Mild winter saves McDonough money, but road challenges loom
McDONOUGH – The Town of McDonough is off to a good start for taxpayers in 2012, thanks in part to money saved on highway expenses due to a mild winter – but the money saved won’tbe enough to repair town roads.
McDonough managed to save on road maintenance, labor, fuel costs and equipment this year, said Town Supervisor Arrington Canor on Monday. All this, he added, is working in favor of a community where a majority of the population is relying on a fixed income.
“It’s a great year for us and it’s saving us a lot of money ... If it doesn’t snow, we’ll be way ahead of the game,” Canor stated.
All this is more than welcome news as increasing costs and a tighter budget continually present new challenges, Canor added. While deteriorating roads in the township are in need of repair, not much can be done to them because the current economic state of the town is too poor, despite money saved this winter, he said.
Oil and stone were used to construct local roads nearly 10 years ago, but the lack of maintenance on these roads are causing them to slowly wane and McDonough residents can expect to see more dirt roads take shape in the coming year, Canor said. Moreover, the lack of funding is again preventing the town from major repairs on Tanner Hill Road, which was washed out by flooding in 2006.
Though McDonough qualified for funds from the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) late last year – $14,000 of which was used to buy new plows for the town’s DPW – CHIPS stipulations allow road replacement, but don’t allow road repairs, said Canor.
Though roads will not be improved any time soon, other projects are being considered that will save residents more money in the long run, said Canor. Small projects at town hall and the highway garage in the coming months will make the two buildings more heat efficient. The council is also examining the benefits of building a new highway truck by ordering parts piece by piece and assembling it on site. If it’s determined by the board that this is a project worth carrying out, taxpayers could be spared more than $100,000 the cost of a new truck and the town’s oldest truck can be sold, Canor explained.
Still, the biggest dispute in the area continues to be the issue of natural gas drilling and while Canor said there are pros and cons to the debate, he wants to do what’s best for the community while working with the council to keep taxes low. He is expecting more heated debates between townspeople and council members on the issue in the near future.
“The next two or more years are going to be rough until we get some of the gas issues straightened out,” he said.
McDonough managed to save on road maintenance, labor, fuel costs and equipment this year, said Town Supervisor Arrington Canor on Monday. All this, he added, is working in favor of a community where a majority of the population is relying on a fixed income.
“It’s a great year for us and it’s saving us a lot of money ... If it doesn’t snow, we’ll be way ahead of the game,” Canor stated.
All this is more than welcome news as increasing costs and a tighter budget continually present new challenges, Canor added. While deteriorating roads in the township are in need of repair, not much can be done to them because the current economic state of the town is too poor, despite money saved this winter, he said.
Oil and stone were used to construct local roads nearly 10 years ago, but the lack of maintenance on these roads are causing them to slowly wane and McDonough residents can expect to see more dirt roads take shape in the coming year, Canor said. Moreover, the lack of funding is again preventing the town from major repairs on Tanner Hill Road, which was washed out by flooding in 2006.
Though McDonough qualified for funds from the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) late last year – $14,000 of which was used to buy new plows for the town’s DPW – CHIPS stipulations allow road replacement, but don’t allow road repairs, said Canor.
Though roads will not be improved any time soon, other projects are being considered that will save residents more money in the long run, said Canor. Small projects at town hall and the highway garage in the coming months will make the two buildings more heat efficient. The council is also examining the benefits of building a new highway truck by ordering parts piece by piece and assembling it on site. If it’s determined by the board that this is a project worth carrying out, taxpayers could be spared more than $100,000 the cost of a new truck and the town’s oldest truck can be sold, Canor explained.
Still, the biggest dispute in the area continues to be the issue of natural gas drilling and while Canor said there are pros and cons to the debate, he wants to do what’s best for the community while working with the council to keep taxes low. He is expecting more heated debates between townspeople and council members on the issue in the near future.
“The next two or more years are going to be rough until we get some of the gas issues straightened out,” he said.
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