Town of Hamburg and Erie County talking about Rogers Road maintenance

The Town of Hamburg is trying to work out an agreement with Erie County over the maintenance of Rogers Road within the vicinity of a “Quiet Zone” that was placed near the railroad tracks.

Highway Superintendent Thomas Best Sr., said he and Hamburg Town Engineer Gerard M. Kapsiak recently met with members of the county, who wanted the town to take over maintenance of the roadway, including plowing, since the town placed a quiet zone there. This idea is something Best said he opposes.

“It’s simply not adventageous to the Town of Hamburg,” Best said.

He said what the county wants is for Hamburg to handle the maintenance and plowing for free.

“Every other town in Erie County has a contract with Erie County,” Best said, adding he believes if the town were to handle to maintenance and plowing, the county should reimburse them, the way they do with other municipalities.

According to Best, the county pays other towns and villages $3,300 a lane mile for maintenance and plowing.

“It would be a total of $9,900,” Kapsiak said, if the town and county came to the same agreement.

Best also noted that the county would also like to hand over Pleasant Avenue to Route 5 to Hamburg, something he said he is against under the current conditions of the road.

Kapsiak said the county estimated it would cost between $450,000 to $600,000 to mill down the road and fix the drainage problems.

“I am strictly against taking over this thing without the maintenance being done,” Best said, adding that he believes the cost could be closer to $350,000 to do the work on that stretch of road.

He said the benefit would be safer roads and it would increase CHIPS funding to the Town of Hamburg by about $3,000 a year.

He added that of the two options, paying the money per lane mile is typically the more frequent option.

“I’m comfortable with the direction Tom and Gerry have taken,” said Hamburg Town Supervisor Steven Walters.

The town is waiting for the county to let them know what direction they are interested in going before any decision is made.