Broome County Helps Windsor Replace Truck Damaged in March Fire

At a press conference on Thursday, Broome County Executive Jason Garnar announced that the County had helped the Town of Windor replace a highway truck that was lost in a fire earlier this year.

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The fire in March, caused by an electrical short in one of the highway department trucks, devastated Windsor's Town Highway Garage and three trucks were deemed a total loss.

In June, the Broome County Legislature unanimously adopted a resolution to use the Small Community Fund to spend $270,000 to acquire a new dump/plow truck for the Town of Windsor. The fund grants awards to non-profit organizations and municipalities for overall community benefit, investment, and improvement. This funding prevented the Town of Windsor from needing to pass the brunt of that financial burden onto the taxpayers.

"Windsor faced a major unexpected purchase when its Highway garage burned down and would have had to pass that cost on to the local taxpayers," said County Executive Garnar. "With this Small Community Grant, we were able to help the Town purchase this needed equipment and keep taxes in check for its residents."

When asked about the total cost of repairing the damaged building and replacing everything that was lost, Town of Windsor Supervisor Mark Odell estimated that the total cost could run in the $8-9 million range.

Along the way, the Town of Windsor also received help with trucks and assistance from the Town of Kirkwood, Town of Colesville, Town of Union, Town of Vestal and Town of Unadilla, as well as individual residents of the Windsor community.