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Town Board adds $200,000 to highway department bond

highway dept

Southold Town set up a $3.5 million bond two years ago to pay for a new highway facility. But that price tag has just gone up. 

The Town Board unanimously agreed to add another $200,000 into the bond after costs for the new building’s heating and air conditioning systems was higher than board members first thought, Supervisor Scott Russell said.

Town officials like former Highway Superintendent Pete Harris — who ran the department at the time of the bond vote — have said the facilities are in dire need of an upgrade. The new workspace will include a storage, welding bay, service bays, a consolidated fueling station and the demolition of the existing fuel storage tanks, according to the bond resolution.

The bond now totals $3.7 million. Of that money, roughly $445,000 will be paid to Diam-N-Blu Mechanical Corp., which won a bid to cover the installation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning at the new barn, according to an approved resolution Tuesday night.

Mr. Russell said crews hope to have the “shell” of the new facility up by winter.

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Photo caption: The current Southold Town Highway Department building on Peconic Lane. (Credit: Cyndi Murray, file)