KINGSTON – Calling it "the largest shared services initiative in the history of Ulster County," County Executive Mike Hein announced the formation of a committee, comprising members of the Ulster County Association of Highway Superintendents, the Ulster County Legislature, and representatives from the executive's administration, that he tasked with implementing "an innovative, decentralized approach" of delivering highway services to Ulster County residents.

An initial report from the committee outlining the details is to be delivered to the executive within 45 days, who hopes to have a final plan in place by September, in time for towns to implement in their 2011 budgets.

Based on the recommendations specified in a shared municipal services study, which the county commissioned in May 2008, the hallmark of the first stage of the plan is the transfer of responsibility, from the county to the individual townships, for snowplowing county roads within those municipalities. The county would pay municipalities a set rate, which, Hein said, would exceed the towns' actual costs to provide the service, yet still be less than the current cost to the county.

Hein cited the program's potential to save millions of taxpayer dollars through service consolidation and county highway department staff reductions of up to 25 percent.

The overhaul will "reduce duplication, provide better services and safer roads, and will do so at a lower cost to our collective taxpayers," said Hein, and when implemented in 2011, residents will no longer "see a municipal snowplow drive with its plow up over an unplowed roads simply because it's not theirs."

Many of the roads currently maintained by the county are central arteries, which connect to high volume state roads, and, as such, demand higher levels of attention during snowstorms and wintry conditions. However, the snowplow routes are fragmented through towns across the county, which makes their upkeep costly to taxpayers.

The county highway department maintains only 22 percent of the 1,528 miles of county roadway, but requires 47 percent of the overall personnel to do so. Collectively, the towns employ 164 people for road maintenance; the county highway department staffs 148 employees. According to the municipal study, Ulster County's cost per mile of roadway is $39,542, which ranks eleventh highest in the state.