SELKIRK – The COVID-19 pandemic struck within months of Dorsey’s first term at the helm. He credits his military and emergency response training for giving him the foresight in moving forward.
“The goal my first year was to hit the ground running,” Dorsey said. “[However,] the pandemic made the highway department completely rethink every task that would have been routine to keep the employees safe yet still provide services.”
The pandemic also caused staffing storages for the Highway Department. In previous years, the department would obtain seasonal staff through the Glenmont Job Corps, but that resource wasn’t available. Where the department would supplement staff of four to six job corps students along with 12 to 14 part-time hires, Dorsey said they were only able to obtain four. Nonetheless, the highway czar said his staff department paved 12 miles of road — double the number of miles paved in 2018 — enabling the town to bring in over $500,00 in state funding.
Seasonal leaf pickup was sandwiched between two massive storms that impacted Dorsey’s crew last year. In October, they were faced with the herculean task of clearing two years worth of brush and fallen trees from a rare windstorm.
“We were able to clear the town with loose leaves before one of the largest snowstorms in the history of the town,” Dorsey said. “The highway department literally worked night and day to make our streets and sidewalks safe.”
Other highlights of Dorsey’s first two years on the job includes installing just under 1,500 feet of new sidewalk in 2020, paving over 17 miles of new blacktop road in 2021, and recouping over $600,000 of state funding.
