WHITE LAKE, NY — It’s the middle of summer here in the Catskills, but a focus at the Town of Bethel meeting on June 24 was about snow and its removal.

Highway superintendent William Crumley had asked the town board to pay for the installation of a tank on a truck so the highway department could spread calcium chloride on some of the dirt roads in town to control dust.

While discussing the issue, a couple of the members of the board said they were not comfortable with the way the purchase was handled and were inclined to delay paying for equipment and installation.

Supervisor Dan Sturm said Crumley had not received the three written estimates required for purchase of an item costing between $3,000 and $10,000. He also said such a purchase required town board approval in advance of the purchase. He further said he had concerns with calcium chloride “especially for snow removal.”

Crumley replied, “That’s your concern, and I’m going to use it for snow removal. That’s what this is all about. I want to use it right now for dust control. But this is about, you have a sand mine, and you’re afraid that I’m going to introduce something new, and spoil your sand.”

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation late last year approved a sand mining permit for the town, which will be used two weeks a year to mine sand for snow removal.

Sturm replied, if we “can get practically free sand, as opposed to buying calcium chloride at a price that’s not budgeted, I agree, I do have a serious problem with that.”

Crumley said, “Your name plate says town supervisor; I’m the town highway superintendent; I’ll worry about sand and salt and taking care of the roads, you worry about whatever supervisors do.”

He further said the every other municipality in the state uses calcium chloride to aid in snow removal but “for some reason you want to stay in the ‘70s.”

Sturm said the role of the board was to pay the bill or not. Councilmember Vicky Simpson said the total for the equipment and installation was about $7,000, and earlier in the discussion she said she, too, had concerns about the way the purchase was handled. She also wanted more information about the possible impact of calcium chloride on the environment.

She said she had a lot of questions. “I wish I could have had them answered before we got it,” she said, referring to the installed tank.

At one point, Councilmember Lillian Hendrickson said she talked to a resident of one of the dirt roads who told her the liquid application helps the condition of the road. But she said, “For the last two weeks I do believe I have gotten an ulcer from this, because I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t want to jam anybody up, but I don’t want to pay this bill right now.”

Councilmember Dawn Ryder was in favor of paying the bill. She said she looked into the question of calcium chloride and “It’s in our food… I think we should pay.”

Councilmember Bernie Cohen made a motion to table the bill until the next meeting. Simpson seconded the motion, but after learning Crumley planned to use the chemical for snow removal, she withdrew the second.

Ryder then seconded the motion to table. The vote was three to two not to table. Ryder then made a motion to pay the bill but could not get a second, so that motion died, and the bill will go unpaid, at least for now.

In January and February of this year, Crumley and the board had heated exchanges about the amount of money being spent on salt by the highway department, which ultimately seemed to have been resolved.