Cheshire council reviews public-works budget as recycling, snow costs and paving strategy push expenses higher

The Town of Cheshire’s joint council and budget committee met March 24 to review proposed fiscal-year 2026–27 changes in the public-works and public-properties budgets, as officials detailed a mix of one-time savings and recurring cost pressures.

Dan, the department presenter, said the public-works budget shows a net increase of about 4.06% while public properties rises roughly 9.17%. He told the council the public-properties salary line jumps 45.2% because a PW3 maintainer position was moved from the pool into the public-properties division to improve coverage. “We own over 1,800 lights,” Dan said, and noted payoff of the town’s 10-year street-light purchase will produce a recurring savings of about $124,366 that offsets other increases.

Councilors and staff also flagged several cost drivers. Snow-and-ice expenses exceeded earlier estimates after storms fell on weekends and holidays, producing overtime that rose from a mid-February projection of about $110,000 to nearly $150,000 by later accounting. Supply and plow-parts costs have increased, and staff said fuel-price locks extend for a limited period.

Solid-waste costs are a major near-term budget pressure. Under the new contract the town’s share of recycling fees is increasing to 75% (from an approximate 50% share last year); staff said recycling disposal is currently budgeted near $79 per ton and that change significantly drives the roughly $114,584 increase in the solid-waste appropriation. The town’s curbside collection contract with AJ Waste and expected tonnage assumptions were discussed; staff said household hazardous-waste and bulky-waste options remain under review. Councilors asked about reinstating a 30-yard container for bulky collection; staff estimated a monthly container program could cost about $50,000 annually if used each month in year one.

Several residents’ concerns and council questions prompted engineering follow-up on a recent chip-seal treatment. Engineering said it had contacted the contractor and the liquid-emulsion supplier and planned shoulder cleanup and road sweeping while evaluating material performance on affected streets, including near a school walkway.

Councilors pressed for longer-term changes on pavement funding. Staff described a 10-year approach to transition annual pavement-management funding from bonding and capital to operating; the department said a program target of roughly $2.0–2.3 million annually would be ideal and recommended a phased start (for example, adding $100,000–$200,000 per year) to reduce future interest expense and debt-service costs.

The meeting included several smaller adjustments — increasing the operating tree-maintenance line from $12,000 to $25,000, in-house use of a bucket truck for parks and lights, and tool-reimbursement changes — and staff confirmed follow-up on bulky-waste logistics and the possibility of hosting a regional hazardous-waste satellite event.

The council did not adopt a final budget at the meeting; it received the presentations and set a procedural path for deliberations and the April public hearing process.