By Matt Freeze — <\/p>\n
Town of Owego Highway Superintendent Mike Roberts has been frustrated with roadblocks set up by the town board regarding his projects over the last three and a half years in office. <\/p>\n
“This is typical of what happens to me,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cOne of the board members sent an email: \u2018I\u2019m for holding off on any new paving projects for 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts recalled the recent board decision to hold off on three paving projects that included Academy Street in front of the BOCES facility, as a board member was concerned about impacting students.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I reached out to the company and said, \u2018Hey, could you do it on a Saturday,\u2019\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThey said they could do it on a Saturday. I sent that to the board.\u201d<\/p>\n
He still doesn\u2019t want to do that road, Roberts said as he gestured to the email.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been that way since I got here,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m an outsider, so I don\u2019t walk their walk. I\u2019m not their puppet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts pointed out that the Town of Owego has 200 miles of roads.<\/p>\n
Doing simple math, taking into account the average life of a good road being 10 years, at least 20 miles of road need to be done each year to keep up, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t make up these rules \u2014 I only have a little over $2 million \u2014 it\u2019s just the reality,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cYou can barely do a mile of hot mix (asphalt) for a million dollars. So, that means I\u2019d only be able to do two miles a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts clarified that he\u2019s using round numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Hot mix) is what they used to do, and that\u2019s why they\u2019re so far behind,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to come up with something cheaper; we\u2019ve been averaging 20 to 25 miles a year over the last three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
To do that, Roberts said he’s consistently spoken with three area vendors to look at the roads and give him proposals, and added that there\u2019s only one local hot mix company in town.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be a monopoly; I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u201cAnyway, I get proposals on each road \u2014 each road is different, so each road doesn\u2019t necessarily get the same process. It depends on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are a lot of factors that go into it, he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t anybody that knows everything about roads and paving, but I rely on these people to give me input,\u201d he said. \u201cI can decipher BS.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said a lot of the roads he\u2019s done have been a cold mix, which is more affordable, and in his opinion, provides a better end result in this area because it\u2019s more flexible than hot-mix asphalt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the polymers and stuff they put in it \u2014 it\u2019s just a better product for this environment,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you take a look at some of the hot mix roads that were done prior to when I got here, a year later \u2014 look out Waits Road \u2014 it was full of cracks a year later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said to go look at the cold mix roads he\u2019s done: \u201cthere\u2019s no cracking.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cold mix process involves a mix of oil and stone through an industrial mixer and then run through paving machines.<\/p>\n
The town has also used what they call a \u201ctrain,\u201d or essentially a very large rototiller, to grind the road surface and part of the base and mix it with two-inch stone, then compact it back down into a new road surface.<\/p>\n
Morning Times readers in the Valley may recognize this process as full-depth reclamation, or FDR, as mentioned with the roadwork in Athens Township on Westbrook and Erin roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s saved us so much money \u2014 you\u2019re getting two or three miles, almost three; if that was hot mix, it\u2019d be millions,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cEven DOTs are using different processes now because of the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts brought attention to Main Street in Apalachin as an example.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a cold mix process with a micro layer over that,\u201d he said. \u201cI actually got an international award for that road, combining the two different processes. I think it\u2019s awesome, and it\u2019s going on three years,\u201d adding, \u201cI did that in my first year, and there\u2019s very little cracking, if any; it\u2019s just superficial cracking because the micro layer gets hard and cracks because there\u2019s a concrete mortar in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to road projects being turned down by the town council, Roberts said he feels bad for the residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a shame because I\u2019m just trying to get these things done; the residents deserve it,\u201d he said as he picked up a pile of spreadsheets outlining road projects. \u201cNo highway superintendent has spreadsheets for paving projects \u2014 it\u2019s unheard of. I give this to (the council) and show it to them, and they still say I go over budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said he\u2019s been working on a document to get all his numbers exactly right down to the penny, that he hasn\u2019t gone over budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been averaging roughly $200,000 to $300,000 that I return to the budget at the end of the year,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t spend my whole budget. I\u2019ve done it for three years in a row now. The first year, I just got some graph paper and started a handwritten one. Everything is here: project type, aggregate costs, and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said he just doesn\u2019t understand the pushback he\u2019s gotten from board members.<\/p>\n
Roberts also pointed out that with his background of 40 years as a mechanic, he\u2019s happy to say the town hasn\u2019t wasted any money on paying other garages to repair DPW vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve sourced out used engines with warranties; we\u2019ve put two or three engines in since I\u2019ve been here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got two good mechanics here now \u2014 I mean, really good. The one mechanic, I don\u2019t know why he\u2019s here when he could be making a lot more money somewhere else, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts gave an example that when he came into the position, one of the DPW trucks had been sitting at a mechanic with a $20,000 or $30,000 bill waiting to be picked up, only for that truck to have to go back for more repairs shortly after that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve done one hell of a good job,\u201d Roberts said of the town\u2019s road crew.<\/p>\n
Looking to the future and having lost the primary in June against former highway superintendent Mark Clark, Roberts said he isn\u2019t even looking to run a write-in campaign at this point or file as an independent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not even trying to politic right now; I\u2019m just trying to tell you what I\u2019ve been up against,\u201d he said. \u201cI just feel it\u2019s totally unwarranted. We\u2019ve accomplished a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said he and his deputy, Hank Hines, typically start going through road lists for the following year\u2019s projects in November and categorize them in terms of importance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to fit it in the budget; things don\u2019t happen overnight, but what kills me is I have all that money in my budget, and then I still have to go in front of them for an agreement to spend the money,\u201d he said. \u201cI won\u2019t be here to prove it, but all the roads we\u2019ve done are going to have at least 10 years of life expectancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said one of the things he\u2019s most proud of during his time as superintendent is reducing the number of dirt roads in the town.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cheaper to bite the bullet and redo them with an FDR,\u201d Roberts said of dealing with dirt roads, which often soak up a large amount of money and still need regular grading and materials added.<\/p>\n
Some roads, though, such as Holmes or Bolls Hill, are just always going to have problems due to water.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are underground streams, and we have a lot of freeze\/thaw cycles,\u201d he said. \u201cWe go in and get rid of trees because when you\u2019re driving around and you see a spot that\u2019s broken up, it\u2019s usually because of the trees that block the sun from getting in there and drying things out, and at night it just buckles.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he made it a point to go around and cut back limbs to help stop that process.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, roads are at the mercy of what the weather is doing, he said.<\/p>\n
Roberts said he was also pleased with being able to secure $3.2 million in grant money for bridges he got through his involvement and 20 year membership with the Binghamton Metropolitan Study Group.<\/p>\n
(Matt Freeze is a Senior Staff Writer with the Morning Times)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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