Jim Spacht, current town of Ripley highway superintendent, has been endorsed by: The Democratic Party, Working Families and the Independence Party in the upcoming General Election on Nov. 5. Jim has also won the endorsement from the New York State- Region 9 UAW.

Jim is not afraid to make the tough decisions needed as the boss. He continues to keep the roads safe, upgrade their condition while saving the taxpayers money by assisting with multiple town projects. As a working boss, he works side-by-side with the highway workers; this eliminated a position, so the town did not have to hire and pay another worker.

Jim’s notable accomplishments for the taxpayers in the past four years:

¯ Received $125,000 New York State grant to build a much-needed salt shed. He voluntarily spent the last four years working with New York State to get the grant and by sticking with it, he got the money for Ripley. The ground was just cleared off and it will be built soon. This was much needed because the salt was washed away by rain/snow into a nearby creek.

¯ Provides a detailed daily report at every monthly town board public meeting to be accountable to the taxpayers.

¯ Filled two vacant highway worker positions with dependable workers that are skilled mechanics. This has drastically reduced equipment downtime and repair costs since they work on all town equipment, not just for the highway.

¯ Paved seven dirt roads and worked with New York State to obtain free millings. This had not occurred in the past and is a huge savings. Previously dirt: Greenbush, Johnson, East Johnson, Rater, Colton, Miller and the upper end of Cemetery.

¯ Re-paved nine roads that were in dire need of repair and sealed several of them. Re-paved: Forsyth, Belson, Shaver, Burton, Mechanic, Sidehill, Sulphur Springs, Loomis and Wisner.

¯ Patched numerous roads throughout the town until they can be fully upgraded.

¯ Work on the following town projects: Ripley Beach, Gazebo Park, water/sewer projects, demolition projects, small sidewalk grant, town hall. When we send highway workers to non-highway projects, the town can often get “match dollars” from the state for that labor.

¯ Purchased the following equipment (some with grant funds): F-250, F-550, one used plow truck, reframed an existing truck, added a new dump-box which the highway department did themselves to save money rather than replacing with a new truck. In the process of replacing an existing plow truck with a new one.

¯ Manages the town’s largest budget and New York State Chips funds: Uses the funds in the most cost-effective ways to be financially responsible to the taxpayers. Gets the jobs done with a combined effort through shared services. “We work with nearby towns, villages and the county and they help us on large projects at no cost.”

Jim’s goals for the next four years:

¯ Implementing a new strategy to get the sidewalks cleared early in the morning, to keep the kids safe while still clearing the roads for the busses and residents.

¯ Pave the remaining dirt roads with millings.

¯ Re-pave all the roads that are in dire need, as budget will allow. It costs about $100,000 per mile to pave with blacktop.

¯ Continue working with the town board to update equipment on a revolving schedule.

¯ Continue managing and supervising manpower and work on additional town projects as needed to keep costs down for the taxpayers.

More about Jim:

A lifelong volunteer community servant and resident. His wife Shelly (Hoyt) Spacht, grew up in Ripley and they have been married for almost 25 years. They have three adult children; Christopher, Joseph and Kayla that were raised on his family’s 169-acre farm in Ripley where his grandfather began farming in 1958 and where they still live. They instilled a sense of work ethic and community service in their kids, two of them are EMT’s/firefighters and the other is an Army veteran.

He is a 34-year active volunteer member in the Ripley Fire District, have been a volunteer fire-chief for nearly 20 years and is the current district deputy fire chief in Ripley. He voluntarily wrote grants for the fire district due to the extreme need for funds. He successfully received over $250,0000 in funding over the past 15-20 years for the Ripley Fire District. Most notably; the bunker gear that the Ripley volunteer firefighters wear to keep them safe while protecting the community, these include; leather boots, helmets, bunker pants and coats and hoods and gloves for all firefighters in the Ripley Fire District. He also received grant funding for the truck-bay addition onto the South Ripley Firehall, oversaw the building project and spent countless hours working with many others to get it built. No taxpayer funds were used for the project which houses the South Ripley fire engine and tanker.

His experience as a 30-year working boss is in his own dairy farming business which gives him the skills to manage multiple and varied work projects for the highway department. He is dedicated to this community and wants to see it continue to improve. That is why he is willing to put in the extra time to make sure that the highway team is always working for the community. Working on other town projects, repairs and maintenance to equipment, shared services with other communities are all part of the job; let’s keep moving forward in this positive direction of work for the community.