By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
Lysander’s leading men in the area of road work are butting heads over asphalt.
At the work session preceding the May 18 town board meeting, Highway Superintendent Gene Dinsmore and Town Engineer Al Yager had a tense disagreement over whether the town should repave roads with hot mix or cold mix asphalt.
Dinsmore, citing practices of neighboring towns, said the town should use cold mix because hot mix is more expensive.
“If cold mix is good enough for Chatham Woods, why is it not good enough for Whispering Oaks? Why is it not good enough for Irene Drive?” Dinsmore asked.
Yager said cold mix is appropriate for some roads but not others.
“I recommended using cold mix on Chatham Woods because it’s on a standing gravel sub-base. Cold mix is more forgiving from a moving standpoint; however, long-term maintenance costs are higher,” Yager said.
Dinsmore said Yager’s preference for hot mix is “flying in the face” of the practices of other towns and Onondaga County.
“These are not first-timers,” he said.
Yager said the prices of hot and cold asphalt are comparable and have decreased over the years, but he has data showing the maintenance of hot mix is cheaper in the long run.
“I want to see the numbers from both sides,” Town Councilor Peter Moore said.
“Can you agree that numbers can be used to tell any story you want?” Dinsmore said.
“It’s not an opinion, Gene. It’s math,” Yager said. “I’m pretty good at math.”
Dinsmore accused the town board and Yager of ganging up on him and said highway decisions ultimately should be his call.
“You’re going to make a decision without reviewing the facts that I’m bringing to you,” he said.
“The facts other than mentioning that 18 other towns are doing this? There’s not a lot of facts,” Supervisor Joe Saraceni replied, adding that he was “more comfortable” with Yager’s assessment.
At the meeting, resident Kevin Rode questioned the town board’s attempt to overrule another elected official.
“I always thought the town board sets the budget and the highway superintendent manages it,” Rode said.
Saraceni said he recognizes that Dinsmore is elected independently of the town board, but it is the board’s responsibility to maximize the use of town money.
“It is within our purview to take this action, and it’s important for the public to understand why we’re doing it,” he said. “There’s a difference of opinion with an engineer — a good engineer — and a good highway superintendent. … At some point, we need to make a decision and move forward with the plan.”
Saraceni posed a hypothetical question to Rode about the town board’s role.
“If I had a highway superintendent that wanted to crack seal the roads with marshmallow, do you think we should get involved in that? If it was going to be a waste of $65,000, do you think it’s the prerogative of this board to get involved in that decision?” he asked.
The town board has not voted on the asphalt matter.
