Part 1: The Road Garage Is Not a Luxury. It Is a Safety Issue!

Photo: Irondequoit, New York DPW fire. I was there as a firefighter. I was in the bucket. I do not ever want to see this happen in Russell Township.

Some images stay with you.

For me, this is one of them.

The photo above is from the Irondequoit Department of Public Works fire. I responded to that fire as a firefighter, and I was in the bucket. It was a long night. It was dangerous, dirty, and filled with airborne contaminants. Public works buildings are not ordinary garages. They contain fuel, oil, equipment, batteries, tires, tools, chemicals, vehicles, and other materials that can quickly turn a building fire into a hazmat incident.

That experience is one reason I am taking the condition of Russell Township’s Road Department building so seriously.

At today’s budget workshop, our Road Superintendent stated that employees are using circuit breakers as light switches because of electrical issues. He also described leaking roofs, uncertainty about the source of all the leaks, and a building that “sweats.” That is not a minor maintenance complaint. That is a warning.

And warnings are exactly what responsible public officials are supposed to heed before someone gets hurt.

This is not about wanting a shiny new building. This is not about convenience. This is not about making the Road Department more comfortable for the sake of comfort. This is about worker safety, fire risk, operational readiness, and whether Russell Township will responsibly address a known facility problem before it becomes an emergency.

The Road Department is one of the most basic service departments in local government. These are the employees who plow our roads, respond during storms, clear trees, maintain ditches and drainage, repair roads, handle salt, manage equipment, and keep the Township moving during the worst weather of the year. When residents are home during a storm, the Road Department is out in it.

Their building matters.

The condition of their building matters.

Their safety matters.

This issue did not appear out of nowhere. In June 2025, the Board approved Larsen Architects to perform a concept study for a Township Road Facility, including review of the current Road Department site and the property near the Police Station. By September 2025, Larsen had publicly discussed Road Department garage options, including the possibility of rebuilding at the current site. The architect noted that if the existing garage remained as-is, “a fair amount of reinvestment” would be needed to keep it functioning.

That was already concerning.

Now we are hearing about circuit breakers being used as light switches, leaking roofs, unknown water intrusion, and moisture problems inside the building.

That moves this discussion from long-term capital planning into life-safety territory.

Yesterday, Ms. Port, Mr. Hare, and I were given a 2020 report stating that the building needs to be replaced. If that report is accurate, then Russell Township has had notice for years that this facility was nearing the end of its useful life. If very little major maintenance has been done since then, the question is no longer whether we can keep patching forever. The question is whether continued delay is fiscally responsible — or whether we are simply pushing risk onto our employees and future taxpayers.

Deferred maintenance always sends a bill.

Sometimes it arrives as a repair invoice.

Sometimes it arrives as an emergency.

Sometimes it arrives as a fire.

I do not want Russell Township to learn that lesson the hard way.

At the same time, I understand the financial and political reality. Russell recently completed the Community Room project. We have ongoing facility needs. We have fire department planning needs.

We have police, road, zoning, and administrative budget pressures. And we will be going before the Budget Commission, which has already made clear that it will scrutinize township budgets for reasonableness and need. During the 2026 budget workshop, the Fiscal Officer reminded the Board that the Budget Commission considers reasonableness and need when reviewing the Township’s budget.

Good.

They should scrutinize this.

Residents should scrutinize this.

The Board should scrutinize this.

But scrutiny should not become paralysis.

The right approach is not to rush into a new building mindlessly. The right approach is to put all options on the table: repair, replace, phase construction, finance, pay cash, seek grants, or defer with a clear understanding of the risks. But “ignore it” is no longer an option.

My personal preference is straightforward: if Russell Township can responsibly pay cash for a necessary Road Department building while preserving appropriate reserves and maintaining essential services, I would rather do that than ask residents for a new levy or bond measure. Before asking taxpayers for more, we should first determine whether we can solve this problem with funds already available.

That does not mean draining reserves. It does not mean weakening Police, Fire, Road, or Township operations. It means doing the math honestly.

And residents will be able to see that discussion for themselves. A full transcript of our budget workshops will be made available. We hired a court reporter for transparency, and the transcript will be posted on the Township website.

Residents should not have to rely on rumors, summaries, or selective interpretations. They should be able to read what was said, what was asked, what was answered, and what still needs to be answered.

This blog series will walk through why I believe the Road Department building must be addressed, what we know so far, what questions still need answers, and how we can approach this in a way that protects employees, services, and taxpayers.

The picture above is not from Russell Township.

And I want to keep it that way.

Safety first. Math second. Politics last. That order should not be controversial.