Cheektowaga approves bonds for heavy equipment and drainage; board shortens equipment bond term to 10 years
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Summary
The Town Board authorized a $1.565 million bond for five heavy-equipment vehicles (amended from 15 to 10 years) and a $5 million drainage bond — roughly $3 million earmarked for the Kemp neighborhood — during its Feb. 24 meeting.
The Cheektowaga Town Board on Feb. 24 approved separate bond resolutions to finance heavy equipment and storm-drainage improvements.
Equipment bond: The board approved Resolution 20-20-60121 authorizing up to $1,565,000 to acquire five pieces of heavy equipment (three single-axle dump trucks, one tandem dump truck and one sanitation packer). During discussion board members and highway staff described a fleet of 27 trucks, many of them older Sterling models that are difficult to maintain because parts are scarce. "Fifteen of those vehicles are Sterling's. They don't make them anymore... we're to the point where we're buying used parts to keep these trucks together," a highway representative said.
Board members debated the bond term. Supervisor Brian Nowak offered an amendment changing the equipment bond term from 15 years to 10 years; Council Member Bukowski seconded the amendment and the board approved it. The supervisor described rough budget math showing the annual payment would be higher under a 10-year term but that total interest would be less; the board approved the amended resolution.
Drainage bond: The board also adopted Resolution 20-20-60122, a bond authorizing up to $5,000,000 for the construction of drainage improvements on town highways. Supervisor Nowak said approximately $3,000,000 of the borrowing would be allocated to a Kemp neighborhood storm-drainage project — an area the supervisor said currently requires residents to carry flood insurance — while the remainder would address drainage needs elsewhere in the southern and eastern parts of town.
Board members discussed grant-seeking and the impact of term length on annual budgets; the supervisor said reducing term length would lower total interest but increase near-term annual principal payments. Both bond resolutions passed in open session.
Next steps: Town staff said they expect to go to market in the late spring or early summer to issue bonds and will provide more detailed budget projections to validate amortization choices.
