness.

Council members Gary Hellmers, Jonathan Marks, and Craig Jochum stated in a response to the town supervisor’s allegations of spite that no egregious actions have ever been taken by the majority of the board to undermine the highway supervisor’s ability to manage his job, and that they are consistently working for the benefit of the taxpayers and to be fiscally responsible and to hold elected officials accountable to the people.

They closed their statement with a desire to see the Town of Owego Board provide transparency to taxpayers.