Alma town board rejects Allegany County snow and ice contract

For the second time in two weeks, the Alma town board Wednesday night rejected the Allegany County snow removal and ice control contract for county roads. Legislator Deb Root attended the meeting and asked the town board to vote again on the measure. Supervisor Ron Staedt said the board was told “county legislators would not hold the town to the letter of the contract.” A motion was brought to the floor by council member Bev Root for a re-vote which was seconded by Supervisor Staedt. After a twenty-minute discussion, the town board voted not to accept the contract. Staedt said the town had issues with “language in the contract.” The contract did provide a $75 per mile increase. Staedt said the contract also required the town to treat county roads before local highways. He indicated that was not reasonable. The town of Alma has 39 miles of local highways and 17.74 miles of county roads. Under the proposed deal, the town would be provided with an initial supply of 1,100 tons of salt and sand, which would be kept separate from the town supply. Staedt said the town of Wellsville, which only has nine miles of county highways, would be provided with 1,800 tons of salt and sand. The town of Alma operates three, 10-wheeled plow trucks. If the town can’t reach an agreement with the county, the county DPW would then be responsible for plowing and treating its roads during the winter…a likely budget increase for Allegany County. For years, Alfred and Clarksville have also rejected the county plan. County roads in Alma include routes 18, 29 and 38.

According to public county policy (full link is HERE) -

It is not the policy of the Allegany County Department of Public Works to provide continually bare roads or to provide snow and ice control services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is also not possible to maintain a bare road surface during or immediately following a snow or ice event. Typical hours of operation for snow and ice control are from the hours of 4:30 AM to approximately 9:00 PM. Snow and ice control operations will be primarily focused on morning and evening commuter travel times. During times of severe blizzard, drifting and/or icing conditions, the Public Works Superintendent or Deputy Superintendent may opt to keep 1 or 2 trucks on duty after normal hours if it is anticipated that without this extended operation it will be extremely difficult to open or clear certain roads for commuters.