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The DPW will demo these stairs.
The DPW will demo these stairs.

Busy start to 2025 for Village of Lewiston DPW

by jmaloni
Fri, Jan 31st 2025 11:00 am

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

Salting and shoveling snow off streets is only the tip of the iceberg in what the Village of Lewiston Department of Public Works is working on right now.

At the monthly municipal meeting last week, trustees tasked DPW Superintendent Anthony Mang and his team with a significant mid-winter to-do list.

Removing waterfront staircase

The Village Board approved a motion authorizing the DPW to remove the south waterfront stairs.

Mayor Anne Welch said that, as grant- and privately funded renovations progress on Water Street, there is no additional allocation to bolster this “rickety” staircase leading down to the waterfront. Money has been received for a new fence, a new set of stairs by The Silo Restaurant, and a renovated fish-cleaning station.

Welch explained the other staircase, meanwhile, “is not in great shape,” and would likely remain as an eyesore upon project completion.

She said she conveyed to Mang that “this is crazy.

“We’re getting this brand-new fence. Take the old wooden one out, put the brand-new iron fence in. And I said, ‘Why do we need that staircase in the first place?’

“We don't need it. People very seldom use it. They use the other one, by the harbormaster station – the one that we're getting done. They'll use that one. And you can go over by Griffin, go down that (walkway). You go over by Silo, go down that way. So, you have three ways of getting up and down there.

“Instead of waiting and hopefully getting a grant – which we were denied again this time, to get one – I said, ‘Let's just take it out. We don't need it. Why keep it and spend the money on it?’ ”

“Instead of breaking the fence where it is, just go right across, and take that whole staircase out,” Welch said.

Trustee Jim Fittante concurred, and said the lesser staircase could become a liability.

“Let’s just take it out and be done with it,” Welch said.

“I agree with that,” Trustee Nick Conde said.

“Anthony’s guys are going to dismantle it,” Welch said.

This Lewiston waterfront staircase will be removed … and replaced by a new one, to be built next to the harbormaster’s station.

••••••••

New Red Brick bathrooms

The DPW will help oversee the installation of new bathrooms in the Red Brick Municipal Building gymnasium hallway, removing a non-loadbearing wall in the process.

Though $100,000 was budgeted to replace the existing two bathrooms, Welch said maintenance worker Jeff Gruarin suggested adding units in the shower room instead.

“We’ve been in there, and it’s a nice, big room; and it wouldn’t take a lot of work – just the plumbing and the fixtures – toilet and sink,” Welch explained. “And I said just leave the two little (existing) bathrooms for the kids. Make that (new) one ADA-accessible, and put a changing table in there so it's more of an adult bathroom. … It would cost so much less” than a new buildout.

Conde and Fittante will coordinate the plan with the DPW, and Fittante – an architect by trade – will provide drawings.

“We can research and even talk about trying to get some donations of services to get it completed,” Fittante said.

Welch said “the (gym) is packed” for youth sporting events, and “those two little bathrooms aren’t really cutting it. We need to do something, but we need to stay within a budget, too.”

New garbage truck

The DPW also is looking to purchase a new garbage truck, as the existing vehicle is said to be running on fumes.

Mang said the best option is from Freightliner, which has, “overall, a more quality vehicle. It's going to give us all the accessory attachments that we need to accommodate the new body.”

He noted, “We're going to go with an upgraded engine and transmission to avoid any sort of mechanical issues going on. We're going to do a Cummins (engine), and we're going to do an Allison transmission,” plus an Air-Flo packer.

Mang said the lead time is six months – and “I'm optimistic that our current garbage truck’s going to exceed whatever lead times we go into, but, obviously, that's subjective.”

He projected the cost of the new garbage truck at around $276,000, which would be financed by a bank loan.

“Freightliner would take care of everything,” Mang said. “They would take care of the payments. We would basically get the loan, pay Freightliner, and they would take care of everything beyond that. They would handle all the transactions with the (truck) body packer company, handle all the shipping, delivery, everything like that.”

Service maintenance beyond the DPW’s capability would be available in Elmira.

Freightliner “is the one I would prefer,” Treasurer Stephanie Longwell said. “Because we would get the loan from the bank. I would give it over to Freightliner; they would divvy it up how it needs to be divvied up – instead of getting a loan, having some of it sent out; waiting. It’s just smoother to pay one vendor for it, than to pay multiple vendors.”

The interest rate and payment schedule is unknown at this time.

Longwell said two existing vehicle loans totaling more than $15,000 are ending in June.

Fittante noted the cost of using a private garbage-collection entity is more than the price of a new truck.

“Annually,” Mang emphasized.

“We have done the research,” Fittante said.

“It’s cheaper for us to get our own truck,” Welch added.

As for the existing, soon-to-be-13-year-old waste remover, “There may be an opportunity to get a little revenue back from the garbage truck,” Mang said of its future prospects.

Trustees did not vote on his proposal, but will discuss the idea more in upcoming meetings.

Batteries not meant for the garbage

In speaking of the wear and tear on the current truck, Trustee Tina Coppins cautioned significant body damage can be caused by lithium batteries. She noted another trash-removal operation had a truck catch on fire as a result of batteries being placed in the garbage.

“We try not to pick that stuff up,” Mang said. “It’s definitely a corrosive situation.”

Residents were asked to not place batteries in their trash bags, but to rather look for special waste collection events/sites.

Mang said the DPW used to collect batteries, but the third-party it sent them to went from paying for these materials to charging for them.

“The cost to get rid of them is exceeding what it’s worth to take them,” he said.

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