When the county’s truck and vehicle wash officially opened in March on Delphine Street in Owego, the construction not only saved dollars that would have been spent on a new facility but will extend the life of the county’s assets as well.
According to the County Commissioner of Public Works, Gary Hammond, P.E., the cost of constructing a new facility rose to over $2 million, and mostly due to inflation. When Hammond discovered that the former Town of Owego Highway Department on Delphine Street was available for a cost of $200,000, they moved forwards with plans, and the purchase.
Pictured, Kyle Gregrow, from Tioga County DPW, cleans debris off of one of the county trucks at the new wash facility, located on Delphine Street in Owego. (Photo by Wendy Post)
The facility on Delphine Street was heavily flooded in 2011, and the Town of Owego Highway Department vacated things and moved them over to the town’s new facility on Route 434. Because it was already a municipal facility, it was pretty seamless for the county’s DPW to move in.
“We didn’t build a two-million dollar facility,” said Hammond, “we built a two-hundred-thousand dollar facility.”
The County’s Commissioner of Public Works, Gary Hammond, P.E., is pictured outside of the bays at the county’s new wash facility, located on Delphine Street in Owego. (Photo by Wendy Post)
He added, “It was the right thing to do. If, heaven forbid, we see another high water event we will wash the building down and go back to washing vehicles.”
With ten county trucks that plow 140 centerline miles in the wintertime, the new wash facility will help extend the life of the vehicles as well. Hammond noted that each of the plow trucks handles 14 miles, carrying a mixture of sand and salt to apply to the roads when hazardous.
A deputy cleans off a vehicle at the county’s new wash facility, located on Delphine Street in Owego. Provided photo.
And although Hammond stated that shared services are always a topic of discussion when it comes to cleaning the roads, he added that it doesn’t matter what color the truck is, you still need that many trucks to clean the road in a timely fashion.
“If I have a truck down, it slows down our response time,” Hammond added of the importance of caring for the county’s vehicles.
Back at the wash on Delphine Street, Hammond talked about the ease of transforming the facility, in addition to the dollars saved.
Because of the size of the trucks, the county needed to have a high volume system that would take the majority of the debris away. In the construction, a floor drain separates the oil and water before it flows into the sewer.
A truck sits outside of the county’s new wash facility, located on Delphine Street in Owego. (Photo by Wendy Post)
With large bay areas for the wash and its drainage system, several areas within the building that can serve as an office, and an old feed mill on the existing property for storage, the wash facility was an adaptive reutilization of an existing municipal property. This move saved taxpayer dollars and is extending the service life of the Tioga County Automotive and Heavy Equipment Fleets.
In addition, the county’s 100 vehicles will now be washed on a regular basis. All of the vehicles, Hammond noted, fuel up at Scott Smith & Son, also located on Delphine Street, so the wash is conveniently located.
A freshly washed truck sits in the bay at the county’s new wash facility, located on Delphine Street in Owego. (Photo by Wendy Post)
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