Southtowns Record

TB Workshop Minutes — 02-2026-Workshop.pdf

Government
Town of Colden
Board
Town Board Workshop
Meeting
Feb 12, 2026
Kind
Minutes
Topics
Parks and recreation, Roads and traffic

Original document

Same meeting

Text · page 1 of 2

Town Board Workshop February 12, 2026
TOWN BOARD WORKSHOP
Colden Town Hall – 6:00 pm  Page 1

TOWN BOARD WORKSHOP OPENED AT 6:03 pm
PRESENT
  Councilman Dennis Robinson
  Councilman Jesse Hrycik
  Councilwoman Patricia Zurbrick
  Councilman Gerald Pietraszek
  Supervisor James DePasquale

ALSO PRESENT
  Highway Superintendent Lee Wohlhueter
  Planning Board Chairman Walt Kammer
  CEO Tom Dziulko
  Town Clerk Deborah Jusiak
  Shawn Baer Genesee & Wyoming

Mill St Railroad Bridge
Supervisor DePasquale opened the workshop at 6:03 pm and introduced Shawn Baer of the
Genessee & Wyoming Railroad (G&W). DePasquale said the Mill St bridge has received two
yellow flags and is need of repair. Baer said while the railroad owns the bridge, the land is leased
by Erie County Rails to Trails (ECRT) who is responsible for some maintenance. Baer said G&W’s
anticipated cost of repairing the bridge is $30,000. Superintendent Wohlhueter said the Highway
Dept would like the bridge to be taken down and replaced with an at-road crossing. DePasquale
stated that the Town would not take ownership of the bridge and asked if G&W would consider
contributing a larger amount towards removal of the bridge. Councilwoman Zurbrick asked Baer
for an estimate for replacing the bridge with a road crossing. Baer said G&W would consider a
removal request and estimated the bridge demolition and at-road construction project to cost
around $80,000. Superintendent Wohlhueter said the Highway Department would help with
hauling materials, but a contractor with larger equipment would be needed to remove and dispose
of the bridge. Superintendent Wohlhueter asked how quickly a demo and construction project
could be done because the next bridge inspection could result in a possible bridge closure. Baer
said a project could move quickly. Supervisor DePasquale will address the bridge at the February
Town Meeting. Councilman Robinson asked Baer whether the ECRT has any responsibility for
trail safety. They are responsible for some maintenance. Councilmen Robinson and Hrycik stated
there is another railroad bridge located on the northeast side of Route 240 that will need repairs
soon. Baer will look at it and speak with ECRT.

Town Website
Supervisor DePasquale stated the Town website needs to be updated to conform to a NYS
mandated .gov site. He proposed having the Town’s website be hosted by Erie County. There
would be no cost to the Town and Erie County’s past problems in uploading content have been
remedied by allowing Town personnel to add and remove content on their own site. Erie County
monitors their sites for Federal requirements and requires outdated posting be removed in a timely
manner but there is no other censorship. Councilman Pietraszek proposed trying the Erie County
site for a time to see how it goes. The Town’s site would be recreated or redesigned on the erie.gov