OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen The Town of Arkwright has begun construction on the new Highway Department building additions. The Town Hall, pictured above, will also undergo renovations in the coming months.

ARKWRIGHT — Construction is finally underway in Arkwright, as the long awaited building project for a new Highway Department building began on Tuesday.

The night before, the Town Board made the final decision on the building. After a lengthy discussion, the Board selected a slate gray exterior for the building with a dove gray roof and white trim. The Board came to the decision based on a desire to avoid colors that will fade over time. Town Board member Polly Gambino joked. “This is Arkwright. It’s going to be 25,000 years before we replace it.”

The project, which calls for an addition to the Highway Department building at just over $850,000, will come with additional costs as the Town refurbishes the current Town Hall. Multiple payments have been made to CPL: Architecture-Engineering-Planning, the Town’s contracted engineers formerly referred to as Clark-Patterson-Lee. The town also plans to refurbish the current Town Hall as a meeting room and courthouse in the coming months.

In other long-term plans for the Town, with a current four-person crew in the Highway Department and the potential for attrition, the Town is evaluating a temporary addition of a fifth employee.

Town Supervisor Brian McAvoy stated the addition would only be under the circumstances of “if we had the right person, who would be a long-term employee for the town, who we could find.”

The Town will evaluate the matter in the coming months, with no action taken at the recent meeting.

“We won’t just do it blindly,” McAvoy said.