OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen The Arkwright Highway Department building addition needed to be corrected during construction because of an issue called oil canning, where steel appeared as dented and damaged. The issues have since been fixed by the project’s contractors.

ARKWRIGHT — The Arkwright Highway Department building now looks as good as new, which was not always the case throughout the construction of the Town’s new addition.

At a previous meeting, the Town Board expressed its displeasure with the work of the contractors due to the steel of the building appearing to be dented or damaged, an issue referred to as oil canning. The general construction bid for the project was awarded to NCI Construction, of Lancaster, in the amount of $742,000.

In the months since, NCI and its subcontractors have replaced the damaged steel. Supervisor Brian McAvoy expressed that the Town is pleased with the work now that it has been replaced. “It looks good. They did the right thing,” McAvoy said. “… At the end of the day, the building looks good. They are getting it spruced up.”

McAvoy also reiterated his stance that having CPL architects contracted for the project on behalf of the Town was very beneficial. “Any construction project, I think it’s really good to have an architect in your corner. I’d hate to have to be doing it on our own,” McAvoy said. “I was really happy to have CPL in our corner.”

As of the most recent Town Board meeting in early November, the Town is approximately $40,000 over its expected revenue at this point after it received its fourth quarter sales tax disbursement. The recent building project has impacted the Town’s reserves, but the Town is still in position to operate comfortably. The Town still anticipates making significant upgrades to its Town Hall in the coming months.

At its recent meeting, the Town declared several items from the Highway Department as surplus to be auctioned on Auctions International. Among the items to be auctioned include a single-axle truck, an 8-foot rear broom, and miscellaneous truck items such as lights and covers. The Highway Department also submitted $576 to the Town for scrap materials disposed of.

For the month of October, the Town issued one demolition permit and nine dog licenses in one of the slower months of the year.

The Town Assessor’s office will soon begin training a Town employee to assist with address changes and STAR applications.

The Town approved a one-year contract for professional services with Sheridan HR at a cost of $225 per month.

The recent meeting was held on Veterans Day. Town Board member Larry Ball, a veteran, highlighted a statistic that he found that stated as of 2022, only 3.7% of adults in New York State were veterans. The Town Board thanked Ball for his service at the onset of the recent meeting.

The next meeting of the Arkwright Town Board will be held on Monday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m.