New Lisbon Celebrates Groundbreaking of Town Highway Garage

GARRATTSVILLE

To celebrate construction of a new town highway garage, the Town of New Lisbon held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Monday, April 3 on the building site at 809 County Road 16, Garrattsville. Town, county and federal officials and members of the public were among those in attendance.

The new garage will be energy efficient and provide nearly 10,000 square feet of space. It replaces the existing garage, which officials describe as “over 50 years old, in poor condition, and inadequate for today’s highway trucks and equipment.” The new building will have two sections, one for storage and another for office facilities and a service area. Construction is made possible by funding from the United States Department of Agriculture–Rural Develop-ment, with additional funding from the town and from Otsego County.

“We’re very excited about this project,” said Town Highway Superintendent Don Smith. “We needed to do something about the old garage and it just made no sense to invest in repairing the old building. Now, we’ll have a modern, cost-efficient building with enough room to safely store and work on our trucks and heavy equipment,” he added.

Town Supervisor Ed Lentz admitted the project had not been an easy sell to some town residents.

“There were a number of people in the town who were afraid their taxes would go up sharply. But—with public input, careful planning, good management of our limited resources, and help from the USDA and the county—we were able to make it happen with only a slight increase of town taxes despite pandemic-related cost increases.”

Lentz added, “The initial resistance was to be expected, given that the project cost will approach $3 million after all is said and done.”

Assemblyman Brian Miller (R,C-New Hartford) praised the project in a press release following the groundbreaking event.

“Today, I would like to applaud the Town of New Lisbon on the groundbreaking of their new town highway garage. This roughly 9,800-square-foot facility will replace the current town highway garage building that is more than 50 years old. This approximately $3 million project will allow for the proper maintenance and storage of town highway trucks and equipment in a functional environment that is energy efficient.

“I commend the town, the United States Department of Agriculture and the Bank of Cooperstown for their joint effort in making this long-awaited and much-needed facility a reality,” Miller said.

After preliminary sketches and plans were developed in 2021, the town held numerous well-attended public meetings to discuss and to refine the project, leading to a referendum in November 2021 in which a majority of voters approved the project. Following completion of site, feasibility, and environmental studies in the first half of 2022, the project was put out for bids, which were awarded in August, 2022. Completion is expected later this year.

The lead engineer on the project is Bill Brown of Delaware Engineering in Oneonta. Upstate Companies LLC of Mt. Upton is the general and electrical contractor, and S&H Mechanicals Inc. of Cincinnatus is the plumbing and HVAC contractor. A committee of town residents is assisting the town board in overseeing the project. A USDA architect is also providing oversight.