Cherry Valley Moves Forward with Bridge Replacement Project

CHERRY VALLEY — The Town of Cherry Valley board took steps at its Thursday, Dec. 12 meeting to advance the replacement of the Mill Road Bridge that crosses a tributary of the Canajoharie Creek.

Town Supervisor Thomas Garretson and Councilmen Mark Cornwell, James Johnson, and Ed VanDerwerker all voted to approve a resolution setting forth that the town will "design, let, and construct the project."

It continues that the town "desires to advance the project by making a commitment of 100 percent of the costs of the preliminary engineering/design and right-of-way incidentals work for the project or portions thereof."

This phase of the project is estimated to cost $387,000 and the resolution commits the town to paying up to that amount if necessary. However, the document adds that the project may be eligible for federal and/or state aid or reimbursement from Bridge NY funds, and town officials will seek help from those sources to pay or help pay for all phases of the project.

The resolution adds that the town "hereby agrees that construction of the project shall begin no later than 24 months after award and the construction phase of the project shall be completed within 30 months."

Near the end of the meeting, Garretson went over what it is involved with the town board also acting as the town's zoning board of appeals. This is typical for small towns like Cherry Valley which have a hard time finding enough people to fill all the various boards.

By acting as the zoning board of appeals, the town board will make decisions on variances and other zoning matters, Garretson explained.

"This board will have to wear a different hat," he said. "We will have to look at a variance in a very unbiased way. I will leave it at that."