The Gardiner GazetteThe Gardiner Gazette
  • Past Issues
  • Categories
    • Community
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Local Businesses
    • Local History
    • Region
    • Town
  • Advertise
    • Print
    • Online
  • Donations
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Subscribe
    • Editorial Committee
    • Join Our Team
    • Affiliates
The Gardiner Gazette

The Rest of You Should Be Jealous …

By Carol O'Biso
From Issue 10: Spring 2011
Town
Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

The Gardiner Gazette has previously reported on Ulster County’s proposal to pay towns to perform winter main-tenance of County-owned roads within their jurisdictions, and on the fact that the Town of Gardiner had signed a one-year shared services agreement with the County.  In a test of the concept, Gardiner’s Highway Department was to perform winter snow removal and sanding on McKinstry Road and Sand Hill Road, a total of five miles.   

Well, a miracle has indeed ocurred on McKinstry, and it’s called the Gardiner Highway Department.  For all the years we’ve lived here, McKinstry Road has been “the land the snow-plows forgot.”  The plows did get here, of course, but it was usually well after the white stuff had already been coming down for a long time, and they came back infrequently as storms wore on.

When the first big storm last winter started, my husband and I decided we had time to run an errand in Highland before the roads got difficult.  It was a bad judement call; by the time we left Highland conditions were poor, and deteriorating quickly.  We arrived in Gardiner expecting the usual: 44/55 would be reasonable; Albany Post Road would be bad;  McKinstry Road would be ridiculous.  We were correct on the first two counts, but, unbelievably, McKinstry was perfectly plowed, and it stayed perfectly plowed throughout every snowfall that followed, in a winter of many snowfalls.

Our thanks to the Gardiner Town Board for signing the shared services agreement, and to the Gardiner Highway Department for taking on their new task with a vengeance.  We hope the experiment worked well for both Town and County, and that the Town of Gardiner will sign a 400-year shared services agreement with the county before the start of next winter. 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Donations
  • Advertise
  • About Us
© 2022 The Gardiner Gazette
  • Past Issues
  • Categories
    • Community
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Local Businesses
    • Local History
    • Region
    • Town
  • Advertise
    • Print
    • Online
  • Donations
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Subscribe
    • Editorial Committee
    • Join Our Team
    • Affiliates