Cobleskill Weathers Through Ice Storms

By Joshua Walther

COBLESKILL - On Monday evening, the Cobleskill Town Board met with Highway Superintendent Timothy Gallagher to discuss the nonstop weather patterns he’s had to combat.

“It’s been seventeen days straight,” he said, noting that his crew are on constant shift rotations. “I cover twenty four hours so that my guys can go home and sleep for a few hours, then I go and get a couple hours of sleep myself.”

When asked how many men are working underneath Superintendent Gallagher, he noted that there were five full-time and two part-time employees, though he receives help from the Village DPW as per a contract from last year.

“I’d like to put my appreciation out there for the Village because they’ve really stepped up to help us with moving snow and clearing sidewalks,” he said. “I can’t thank them enough.”

Supervisor Werner Hampel echoed his sentiment, saying “My goodness, they are working as they always have worked. It’s the best thing possible, you put together the two heads of the highway departments, and they get it done.”

Supervisor Hampel further inquired about their supplies of salt, to which Superintendent Gallagher said that he ran into a “hiccup” when he tried to order a few weeks ago because the supply is going so quickly.

“There’s not as much of a shortage as there was last year where you’re hoping to get salt,” he said, and further explained that the county is encountering the same problem. “It’s not just the little guys, it’s everybody.”

While still on the topic of highway maintenance, the Board also discussed an addition to their mailbox reimbursement policy, which sees the Town pay a resident up to a limit of $50 if one of their crew hits a mailbox while clearing the road. 

The cash limit did not change, but a suggestion was proposed to include the post and hardware beneath the physical mailbox in the reimbursement.

“Before, it was just the box,” Superintendent Gallagher said. “Everybody complained, saying that the box was fine but the post was gone, so we’re just tweaking the wording.”

Seeing no reason to deny the suggestion, the Board quickly approved a motion to include both the mailbox and its hardware in the reimbursement policy.