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Highway supervisor says winter plowing, salt and contractor costs overshot budgets; town planning repairs and summer work
Summary
Highway staff reported higher-than-expected winter expenses, readiness for summer operations, and planned repairs to roads, catch basins and cemetery plots.
Dan Gallatin, a member of the town’s highway staff, told the Plaistow Board of Selectmen on May 5 that the long winter left the highway department over budget on plowing and salt while crews prepare for spring and summer work.
Gallatin gave the board a snapshot of winter operations and near-term plans: why costs rose, what maintenance is scheduled and how the department will handle drainage and cemetery work.
“Once we get into mid January through mid February was every other day or every third day,” Gallatin said, describing the heavy run of storms. He reported the town’s outside plowing contractors are “overspent, I believe, at this point by almost a little over 19,000,” and said the salt budget is “overspent a little over 18,000,” but added, “the good thing about the salt budget is that we, we have a full shed or just about a full shed going into the the upcoming season.”
Gallatin summarized other recent operations: household hazardous waste collection two Saturdays earlier drew 339 households (102 from Plaistow); roadside pickup produced roughly 2,930 bags or items; and the landfill was heavily used after winter. He also said street sweeping has been delayed while the contractor adjusts schedules and that town-hall landscaping work and sidewalk repair are largely complete.
Looking ahead, Gallatin said the town received a driveway-permit authorization needed to pave a short section of Westville Road and that he had applied for a DigSafe number and would meet with the paving contractor to set a timetable. He said some catch basins need rebuilding and identified three or four locations with recurring beaver issues that require contractor attention. On cemetery work, he said the town is contracting to lay out new rows and markers so plots are available if needed.
Gallatin also asked the board to consider a modest budget line for periodic wetland/swale maintenance — cutting brush and dredging every two to three years — and said he hoped to identify a tentative $5,000 starting figure to place in a department budget to cover outside contractor work if in-house crews are not available.
On staffing, Gallatin said the highway department is recruiting at least one new worker and would prefer someone with a commercial driver’s license.
The report was presented during the board’s public comment/department updates segment; no formal vote was taken on any of the items Gallatin described.
