Gilboa's New Truck Has Arrived

By Liz Page

GILBOA – The town of Gilboa's new highway truck has arrived and Supervisor Alicia Terry continues to negotiate the repair of Wyckoff Road, which is being used as a detour from county-owned Flat Creek Road. They also awarded a fuel bid.

Those were the main topics for Gilboa Town Board members during their regular meeting on June 5.

With the new truck in-house, the town is moving funds to pay for it. The highway crew has finished grading the town's dirt roads and worked to shim a portion of Valente Road, where a portion had slid. They also did storm cleanup after heavy rain and wind.

The town received just one bid on diesel and heating fuel, kerosene, and propane. The firm price bid was awarded to Mirabito on all items. The town had been hoping for some additional bidders after the town ran out of fuel for town trucks. While other companies expressed interest, no other bids were received.

Supervisor Terry reported she has been negotiating with the county Department of Public Works committee for the repair of Wyckoff Road. Flat Creek Road has been closed for two years and traffic detoured along Wyckoff Road. Wyckoff Road travels between the parking lot and athletics fields and the school building at Gilboa-Conesville Central School, which has been a concern, with speed limits lowered. However, there is a lot of wear and tear to the town roadway and Supervisor Terry is saying the county should pick up the cost of resurfacing the roadway since there is no other case where a county road has been closed for this length of time and doubling the amount of traffic on a town roadway.

Terry said she is asking the county to pick up the total tab, due to the unusual circumstances. "I was aiming high, knowing the county will likely not approve the full cost."

She also suggested last month that the county adopt a policy to handle possible future situations.

She also reported that the generator installations at the town hall and Post Office building and town highway garage are nearing completion. The town will now have backup power when there are power outages.

The town's new email system is a work in progress, according to Terry. She asked everyone to be patient as the county's technology department is working to install the new emails and work out the glitches.

Board members were also reminded, along with the townspeople, that Schoharie County has an upcoming Hazardous Materials collection day coming up on July 27, to get rid of hazardous household materials.