Shelter Island Editorial: Caring for town assets

The Town Board has concluded the least stressful budget season in several years. The board scrutinized every line in Supervisor Jim Dougherty’s proposed budget and came up with a generally responsible spending plan for 2017.

But there are two areas — one that needs attention before the November 18 budget is solidified, and the second, which the supervisor promises will be addressed after the dust has settled on next year’s spending.

Deserving immediate attention is the salary of the commissioner of public works. Few residents realize that this position isn’t elected, but goes to whomever is elected as highway superintendent.

Councilman Paul Shepherd analyzed it well, telling his colleagues that they wouldn’t advertise the position for the piddling $23,346 that Jay Card Jr. receives for the job, along with his salary of $57,835 as highway superintendent. Combined, the two salaries don’t come close to the money that other East End towns pay their highway superintendents.

We agree that there are many town workers whose jobs require extra, unpaid hours, and they should be paid for the work they do. Town Clerk Dorothy Ogar comes to mind, putting in hours on Saturdays during the summer so visitors can buy beach passes along with other weekend business at Town Hall. She and her staff also put in many extra hours during the budget season, providing information Town Board members need for their reviews. They must be adequately compensated.

And so should the person who gets up in the middle of the night during a hurricane, blizzard or nor’easter to lead the team that keeps our roads passable and safe. Mr. Card has won the respect and cooperation of a team of highway workers and has superbly organized two departments. He deserves more.

The second area that must be addressed responsibly is how to get repair projects rolling and then put on a regular maintenance schedule instead of waiting for a crisis.

Mr. Dougherty notes the town has not had to raise taxes significantly or float bonds for major projects during his administrations. But Town Engineer John Cronin has been a passionate advocate of working on infrastructure now, and not waiting until it has deteriorated to the point it will be exponentially more expensive to save.

In addition, the town’s grant writer has pointed out that failure to use past grants for lack of money to get projects started makes her work extremely difficult in getting new grants.

It’s time to seriously consider bonding to bring assets up to snuff and then adjust taxes accordingly to ensure they are properly maintained.

No one is suggesting town officials play fast and loose with money. But the prudent path lies with properly caring for these assets and not delaying work that will cost more as prices escalate with time.