NORWICH – A proposal to purchase a new piece of equipment for the Chenango County Public Works Department – one that surprisingly wasn’t budgeted for in the fall – is making its way to the full board of supervisors this month.

What’s also unusual about the proposal is the DPW’s highway superintendents suggested the purchase themselves.

Supervisor Dennis Brown, D-Pharsalia, asked his fellow members of the Finance Committee last week to consider making a $26,000 appropriation for a hot box and plate tamper. He said the equipment, which hauls hot asphalt, would not only help highway workers patch and fill pot holes more efficiently, but also help to shore up morale within the department.

“I had a couple of meetings down there recently, to see what I could do to let them know we want to support them,” said Brown, referring to the county’s DPW headquarters on Rexford Street in the City of Norwich. “The morale was very low.”

The county’s highway department lost its 36-year veteran director three months ago. That leadership change followed millions of dollars worth of emergency road and bridge repairs – on top of regular, scheduled work – due to flooding events that have hammered the county on numerous occasions since 2006. As costs for fuel and equipment have skyrocketed, the department has seen its new equipment budget slashed by 13.6 percent over the past decade. When adjusted for inflation, it is actually operating on $2 million less in its budget today than it was in 2002.