Infrastructure issues dominate town board meeting
By John T. Ryan
October 15, 2026 – Replacing deteriorated culverts and bridges continues to cost Peru many dollars. At its Thursday, October 15 meeting, the town board authorized issuing $4,334,157 in bond anticipation notes to finance the recently completed Lyons Road culvert and the soon-to-be-replaced Westcott Road bridge. No NYS grants are available for either project.
The board also approved re-advertising the Westcott Road bridge project, with bids opening Friday, December 11 at 11 a.m. at the Peru Town Hall. This time, the town will seek bids statewide. At the first bid opening, only one local contractor submitted a bid, and it far exceeded the estimates of the town’s contracted engineers, Barton and Loguidice.
Peru’s backup water-supply project plans are changing. The preferred test-well location is in wetlands, so it’s subject to DEC’s cumbersome, slow permit process; as a result, the town’s engineers (Barton and Loguidice) selected a second location outside wetlands.
Deputy Highway Superintendent Tyler Jarvis attended the recent NYS Road Salt Reduction Summit. Jarvis said Peru is far, far ahead of most communities in implementing a brine salt-reduction program, and other communities are looking to Peru for guidance. Highway Superintendent Michael Farrell and Tyler Jarvis said they are happy to help.
Highway Superintendent Michel Farrell also hopes the Telegraph Road culvert/bridge will reopen by early or mid-week of October 19. Guardrails should arrive Monday.
Farrell also said FEMA will require photos of the inside and outside of all culverts. Without the photos, FEMA will not help towns replace culverts after a disaster. Farrell expects to have more details soon.
Supervisor Craig Randall said the town board is working to formulate its Preliminary 2027 budget. With most costs increasing, Randall called the budget “challenging.”
Posted: October 16th, 2026 under General News, Peru News, Town Board News.