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With just a few hours to spare before the winter’s first major snow storm, Bellport Village highway workers were busy finishing up this week on the village’s brand new salt barn off New Jersey Avenue.
Before the barn, the village had dumped its annual load of salt on a huge tarp in the highway yard.
“But the [state Department of Environmental Conservation] said we couldn’t do that anymore,” said Bellport Village Mayor Ray Fell. “Thankfully, they allowed us to do it one more winter and that gave us time enough to get the shed ready for this year. The roof went on last Monday and all the salt was delivered last Wednesday.”
Bellport Highway Superintendent Jason Crane said the 310 tons of salt should be plenty to last the village through the winter.
The barn was built with a $93,000 grant secured through the offices of state Senator Tom Croci and Assemblyman Dean Murray. Bellport then had to chip in about $27,000 for the salt shed and/or to improve village roadways, Fell said.
Construction started about 2 1/2 months ago and was completed Thursday afternoon, with some cleanup work Friday.
As for the storm, which is expected to bring about 8 to 12 inches to the area early Saturday into Sunday, the village is expecting a wet snow and so will have a crew ready to handle any fallen trees or limbs, Fell said.
Photo: Timmy Hall and Pete Digirolamo put siding on the new shed Thursday. (Michael White)
