The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
NEW FACILITY
Officials unveil newly constructed Madison County Highway Garage
“This is a spectacular facility. I think as we come out of the pandemic, we are realizing just how much we need to recognize the absolutely crucial work that our essential workers do.” — State Sen. Rachel May
EATON, N.Y. >> A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday to unveil a newly constructed Madison County Highway Garage.
The $16 million project on Brown Road includes a 51,000 sq. ft. highway facility, a 22,500 sq. ft. salt storage building, a 12,300 sq. ft. cold storage building, a fire pump house, and a fuel facility. The main parking area can hold up to 12 fully loaded plow trucks, in addition to several pickup trucks and miscellaneous pieces of equipment. There are also work and training spaces for employees, and there’s even a place for the sheriff’s department to keep vehicles.
This facility replaces the current one in Morrisville on Cedar Street that has served the southern half of the county since 1948 and became inadequate over time.
Plow trucks could not be maneuvered efficiently due to the placement of steel structural columns forcing trucks to be stacked three-deep in a bay. If one truck was needed, sometimes one or two others had to be moved to use that vehicle.
In addition, the Cedar Street facility’s design didn’t meet modern standards; mid-century highway vehicles were smaller than today’s models, making spacing an issue.
Other problems included a lack of lifts and limited working space in the mechanic’s maintenance area, constant heating issues, no air conditioning, a leaking roof, and unreliable plumbing.
Additionally, the fueling station at the new facility has above-ground tanks, unlike the in-ground tanks at the old facility, that minimize the possibility of leaking and contaminating the groundwater.
The new location, not far from the old one, also allows the highway department to keep their existing plowrun schedule, but it is far enough away from residential areas to no longer disturb neighbors by trucks backing up at 3 a.m.
The potential for salt contamination to the groundwater supply was another issue considered throughout
the design and development of the new highway garage and complex.
“I want to give a special thank you to Ron Bono, chairman of the Highway Committee, for seeing this facility through,” Madison County Chairman John Becker said.
The $16 million highway garage is part of several investments the county has made to modernize their systems, Becker said while thanking the board of supervisors for seeing this most recent project through. Other recent investments include $20 million for a radio system for the county and its emergency responders and $16 million for the Madison County Courthouse to make it ADA accessible.
“I want to give a special thank you to our highway crews who come to work and do the job for Madison County every day,” Becker added. County employees also did the landscaping and site work at the new facility, saving the county hundreds of thousands of dollars. Becker asked that the crowd give the crew a round of applause.
A benefit of the new facility is the increased amount of space, explained Madison County Highway Superintendent F. Joseph Wisinski. That extra space and storage make it much easier to maintain county equipment that would have otherwise had to face the elements and be repaired, which costs money.
This facility serves Madison County communities that fall south of Route 20. Salting, plowing, ditching, drainage, road striping, paving, and tree work are just some of the jobs the road-maintenance crew completes, he said.
“This is a spectacular facility,” State Sen. Rachel May said. “I think as we come out of the pandemic, we are realizing just how much we need to recognize the absolutely crucial work that our essential workers do.”
She continued, “I’m just thrilled to see that you all are going to be able to work in conditions that are worthy of the work that you do.”
“I’ll put it as simply as I can: Madison County, ya done good,” Assemblyman John Salka said. “This is for the guys that are out there every day, no matter what the weather, no matter what time of day it is, they’re out there keeping our roads safe. You guys are the heroes.”
Salka added, “You deserve this. This is going to be great for morale, [and] this is going to be great for the quality of work that you do.”
“It’s so nice to see so many people here today, this is a great experience for us,” commented Bono.
There were many people to thank who were involved, including construction management team Lechase Construction, C&S Engineers, and contractors, Beebe Construction, S.C. Spencer Electrical, Brosh Mechanical, Inc., Comfort Systems USA, Lavalley Bros. Construction, and Johnson Controls.
It also felt like every department in the county, from finance, IT, maintenance, to the board of supervisors, also had a hand in this project, Wisinski said.
“The most important thing to me is the fact that my department and my staff have a fully functioning and comfortable building to work out of,” Wisinski added. “The amount of time and effort that the staff and I [put in] to get this building done was nothing short of amazing.
“When we started this project, [the county crew] were cutting trees and clearing brush in the middle of winter in the freezing cold,” he remarked. “Nobody complained about it. They were excited about the opportunity to have a new building to work out of.” The grading and paving work at the site was also extensive, but they got it done just in time.
“Because Madison County pushed forward with this important project in March 2020, just a few short weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, the county has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars for its taxpayers and kept important trades workers employed during this difficult time,” County Administrator Mark Scimone said.
“If we had waited and pumped the brakes on this project for several months, we would have fallen victim to the material cost increases that have rocked the construction industry over the last year,” Scimone added. “Lumber costs have skyrocketed over 500%, steel prices have gone up over 75%, and copper prices have increased over 125%, since our bid date.
“Delivering a successful project, well under budget, is something of which the entire county and the construction team can be proud. And to the best of our knowledge, there were zero reported positive cases of COVID-19 on the Highway Facility project, start to finish.”
Wisinski concluded, “I’m looking forward to being able to function out of this building for a long long time to come.”