County hears details of under-wire walkway

By Marlene McTigue

Capital Region Independent Media

As the seasons change, so too does the work of the Town of Coeymans Highway Department. 

Cemeteries need mowing, parks need weed whacking, all while all the regular daily work of the department goes on. 

In addition to bringing on more seasonal help, the department recently hired Christopher Allard from Schenectady as its newest operator.

A 26-year veteran of the Schenectady Department of Public Works, Allard began working in Coeymans in April and is enjoying the experience thus far. 

“I worked for the city of Schenectady for 26 years,” said Allard, “and I just wasn’t happy there anymore and I decided to make a move. The pay is better here and the guys are great.”

Allard lives in Schenectady now but plans to move to Coeymans by the time winter road work begins.

Highway Superintendent Daniel Baker said he is happy with the department’s hiring decision.

“We look for prior experience. Chris had his CDL and he had done snow work. Right away we liked him, he had a good disposition, great attitude, he’s really been an asset ever since started,” Baker said. “He likes what we do here and we’re lucky to have him.”

And the feeling is mutual.

“I like all the men, everybody gets along, Dan and Mike are really good bosses,” Allard said. “Where I came from in Schenectady, it was a much bigger operation, people weren’t as close. The bosses weren’t as close with the workers. I never really saw my boss. But here, these guys are around and that makes it nice. When your boss is there at the time clock and says goodnight to you every night, that gives you an incentive to make you want to come back.”

“I really like the job, I have a good work ethic and I got that from my father, he ran his own business, a transmission business, and he just retired at 70,” Allard added. “He did 55 years at the same job, State Transmission, and it rubbed off on me to work hard.”

Baker said another reason people like to work in his department is the variety of work they do.

“We break things up, we try to rotate things every day so it’s not monotonous,” he said. 

“Everyone gets to do multiple jobs every day. One day they are blacktopping, one they are sweeping or hauling stone products, putting up snow fences, or putting up road signs; they’re chipping another day. We try to make it fun if we can.”

Baker also said setting expectations from day one helps make for successful employees.

“My employees know what I expect and I lay it out right from the get-go,” Baker said. “I expect stuff neat, I expect stuff clean. We represent Coeymans, when we drive our trucks, I expect our drivers to be safe. When they come back in, all the stuff gets pressure washed so it is kept clean and neat. We have nice equipment and I want to keep it nice.”

KEEPING THE PUBLIC INFORMED

Allard noted that after interviewing for the job he started following Baker on Facebook and he said he really liked the posts Baker does to inform the community of what the highway department is working on each day.

“The thing is that the community doesn’t really know about everything we do, so I thought that was great,” said Allard. “A lot of residents think, you work for a municipality, you don’t really do anything and it’s not true. We’re out there every day.”

“That’s some of the stereotypes that we are trying to head off,” said Baker. “I want these guys to be proud of the work they do and I want people to say, that is a place where I want to go to work. So, my vision here is, I want superstars. I want leaders. I want to get rid of the ‘lazy municipality’ perception.”

Battling preconceived perceptions can be tough.

“It happens everywhere though,” said Allard. “It’s been like that for years. When I was in Schenectady, we could be out there plowing for 16 hours and people would complain saying ‘these guys won’t do anything’”.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

”My goal has been to make sure that community residents know they can reach out to me. The residents are really my biggest asset because they are the ones who know what is happening all around the community. They call me up and say, ‘Dan there is a tree down on Lindskoog or there are signs missing or whatever. It really helps us react and I want to make sure that the taxpayers are getting the services they need,” Baker said. “I’m a taxpayer too and I’ve complained about this place.”

THE CUTTING CREW

Over the last month Baker and Ferierro have been hiring seasonal help to take care of the parks and cemeteries.

Jaiden Ridley, 19, originally from Hudson, made a good impression from the moment he walked through the door, according to Baker. 

“When Jaiden came in, I almost hired him on the spot because when he came in, all of his responses were, yes sir, no sir,” said Baker. “He has a wonderful attitude. I don’t care what he can or can’t do, as long as he has that good attitude I can train him to do anything. He comes in every morning and he greets everybody. He is like a breath of fresh air and that’s some of the atmosphere that I am trying to create here. Nice people and people that want to be here. So, I’m going to take him under my wing and make sure he succeeds here.”

Now living on Stanton Road with his mom, at 19 years old, Ridley is a worker they can rely on, according to Baker. In his role as a seasonal employee, his primary focus is mowing and weed whacking four cemeteries and two parks, Ridley says he loves his new job, especially “being outside to work all day.”

Another seasonal hiree is Chris Radley of Coeymans Hollow. Radley is responsible for Grove Cemetery, Coeymans Hollow Cemetery, Valley Papermill Park, Indian Field Cemetery and Alcove Cemetery, and Joralemon Park.  He has been on the job for three weeks.

“I like the job, it’s fun being on the team,” Radley said.

“Chris is kind of the leader of the seasonal help,” said Baker, “because he started first so he is really showing the other guys the ropes.”

“These guys are all doing a phenomenal job, they don’t ask for anything, they don’t wreck anything,” Baker added.

There’s plenty of work to go around.

“And it is not easy, these workers use zero-turn mowers and stand-up mowers. There’s a lot of mowing and sometimes these guys will weed whack for eight hours a day,” Baker said. “We work hard because in my mind cemeteries are sacred ground. So, we need to make sure they are well taken care of.”

Two more new team members will be starting soon and there is still one seasonal position available on Baker’s staff of 10. All worker at the Highway Department are CSEA union members besides Baker and the deputy superintendent.

All seasonal hires start at the same rate of pay, $17.50 an hour, and work a 40-hour week.