COBLESKILL - The Cobleskill Town Board met on Monday evening to great news regarding the Mickle Hollow Road culvert replacement project.

The project, meant to replace critical infrastructure, has faced considerable delays and obstacles, but the Board has finally secured a bid and the funding to see it through.

Before discussions began, the Board voted to both award the bid to James H. Maloy, Inc. out of Loudonville to the tune of $1,530,944, and to accept additional funding offered by New York State’s Department of Transportation to cover the rising costs.

When both motions passed, Supervisor Werner Hampel began by breaking the project down, saying “When we started, we had a grant for $1,500,000. It kept getting put off, and because of fuel and asphalt and everything going up, costs were bumped up considerably.”

“Now you take the costs for our engineering firm, which is GPI, at $487,000, and now you put in $1,530,944, that brings us up to $2,017,944. But because of the work of Liz and Dave at DOT Region Nine, we sent a letter there requesting that funding, which you just approved.”

“It’s amazing that they came through,” Supervisor Hampel concluded. “I can’t thank Region Nine and Liz enough. In essence, if nothing else happens, we are whole and we don’t have to pay anything else for it.”

The rest of the Board was similarly excited to see the project conclude under such favorable terms, and Supervisor Hampel was sure to thank each member for their diligence and quick decision-making to avoid any further rising costs. 

The Board noted that because they cannot hold the culvert over the winter due to concerns of cracking while it’s sitting beneath the ice and snow, work will begin some time in the spring of next year, likely around April.