To the Editor:

In February’s Berne Town Board meeting coverage, there were some curiosities related to the Berne highway superintendent’s plan to stop plowing the intersection of State Route 443 and Stage Road  that should be considered by voters and taxpayers.

It was reported that he said that the state determined the sight distance was 500 to 750 feet and the state recommends just 495 feet. This would certainly help explain the lack of accidents there. It’s curious though, that he would cite adequate sight distance to support his assertion that the intersection is too dangerous to plow.

That could be the vertical curve stopping sight distance I suppose. As I understand it, stopping sight distance is based on the driver’s eye height and an object of a given height in that road.

Stopping sight distance should be considered in the design of an intersection improvement, but the actual problem is that vehicles leaving Stage Road are obscured to some degree by the highway embankment cuts — both highways are cut down into the topography and there is a simple way to address the problem, but causing a problem is his actual goal.

It’s bizarre to me that he closed the intersection in 2015 and he’s gathering “supporting” information he does not know how to interpret in 2017. It’s also curious he didn’t know what the 443 speed limit was at the intersection the night the town board passed a resolution to keep the intersection open.

With no speed study, the speed limit would be an important consideration in any such decision. Shouldn’t he at least have an elementary understanding of the problem before deciding to close the intersection?

Also, according to the recent coverage, he said he can refrain from plowing the intersection until April 15   if he wants. It’s curious that Highway Law restricts the suspension of maintenance to no longer than April 1   and notes such a seasonal closure must be properly posted (it has never been). I’m not a lawyer — is there some curious technicality?  It’s remarkable that he refers to the segment in question as a dirt road now after he failed to improve it with the rest of the highway in 2015.  It’s a muddy, unmaintained mess, now undeserving of maintenance, because he stopped maintaining it.

The intersection has been cleared for five decades I am aware of without incident (and more for my father). Why, in 2015, would he close the road seasonally as the first step to address a problem with no consideration for the needs of the residents impacted while sharing absolutely no documented reason for the closure?

It’s curious that he closed the road on Nov. 1, 2015 (with no written notice to anyone on Stage Road) when Highway Law seems to say he is not authorized to close it until Dec. 1  and the closure is not to impact access to occupied residences. It’s curious that he would then refuse to respond to any correspondence at all from residents impacted.

It’s remarkable that no accident history, speed study, highway geometry evaluation, or sight-distance analysis was considered by anyone in any way before this surprise closing in 2015. It’s curious he is still grasping for some logical reason to limit our access.

It’s wrong that this problem has languished since 2015 with no improvement to the intersection. If someone competent addressed the problem in 2015, would the superintendent’s workers now be at less risk?

It’s remarkable that he voices his concern for his drivers in eight-foot-high trucks covered with flashing beacons and never mentions any concern for those in cars (who have used the intersection for decades without incident in the worst conditions).

In the absence of any logical, documented reason, one must assume it’s all more political retribution and grandstanding. He is deliberately creating a problem as usual.

Everything is political with the superintendent. Rumor has it that he enjoys his “control” over me and celebrates this with his political supporters. Rumor also has it, he has bragged he could have me arrested for harassing him, tampering with his inadequate barricades, and falsely reporting his oil spills (from the machinery he fails to maintain).

It’s all more of his politically-motivated alternative-fact nonsense designed to delight his more extremist political supporters. The superintendent came to my house personally to inform me that he had this “state study” now and he can close the intersection any time he wants and said he doesn’t have to listen to anyone.

And his big focus in office is to portray Supervisor Kevin Crosier as a political bully? He’s the first elected official to ever come to my house specifically to try to intimidate me while on the clock.

Finally, I have no problem with the frequency of plowing on Stage Road. I think it is as good as it’s ever been. But the reporting seems to indicate that I feel Berne left the road impassable out of neglect.

Actually they plowed all day long and the road closed in right behind them, typical in such conditions. The segment of road he will force us to depend upon when the intersection is not plowed is just impossible to keep open in such conditions

The intersection he wants to close stays open much longer in most wind and storm events. He now threatens to close it only when we need it most! I have attached a photo, time stamped by my phone, at 8:25 a.m. Monday showing the intersection he wants to close is clearly passable while another (8:28) photo shows the segment he would force us to depend upon drifted full width from 18 inches to 3 feet deep for hundreds of feet.

Vehicles routinely get stuck in the drifts there for hours in such events, so the intersection needs to be left open for both alternate and emergency access. The highway superintendent position should not be a source of endless, dangerous political nonsense at taxpayers’ expense.

Joel Willsey

East Berne

Editor’s note: Responding through The Enterprise, Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger said that the test by New York State officials included a speed test and found the sight distance to be 187 feet. (See correction.) He added that Joel Willsey’s photograph printed on Feb. 16 did not refer to the spot that had been closed.
According to Bashwinger, the section of Stage Road was closed from Dec. 1, 2015, until April 15, 2015. He stated that the Berne Town Board approved this closure, and that he was not aware at the time that the timeframe for seasonal closures could not be changed, citing the winter of 2014 in which heavy snow caused roads to not be reopened until after April 15, as the reason he had assumed this.
Bashwinger stated that there is drifting snow on the other section of Stage Road that is left open, but the highway department chose to close one entrance in order to focus on plowing other sections. Bashwinger stated he improved all town roads in 2015 in Berne, including Stage Road.
Bashwinger denied having ever stated he would have Mr. Willsey arrested.
He confirmed that he had gone to Willsey’s home last week and spoke with him, but denied having said to Willsey that he didn’t have to listen to anyone.