ALBANY COUNTY — Municipalities in Albany County now have a vehicle to discuss shared services.

In an effort to cut costs, the county legislature formed a Municipal Highway Services Board last week.

The 21-member board will be made up of representatives appointed by the governing boards from each of the three cities, 10 towns, and six villages in Albany County. Two representatives will be appointed by the legislature.
Alexander "Sandy" Gordon, a Democrat who represents the 39th District — Berne, Knox, and Rensselaerville — spearheaded the resolution.
Gordon said the highway services board gives municipalities "an opportunity to solicit ideas," and its purpose is to include all policy-makers in decision-making and implementation.
"Ideas should not be imposed but solicited," he said. It’s "critically important," he said, for the committee to explore potential savings that could be achieved by pooling resources. As well as sharing equipment and services, savings could also come from exploring health-care plans and workers’ compensation, he said.
"If this is worth looking at, it should be looked at right," Gordon said, adding that members of the newly-formed board will have the opportunity to explore options "openly" and "inclusively."

The highway board could also look at grants offered by the state’s Department of State.

Berne Supervisor Kevin Crosier proposed a merger of the town’s highway department with the county last spring and included it in his proposed budget last fall. The merger, and subsequent budget proposal, was met with widespread opposition and was not supported by the Democratic trustees; Crosier was elected on the Republican ticket. During the budgeting process, Berne Trustee Joseph Golden said Crosier’s budget numbers were hypothetical. Trustees had not been given documentation for review.
"I feel it has not been an open process," said Gordon of Berne’s talks of consolidation. When asked in October to vote on a resolution to apply for grants to be used in a merger with the county from the Department of State’s Shared Municipal Service Incentive grant program, trustees had not been given information, Gordon said. No Berne officials seconded Crosier’s motion to apply for the grant money.
Crosier said the county highway board was "a day late and a dollar short," and he called Gordon a "Johnny-come-lately." Crosier and County Executive Michael Breslin had encouraged cooperation over a year ago when the first inter-municipal forum was held last April, he said. He and Breslin identified a number of different things, he said. It’s common sense, he said, that, with two highway departments within a town, there would be increased efficiency by combining the departments. "There’s a significant degree in overlap of services," he said. By combining two departments, workers would also receive better benefits, he said. Crosier said he is concerned because Gordon has "criticized" and "bashed" 135 "hard-working, dedicated" county employees at Berne and Rensselaerville town meetings "because of some political agenda."
Gordon said the initiative is not politically-motivated. Republican legislators wanted to join in the initiative, and he "willingly and gracefully included them," he said. "This is good government legislation," Gordon said.

When a vote was taken in the legislature last week, both Democrats and Republicans were in favor of the highway services board, Gordon said. With 37 of the 39 legislators attending, all voted in favor of the highway board.

Varied responses
"The town has 162 road miles, and it becomes a little more difficult to share services," said Guilderland Supervisor Kenneth Runion. Currently, Albany County does the town’s road-striping, and the town reimburses them, he said.
"I think [the legislature] has explored this in the past, and it had been meant for smaller communities, such as Berne," Runion said. Runion said he has received letters commenting on the "high level of care" of Guilderland’s road system. "We will keep an eye on the committee," he said, adding that the town could be interested in regional bidding on materials.
Rensselaerville Supervisor Jost Nickelsberg said his town has "a lot of people in mind," and will appoint a member to the new board at its next town meeting. According to a report by Berne Supervisor Kevin Crosier and the county’s commissioner of public works, Michael Franchini, which used figures from the most recent census in 2000, Rensselaerville has more road miles per 1,000 people than any other town or city in Albany County.
"This whole thing has to be for the better of the town," Nickelsberg said. School taxes continue to rise, and retirees on fixed incomes are unable to go back to work, he said. "You’re basically where you’re at" and "stuck in a corner without any options," Nickelsberg said.

The town recently completed a land-use comprehensive plan. One of the town’s goals included in the plan is to complete a feasibility analysis to determine whether it makes sense to consolidate the town’s highway department with the county.
The town’s highway garage and a county garage are a half-a-mile apart, Nickelsberg said. Consolidation, he said, "is clearly something to think about."
Nickelsberg said Governor Eliot Spitzer is "on the right track." Spitzer, since taking office in January, has encouraged cooperative efforts among municipalities.

Nickelsberg, a Republican, cited neighboring Berne’s budgeting last fall and tax increase this year. Had Crosier’s budget been approved, the town’s taxes would have decreased about 2-percent, Nickelsberg said. Berne’s taxes increased about 20-percent this year.
"If you’re 75 and on a fixed income, what a horrible swing," Nickelsberg said.
"We are always needing more equipment," said New Scotland Supervisor Ed Clark, who ran on the Republican ticket. "Are we needing any services" No," he said, adding that he thinks the town provides adequate services to the community. "I don’t feel we’re missing anything right now," he said.
Asked if he thinks pooling municipalities together for a self-insurance plan is a good idea, Clark replied, "We would have to explore the pros and cons." Before concluding whether a consortium would be beneficial, officials would first have to determine risk with joining with other municipalities, he said.
"I think it would take a lot more research," Clark said.
Westerlo Supervisor Richard Rapp thinks forming a highway board is a good idea. "We’re pretty well equipped," he said, adding that Westerlo shares equipment with Rensselaerville, Coeymans, Berne, Knox, and Durham (Greene County). "The towns up here have been doing it for years, and that’s the way it should be," he said of sharing services and equipment.

Asked if the town would be interested in cooperatively bidding with the county, Rapp said the town already purchases its highway materials and equipment at state contract prices.
Rapp worked in the county’s public works department 19 years, serving as its commissioner before retiring. Rapp said of talks between Berne and the county, "People are skeptical"It’s been an on-going battle."

Each year, the Knox highway department renews shared highway services contracts with other municipalities. The highway department shares services with Berne, Wright, Westerlo, Rensselaerville, and New Scotland, said Gary Salisbury, Knox’s highway superintendent. Ninety percent of the agreements between Knox and other towns, Salisbury said, occur in the summer months.

Though Knox doesn’t work with the county as often as towns, the town has borrowed Albany County’s tree truck and guardrail machine, said Salisbury. This winter, Knox used the county’s salt shed, and the county, in turn, borrowed a loader from Knox for much of the winter, Salisbury said. The town has also lent the county its road broom, he said.

Cost savings, he said, come from not needing to rent or buy equipment. When sharing a truck with a municipality, such as Berne, Salisbury said, the town will send a driver along. By sharing trucks, highway departments save by not having to purchase a truck, and projects are completed more quickly.
"It saves a ton of money," Salisbury said of sharing services and equipment. Salisbury said it would be a good idea to have highway workers appointed to the 21-member highway board because they operate and maintain road equipment, are familiar with road materials, and maintain roads.

Gordon, who lives in Knox, said he pulled some people out of snowdrifts near his house along a county-maintained road during a storm in mid-February. An 81-year-old Knox woman went off the road, he said.

During a snowstorm in mid-March, Gordon said, Albany County operators went home early. Westerlo highway workers then led an ambulance to the hospital, and plowed state routes 143 and 32, roads that are designated to be maintained by the county. Seeking compensation, the Westerlo Town Board voted unanimously in April to send a letter to Breslin and Michael Franchini detailing employee hours, truck hours, and fuel costs.
Pulling people out of a ditch and Westerlo plowing county-maintained roads, Gordon said, "speaks to itself."
"It’s not the level of service that we expect," he said.