To the Editor:

I was compelled to write after reading the headline story last week about the disagreement between the Berne town supervisor and the superintendent of highways. I’ve had a running disagreement with Supervisor Kevin Crosier about Mr. Randy Bashwinger’s performance. Mr. Crosier defends the superintendent saying he is ambitious, he’s organized, the employees like him, he gets things accomplished and so on.

I think the Enterprise story partially illustrates the problems with Mr. Bashwinger’s performance.  The highway superintendent’s  flaws are that he sees no limits to his authority and feels he need not respect  public safety, residents, the town board, the town supervisor, or the law.

A major concern is the superintendent’s apparent disregard for safety and liability. He left a five-inch rebate step across both lanes of Stage Road for a month in anticipation of a proposed asphalt overlay.  He doesn’t believe in any written communication so he doesn’t use signs.

It’s not easy to judge the severity of a step like that for many drivers until they hit it.  It is a totally unacceptable practice to leave a dangerous condition like that in place on any highway with any traffic volume for the purposes of any construction or maintenance activity. It’s elementary. Ask a professional engineer if she or he would stamp a plan including a five-inch step across both travel lanes for a month. And without even a sign?

It is so far removed from accepted practice as to be absurd. That’s like putting a curb across the road. It is just ridiculous.

A month later, the superintendent proceeded with the Stage Road overlay operation during which the highway was completely impassable. The highway was closed without prior warning or proper signage. Work zone traffic control and safety were barely considered if at all. The roving operation rushed from site to site.

Stage Road was left closed afterward with a few cones at each end of the segment that was overlaid and no signs were used.  We eventually had to move the cones to use the highway. This operation resulted in an accomplishment, but it put the traveling public and the highway work force at a totally unnecessary level of risk and created unnecessary liability.

Then, the Stage Road shoulders were not backfilled for another month or so and four- to six-inch drop-offs were left at the pavement edges. That resulted in a situation with two unmarked eight-foot lanes on new, black pavement on a hilly alignment with multiple curves and limited sight distances. There were no speed limit or warning signs.

Trucks and cars meeting on a highway in those circumstances, especially at night in rainy conditions, could easily result in one or both vehicles dropping off that edge of pavement to become totally destabilized causing a potential rollover or overcorrection back into the path of the oncoming vehicle.

Imagine a kid on a bicycle, feeling crowded by a car, going over that edge. The unnecessary duration of exposure to this particular hazard was about a month, which is totally absurd.

My son’s wedding was scheduled at the family homestead for September on a Saturday so I called and left the superintendent messages weeks in advance that were not returned. I asked a town worker to approach Mr. Bashwinger to explain we anticipated about 80 cars and needed to do something about the drop-offs, especially near the house. I know he got the message. There was still no response.

The day before the wedding was a Friday and nobody was at work at the highway garage, so nothing could be done; I guess maybe they were fishing that day. I had to address the problem myself with my own equipment at the last minute. It is totally unacceptable to leave a condition like that in place on any highway with any traffic volume. It’s extremely dangerous practice that no professional engineer would begin to consider acceptable. It is truly incredible that anyone would consider this reasonable.

Then in late fall the highway superintendent decided to close Stage Road seasonally at its west intersection with Route 443. There was no written notice to the residents on Stage Road and no opportunity to comment.

This intersection has been open and maintained without any serious incident for eight decades that we know of.  There were no recent changes in the geometry, site distance, or general conditions of the intersection. I have asked in writing that the intersection be re-opened as we depend heavily on it. I’ve asked in writing for any legitimate justification like evaluations of accident history or sight distance, geometry etc.

My father asked that the road be re-opened and asked for a written response that never came (he doesn’t hear well so a written response is advisable). There was no response from the superintendent, the supervisor, or the town board to multiple written requests. I can only assume this action was taken solely because the superintendent just feels like closing the highway.

This closure greatly impacts access to our property on Stage Road and puts my elderly parents and our property at risk. The closure is literally inconsistent with the law and inconsistent with the intent of the law.

The west end of Stage Road can be an extremely challenging place to live in winter.  Part of the road is totally exposed to the northwest as far as the eye can see. Coincidently, this is the direction the prevailing winds are from.

This highway, on the west side of the ridge, is one of the windiest roads in the county. If there is snow cover on the many acres of open farm fields immediately northwest of the highway, the prevailing wind can blow Stage Road closed there multiple times daily for weeks on end (with no additional snowfall necessary). During storm events and high winds, that segment of highway can blow closed one half hour after the plow passes both during the storm and for the days of high wind that often follow.

It is beyond anyone’s power to change this. We fully accept the associated challenges with this location and have developed access strategies for the conditions. These strategies include using the access to 443 that is right next to the house and less prone to drifting. It is beyond comprehension that the town would actually create additional obstacles by closing this access to 443 to force us to use a portion of the highway that cannot be kept open a quarter mile from the house.  It’s just ridiculous.

The superintendent nurtures “crap politics” (as he puts it), manipulating the media spotlight and social media to portray himself as a victim of an organization run by Democrats and the only advocate for workers being forced to work eight-hour days with a raise. He was actually unquestionably supported by the town board.

The town board members refused to acknowledge my concerns because apparently they couldn’t believe he could do anything wrong.  Now the superintendent made the non-negotiable vacation day every week for seven months demand during contract “negotiations” into a political mess and his adoration is slipping.

Now that the honeymoon is over can the town board objectively evaluate the unnecessary liability and danger this guy creates? Shouldn’t safety be a top priority?  Limiting emergency access to my parents’ home based on the misapplication of a law is not important? Someone needs to control this guy.

Many Democrats had to vote for Mr. Bashwinger or he would not hold his current position; these Democrats are known as constituents like every other resident in Berne. He should reach out to them, but instead he doesn’t even bother to return calls or answer correspondence; perhaps if I were still an enrolled Republican he would consider me worthy of his time.

He clearly has a political agenda that he considers more important than safety and working within the limitations of his abilities, credentials, experience, and authority.  It’s difficult to get things accomplished in a small town and Mr. Bashwinger’s disregard and disrespect for people, authority, procedure, law, liability, and safety will make his job increasingly difficult as his actions and rhetoric become better understood.

He is a politician in public service now and he does not understand the consequences of his ill-conceived actions. Mr. Bashwinger needs to step back, take a breath, and reconsider his approach; it’s just wrong on many levels. He is doing himself and his constituents a great (and dangerous) disservice.

Joel Willsey

East Berne

Editor’s note: Joel Willsey is a long-time employee of the state’s Department of Transportation and has worked on the design of road and highway projects. He was also instrumental in designing, as an unpaid volunteer, the Berne transfer station building.

There are about 12 residences on Stage Road, which can be accessed by the newly paved portion when the other part is closed.

Berne Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger responded to the issues raised by Joel Willsey. About the paving of Stage Road last summer, he said, “Every resident on that road was happy the dirt road was paved. We got it done before the wedding.

He also said the road was paved on Aug. 31 and the shoulders were put in on Sept. 17. “We did it with the county,” Bashwinger said, and the work had to be done when the county’s schedule allowed; the combined town and county crew put in shoulders for 13 roads in three days, he said.  “You can’t put a nine-ton machine onto a newly paved road right away,” he said of the reason for the wait, which left the four- or five-inch drop-offs at the edge of the pavement during the time of Willsey’s son’s wedding.

On closing the portion of Stage Road for the winter, Bashwinger said, “I went before the town board for approval to make it a seasonal section.” He said the hearing was advertised for two months. “No one showed up before the board voted on it,” he said. He added, “It’s the worst drifting road in the town of Berne.”

Bashwinger said, “I also went to the school board and discussed it with the fire department and the rescue squad. It’s a dangerous section. The school transportation department doesn’t like driving it during the summer. The rescue squad and fire department feel the same way: It’s an unsafe road.”

On the claims of lack of communication, Bashwinger said of Joel Willsey, “He never once called me.” He also said of Joel Willsey’s father, Michael Willsey, whose home is affected by the closed portion of Stage Road, “I went to Mike’s house — Mike lives there with his wife — four times. His father agreed to shut the road down.”