Summer construction to slow traffic on Route 60
By MICHAEL RUKAVINAYour tax dollars will be put to work and will most likely slow your travels along a few parts of Route 60.
According to town of Pomfret supervisor Don Steger, the NYS Department of Transportation informed the board that a few sections of Route 60 will be designated as "restricted highways" until September.
"I've received notification from the NYS Department of Transportation about the designation of a restricted highway. Two sections of Route 60 from County Road 44 to US Route 20 in the towns of Gerry, Charlotte and Pomfret are being reconstructed under a contract. The designation shall expire Sept. 30," Steger said. "Also another section which they want to restrict is Route 60 from County Road 58 in the village of Cassadaga to Route 20 in the town of Pomfret. This restriction is set to expire on Sept. 1, after reconstruction."
Steger said this restriction will not make for free-flowing traffic.
"Restricted highway means restricted permits for weights. They will be doing the same thing they did from Gerry to Cassadaga last year," added Highway superintendent Jim Oakes.
In other news:
n The town passed a resolution to have their water rate increased accordingly per contract with the village of Fredonia effective June 1, which is a 25-cent increase per 1,000 gallons.
n The Chautauqua County Department of Health issued a maximum contaminant level violation for the Chestnut Water District in the town of Pomfret.
"We've been monitoring it as we go along. The problem with Chestnut is we don't have enough waterflow for the size of the pipe. Right now we're in the process under the approval from the department of health, we're going to be doing regular flushing to that pipe to keep the water moving so it can't build up TTHM which is what we're testing for," Steger explained. "We have to sample it more often and they'll be doing it over the next quarter to determine whether they're going to insist we put in automated flushers which will flush by themselves. The problem is it's a dead-end. If we have the ability to tie it into another system, that would alleviate that problem."
Oakes said the town is currently flushing the pipe once a week to help alleviate the problem.
n Councilman Rod Pennica returned to the board to answer a few questions regarding a proposal to install security cameras at Forest Hill Cemetery to help deter vandals. The questions were who would have access, how much the 160GB DV-R stores and what the ongoing costs would be. Pennica answered whomever the town approved access, whatever timeframe you tell the unit to store and how to store it and, if hooked up to the internet for real-time viewing, ongoing costs would be as low as $29.95 per month for internet access. The cameras would also be motion activated.
Steger requested a formal proposal which Pennica will give to the board in the near future.
n The town of Pomfret court conducted 359 traffic, 12 criminal, one tax and trans law, seven agg. and market, one ABC and four ECL cases. The 385 cases totalled $30,678 in fines and surcharges collected.
Comments may be sent to mrukavina@observertoday.com
