CHATHAM FIGURED IT OUT. WHY CAN’T HILLSDALE?

[Emailed to Supervisor Dvorchak, Superintendent Briggs and Members of the Town Board] [Abstract]

Dear Members of the Hillsdale Town Board,

Speaking for the Chatham Dirt Road Coalition, and more importantly, as a fellow citizen of Columbia County who values its rural character, I urge you to pause in your headlong drive to pave the entirety of your last remaining dirt roads.

The arguments for the recreational opportunities and the environmental value afforded by unpaved roads has already been well expressed by your own townspeople in public comment on several occasions.

But the arguments about the cost of maintenance that we have been hearing about are not in line with what we have seen in Chatham in the last two years since our new Highway Superintendent has been caring for our dirt roads here. Through his use of better material and more rigorous attention to grading and adherence to best practices we have seen our dirt roads in much better shape and holding up without the constant repairs they required in the past. The complaints have ceased. Simply stated, managed correctly dirt roads do not require a complete overhaul every year as stated in previous public testimony. I invite you to come up to Chatham to see for yourself.

And while you are here be sure to make time for driving, or better yet, walking down one of our gorgeous dirt roads. Chatham is proud to have almost 50 miles of them and the majority of our citizens cherish them.

My question is - do you really want Hillsdale to become Scarsdale?
 
Sincerely,
 
Douglas Welch
President
Chatham Dirt Road Coalition

info@dirtroadschathamny.org