Lower weight limit assigned

to Skinner Hollow bridge   

by Arvilla Pritchard

     No sooner was the yellow-flag status lifted for the Town of New Albion’s recently repaired Tug Hill bridge, than inspectors found problems with the Skinner Hollow bridge. This time, though, due to the length of the span, repairs fall to the Cattaraugus County’s Department of Public Works.

     It was at their Jan. 16 meeting that the Town Board of New Albion heard from Highway Superintendent Jerry Cobo that, because of safety issues, the load limit for the Skinner Hollow bridge was recently lowered from its posted 20-ton limit to a mere three tons. “We asked for a waiver, but didn’t get it,” said Cobo, “which means that even our smallest plow truck can’t cross, so we can’t get down there for snow removal.”

     There are two permanent residences in Skinner Hollow and, unlike those on Tug Hill, these have no other access roads available to them. Cobo said he had contacted a couple of private snow removal contractors who would be willing to take on the job on a short-term basis, if necessary. He said he’d also talked with the Town of Otto about the situation, since the further end of the road is within Otto Township boundaries.

     Cobo said the Cattaraugus County Highway Department would probably be starting repair work on the bridge soon, weather permitting. He explained that even though the bridge is on a Town of New Albion roadway, it is over 25 feet long, which puts it under the jurisdiction of the county. “We’re hoping they can get it upgraded to at least a 12-ton load limit,” he said.

     Cobo also reminded board members that even though the Tug Hill bridge has been reopened to traffic, it can’t be taken off the town’s agenda. “We’ll have to do something else there within about five years,” he said. He and the highway committee, consisting of Patrick Erhart and Patrick Murphy, are already looking into future improvements or alternatives to that situation. The remainder of Cobo’s report dealt with a variety of issues.

     “The road crew went out on snow removal trips 14 days during December for a total of 35 days and 49 trips so far this winter. (Last year at the same time, the town had made a total of 40 trips over 26 days.)

     “Needed maintenance chores were performed, both inside and outside the town barns.

     “Taking advantage of recent good weather, brush was cut and cleared along the right-of-way in anticipation of the Pepperdine Hill road project.

     “Wood chips are being stored at the town barn lot, where they can be obtained by local residents.”

     In other business, Supervisor Chilson reported on a recent meeting he had with Officer Joseph Grube of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department, in regard to the town’s possible take-over of the village police department. Chilson said he was told that there are three county officers for the area and their locations are such that there is not a large gap in coverage. He said that one car might be on the western end of the county, another on the eastern end, with a third car patrolling in between.

     Chilson said that when he asked Officer Grube for statistics concerning domestic calls, he was told there had been only one in a four-year period. He was also told that sheriff’s department policy was not to respond to domestic cases in a single car, and he was cautioned that the village police should not do so either. He was told that if the village car was dispatched to a domestic call, then the second call would be to the sheriff’s department anyway.

     Chilson ended by stating to the board that he didn’t believe it was necessary for the town to take any action in regard to the police department at this time. In addition, he said he’d learned that the Village of Cattaraugus had abandoned its suggested abolishment of the police department during their Jan. 9 meeting.

     The next town board meeting will be held on Monday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.