Piercefield wants to own a Tupper Lake road
TUPPER LAKE — The town of Piercefield is seeking a transfer of portions of Setting Pole Dam Road and Raquette Flow Road from the town of Tupper Lake, totaling approximately nine-tenths of a mile.
Currently, Tupper Lake maintains Setting Pole Dam Road in the winter time and, by transferring ownership, the would no longer have to maintain it, Town Supervisor Patricia Littlefield said at Thursday’s board meeting.
Consolidated highway improvement funds for the road are approximately $2,000 per mile per year, and Highway Superintendent Bill Dechene is recommending the transfer, Littlefield said.
The town highway superintendents of Piercefield and Tupper Lake, Tim Fuller and Dechene, and the state Department of Transportation have discussed the matter.
“We’re going to give ownership of those two roads to Piercefield?” Tupper Lake town Councilman John Quinn said. “They’ll own these sections of road in our town? That doesn’t make sense to me.”
There is also an inter-municipal agreement between the two towns where Piercefield has maintained a portion of Gull Pond Road in the winter months and, in exchange, Tupper Lake has allowed Piercefield to take sand from the town gravel pit, Littlefield said. Piercefield assists with preparation and screening of all sand in the pit, which is used by both towns.
The Tupper Lake board was asked to pass a resolution to approve the agreement as well as an action to sign a written copy of the agreement. The board tabled actions on the roads until its Jan. 12 meeting.