Traffic Concerns on Clauverwie

By Joshua Walther

MIDDLEBURGH - On Thursday evening, a concerned resident brought up several perceived issues to the Middleburgh Town Board, with the most prevalent being the state of the roads.

“We have to talk about the ditch on Clauverwie,” the resident opened with, alluding to the strip of washed-out asphalt that runs along the width of the street.

He noted that the attempts to fix the ditch have had no results, saying “Whatever they fill it with just washes right out. It just breaks your suspension.

The resident also argued for replacing the blinking yellow light on the intersection of Clauverwie and Main with a three light system to allow for a smoother flow of traffic.

“People get anxious sitting at that blinker,” he said. “Someone’s going to get impatient, and something’s going to happen.”

“Those crosswalks are dangerous, too,” said Town Clerk Renee Schmidt, offering an anecdote about how hard it is to tell which street a pedestrian is crossing.

However, the Board said they couldn’t do much about improving the traffic. “If we install a three light there, people are going to get mad about being backed up in front of people’s houses,” Supervisor John Youmans replied.

“And it’s not our problem, either,” explained member Wes Laraway. “For that intersection, that’s all on the county or state Department of Transportation.” The Board did not speak further on Clauverwie’s ditch.

In other news, Highway Superintendent Steve Kowalski asked the Board if they had any Town ordinance surrounding animals that weren’t fenced in properly.

He recently received a call about an animal complaint, and told the Board that there were free-ranging goats that threatened to destroy the neighboring properties.

While the police have been called for the issue, Superintendent Kowalski said that there was nothing they could do on their level, prompting him to bring the situation to the Board.

Supervisor Youmans confirmed that there is no such law in place, but alluded to looking into something in the future if the problem continues to persist.

Finally, Mr. Laraway reported that the old town hall may go back on the tax roll pending the results of a final inspection.

“If I don’t hear back from them, then no news is good news,” he said. “I’m confident that we might close in June. It’ll be good to get that building back on its feet.”