Gilboa Discusses Flat Creek Road

By Liz Page

GILBOA – Officials in Gilboa are optimistic that a plan to reopen Flat Creek Road is moving forward, after months of being in limbo. They also changed the date of the June meeting to June 16 at 6:30 p.m.

Supervisor Alicia Terry said her fellow supervisors are on board and agree the landslide that closed Flat Creek Road three years ago has presented unique conditions that are above and beyond normal shared services agreements.

It is possible, pending approval, the town may be able to begin some of the work and provide manpower to the project. The pavement will be removed along with some of the large rocks to take some of the weight off the embankment which continues to move. The pavement will be crushed and returned as part of the road bed. There will be ditching and the underlayment of fabric to help stabilize the bank. There will also be a determination of the culverts that will be needed to help prevent a future slide and the road will not be repaved, according to Terry's report.

Terry said there has been a lot of conversation, but she is hopeful the project will now move forward. She said there is a lot of traffic that has been affected, including employees at the New York Power Authority and the Gilboa-Conesville School.

"The town needs permission to get in there and start doing the work," said Highway Superintendent John Wyckoff. "They have kicked the can down the road for too long."

Flat Creek Road has been closed now for three years and traffic detoured along Wyckoff Road. A mud slide and unstable bank at one portion of the road, resulted in its closure. A county roadway, the county has been researching how to stabilize the road bed to prevent further slides. The detour on Wyckoff Road has doubled the amount of traffic on the town road. The road travels between the parking lot and athletic fields and the school building at Gilboa-Conesville Central School, which has been concerned, with speed limits lowered. However, there is a lot of wear and tear on the town roadway and Supervisor Terry is asking fellow supervisors to consider the special circumstances and develop a policy for the future to help compensate the towns for damage to its infrastructure under such circumstances.

Town officials have also been in discussion with GCCS officials regarding their upcoming capital project and possible effects on repairs to Wyckoff Road. They are attempting to avoid damage to the roadway resulting from the ongoing school project. It is anticipated there will be no effect on Wyckoff Road and its resurfacing from the upcoming school project.

In other business, which was very routine on Monday, board members heard monthly reports. Town attorney Joanne Crum continues to work with a property owner on Kniskern Road. He is proposing to dig a trench across the roadway to bury the NYSEG electric service. She said he questioned the need for an engineer to design the project. Wyckoff explained it is not standard to have the regular electric lines, which have higher voltage than a service line, buried under a town roadway and believes it does require the engineer to ensure it is being done safely and that it is mapped out for the future. He said the project will not show up under Dig New York. Board members also yielded to Wyckoff's decision for the highway crew to continue with five eight-hour days rather than four 10-hour days unless every crew member agreed to the change.

Wyckoff reported there was some minor flooding from last week's rain along Bund and Curtis Roads where culverts will be replaced. The crew has hauled stone for the coming summer paving. He reported two dumpsters were filled during tire day.

Felina Marshal, of Conesville, was approved as director of the Summer Day Co-op. She is a licensed teaching assistant at Gilboa-Conesville Central and has some experience as a sub with the program. The town also plans to submit an application to the New York Swim Grant to help pay the cost of transportation for the program. They requested quotes for the transportation with the school being the lowest at $5 per mile.

At an April 30 meeting of the town board, board members accepted a quote of $149,876 from Henderson Products Inc. to purchase a mini truck body, plow and wing. They discussed the order at the April meeting.