By Matt Freeze —<\/p>\n
Most highway department decisions were tabled at the recent Town of Owego meeting, where disagreements took center stage between the councilmen and Highway Superintendent Mike Roberts.<\/p>\n
When the discussion moved on to potential paving projects, Councilman Craig Jochum quickly moved to table an agreement to spend on paving projects on Pleasant Drive, Cherry Court, and Academy Street. <\/p>\n
Councilman Gary Hellmers and Jochum asked Roberts when he was planning on doing those roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll do it right after we get this approved,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cYou have to get it approved first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jochum said he wanted to hold off on the project because work on Academy Street would impact the start of the school year. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a big deal; you just close down one lane at a time,\u201d Roberts said. <\/p>\n
The paving projects were promptly tabled.<\/p>\n
During the second privilege of the floor later in the meeting, a resident asked when the projects would be done, to which Town Supervisor Don Castellucci replied that they weren\u2019t approved. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe question is, traditionally, Mike has gone way over budget on some of this paving,\u201d Jochum said. <\/p>\n
Castellucci and Roberts both said, \u201cThat\u2019s not true,\u201d at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely not true,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI\u2019ve never gone over budget on anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot even close,\u201d Castellucci said. \u201cHe\u2019s never been over budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jochum then started laughing while looking at Roberts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not even going there,\u201d Castellucci said, and discussion of the subject ended. <\/p>\n
Also on the agenda was a resolution to declare as surplus a 2009 International Dump Truck with mechanical issues, including a weak frame. <\/p>\n
The resolution also stated that the prior highway department administration had ordered the emissions control to be deleted from the truck, which is a violation of federal law and will resultantly not pass inspection. <\/p>\n
\u201cMike, we\u2019ve got a problem with this \u2014 we\u2019ve got a new person coming in and I think he should be the one to do surplus on vehicles,\u201d said Hellmers. \u201cThat\u2019s just my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jochum said he thought that was consistent with what happened when Roberts was elected into office. <\/p>\n
Roberts replied that it was understandable, but he had to take the truck out of service because it\u2019s unsafe to drive and won\u2019t pass inspection. <\/p>\n
\u201cLegally, we shouldn\u2019t be operating with the emissions controls deleted,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been cracking down on that lately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jochum said \u201cactually, that\u2019s the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, that\u2019s not true \u2014 the emissions controls cant be tampered with,\u201d Roberts said. <\/p>\n
Jochum said he wasn\u2019t going to argue with him. <\/p>\n
\u201cI hope not, you\u2019re not an authorized state inspector, which I am,\u201d Roberts said. <\/p>\n
Jochum made a motion to table the decision, which was seconded by Councilman Jonathan Marks. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fine, I\u2019m just making a note that we\u2019re not operating this vehicle,\u201d Roberts said. <\/p>\n
Discussion moved on to upgrading the rank of three highway employees. <\/p>\n
One was immediately approved. <\/p>\n
The next was up for discussion. <\/p>\n
\u201cHold on, we\u2019ve got a new [highway superintendent] coming in, and we\u2019re putting in a supervisor that he isn\u2019t choosing,\u201d Hellmers questioned. <\/p>\n
Jochum asked Roberts whether he had discussed the positions with Mark Clark. <\/p>\n
Clark won a primary against Roberts in June this year for highway superintendent. <\/p>\n
\u201cOh, is he elected already,\u201d Roberts asked. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had the election yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jochum moved to table the promotion, which was seconded by Hellmers. <\/p>\n
The third promotion was also discussed, where Jochum, Marks, and Hellmers questioned whether the promotion was warranted based on different levels of certifications. <\/p>\n
Jochum moved to table that promotion as well. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Matt Freeze — Most highway department decisions were tabled at the recent Town of Owego meeting, where disagreements took center stage between the councilmen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":107464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n