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Highway department warns of rising material and equipment costs
Summary
Highway presenter David Wilder told the Williamstown Selectboard that salt rose from $89/ton to $108/ton and flood-driven demand raised erosion-stone prices, and he flagged equipment replacements and benefit changes as pressures on the highway budget.
David Wilder briefed the Selectboard on pressures facing the highway budget, citing rising material costs and post‑flood demand for erosion stone. Wilder noted road salt prices have risen from $89 per ton to $108 per ton and said some equipment will need replacement while other vehicles are still being paid off.
Wilder told the board that changes in staff needs and benefits have increased personnel costs and that these factors, together with higher material and trucking costs, are driving up projected expenditures for next year. The highway department’s current approach to spring repairs costs the town roughly $30,000 per year, a point the board raised when discussing capitalizing a larger resurfacing project.
