Highway Department Merger Off the Table

Supervisor Frank Petrone withdrew his call for a governmental reorganization that would have abolished the elective office of highway superintendent, saying agreements had been reached on other ways to achieve savings.

After a meeting with Highway Superintendent William Naughton, Councilman Eugene Cook, Town Attorney John Leo, Interim Comptroller Andrew Persich and Director of General Services Thom Boccard, Petrone said, the meeting had found how, "through cooperation and sharing, the Town could realize significant savings in the areas of maintaining Town roads and Town facilities without changing the organizational structure of Town departments.

"Among the areas identified were centralizing equipment repair, cross utilizing facilities, integrating technology and coordinating back office functions. Teams will begin meeting next week to identify specific programs and savings. There was agreement that the departments can and will move forward together to achieve the similar goals of providing services most efficiently and economically to Town residents.

"In light of the progress at this meeting and the desire to move forward together, Supervisor Petrone has withdrawn his call of a special Town Board meeting to consider governmental reorganization measures. We look forward to continued progress in this important area of Town government.”

Petrone and Council members Mark Cuthbertson and Susan Berland had proposed a referendum that would have turned Naughton's position into an appointive job and merged the highway department into a Department of Public Works. A public hearing Tuesday brought out scores of residents, nearly all of whom opposed to shift to an appointive position.

No further information was immediately available.