Highway chief at career crossroads: Crawford retiring after decades of town service

Article and Photos by Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Highway Superintendent Dick Crawford is on the road to retirement after steering his department for eight years.

A town council member for nearly 20 years, his public service took a different turn when he was elected twice to head the Highway Department. In all, he has served the town in different capacities for more than 40 years. Those posts include deputy supervisor and deputy highway superintendent.

When Crawford reflects on the major accomplishments of his government career, the partnership with his fellow workers tops his list. He calls his fellow workers “dedicated individuals that will come in under all weather conditions – and that’s townwide.”

He also praises his deputy highway superintendent, Skip Mrkall, who is also retiring this year.

Townwide team approach

The highways gig became the job that brought all Crawford’s previous experience into perspective.

“The versatility of the crew – because I have such a long history with the town and all of the departments – you work with everybody. We work with the billing people, we work with the town clerks, we work with the zoning people. People are calling up with questions our residents have with them – and you work together to bring forth those issues and how people can get things done,” Crawford said.

“To me, our main focus, our main job is we’re problem-solvers. We’re here to assist the community and the business people, and whomever, and helping them succeed at what they need to get done.”

His method for doing that: “You have to be able to listen, respond and deliver to their needs.”

Crawford said that, if the local Highway Department can’t resolve a resident’s issue, it provides contact information for the appropriate county or state agency to correct the problem.

The town Highway Department staff includes two mechanics, two laborers, and 11 mechanical operators, two of whom are crew chiefs.

Also key in coordinating the department is Secretary Allison Lezynski, Crawford said.

Wide-ranging tasks

The tasks of the Highway Department are many and they’re wide-ranging.

The crews are perhaps most visible in winter – plowing, salting and drift-chasing, as well as working with the school district and county and state to keep the roads cleared.

But there’s also vehicle maintenance to the townwide fleet, storm sewer drainage, receiver repairs and improvements to the storm sewer system.

And don’t forget other seasonal favorites, such as filling potholes, mowing roadside, sweeping streets and doing branch pickup and tree removal.

Highway Superintendent Dick Crawford, shown here with department mechanic Dan Mathes, is closing the latest chapter in his long career of town government service with his retirement at the end of this year.

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Major accomplishments

Crawford said his proudest accomplishment is “the ability to work with staff.”

He credits his crew and points to achievements during his tenure: Improvements to the highway garage, replacement of bay floors, upgrades to electrical systems throughout the building, a new roof, lighting and the addition of an emergency generator.

“You know the Christmas blizzard – hurricane winds – of ’22. We were here for three days and were able to get the streets opened up,” Crawford recalled.

He said the town immediately got together and analyzed what went right and what went wrong in coping with the blizzard.

“One of the things was, if we ever lost power, our building would have been crippled. So, we just, last fall, put in a gas generator that will keep this building up and open,” Crawford said. With the generator, if another strong storm does knock out power, the town will be able to coordinate the response, run the trucks, repair vehicles and act in all the necessary ways.

“We got a lot of things done, both in the highway department and for the town.”

Major challenges

•Supplies: When road salt was a scarce commodity last winter, Crawford was able to keep sufficient supplies, so the town was never in a bind. This year, it’s not the scarcity but the higher price of road salt that’s the issue.

“We’re making sure that we have enough money in the budget to pay for the salt and enough salt to salt the roads,” he said.

•Flooding: “The flooding issue is a very complex situation because, being an island, when the waters get high, our ability to drain becomes problematic because all the streams are trying to flow into the Niagara River – well, if the water’s up, it’s not going anywhere until the rain stops and the river (and the wind) settles down a little bit,” Crawford said.

He noted the town has had a lot of success in making sure its internal systems are working to make the roads safe to travel. Crawford said the town has had cooperation from the state in getting creeks and tributaries clean and clearing trees at water’s edge.

•Staley Road: “You’ve got a long Grand Island road of 3-plus miles going down to two businesses that employ a lot of people, so we get a lot of traffic down there; short shoulders,” Crawford said.

“The condition of the road is fair – we have a couple different requests through the federal government for grant money. One of them is a $10 million one that would go from the Thruway bridge just past Burger King all the way down to West River to do both ditches and shoulders and paving. We continue to have our fingers crossed and hopeful that gets approved. It’s still in the review process.”

The grant application was filed this September, Crawford said. He added that there’s another grant request, through the supervisor’s office with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, for funding for Staley Road repairs in 2026. If the grants don’t come through, bonding the work makes sense to Crawford.

As to Staley Road flooding, Crawford said that, of the five crossover pipes that carry water to Big Six Creek, the town has replaced two of them,

“Plans are to start in the spring again and get the other ones done,” Crawford said.

He said his department is looking for a two-step project to do Staley Road shoulders and the drainage. Crawford has drawn up plans of completed work and what remains to be done for Staley Road safety that he is sharing with his successor.

Jim Sedita’s turn

Crawford is confident that Jim Sedita, elected in November as his successor, is well-prepared for the job: “Jim has a great experience over in the Town of Tonawanda,” where he has been that Highway Department’s supervising mechanic. He’s coming to Grand Island from a department of over 100 to Grand Island’s department of 18 personnel.

“We’ve been meeting for the last three months,” Crawford said. “He’s got a very solid base to come in here and be the superintendent.”

Crawford also said the new deputy superintendent, John Carncross, is well-prepared for his new job, with 27 years of experience in the Town of Tonawanda’s Highway Department.

Reflecting on his career

“I started working as a Courier-Express paperboy at 13 and, there, you start your work ethic,” Crawford said. “I attribute it to my mother and father, growing up with three brothers and three sisters. Working hard was something that was ingrained to us from a very, very young age.

“My father owned his own business, so we all knew what that meant, and how it affected you, and your brothers and sisters and your community – and drove forward from there.”

Crawford said his first foray into public service was when he got into student government at Erie Community College: “When I went to Brockport, I was president of my class for two years there.”

He said his favorite part of the job probably will come as a surprise to some: “It’s working with people. The people put me in office, and I respect that every day – from the time that I was a councilman.”

Crawford said that living by his credo of “listen, respond and deliver,” “made a lot of people happy and made a few people unhappy, but certainly, the goal was to strive for whatever the best result could be for them.”

After college, he worked for 35 years in medical equipment sales. During that time frame, Crawford said his community involvement also drew him to politics and government service. He said he followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the Lions Club and the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce.

“One day, I put together a four-year plan – said I’m going to run for council,” Crawford said.

He won the council seat and continued to serve.

“Being a former Town Board (member), I certainly know the importance of the support you need as a highway superintendent working with the Town Board,” Crawford said. “And just knowing from working with Norm Mrkall, Ray Dlugokinski, Jim Tomkins, as a Town Board member, how important it is to effectively communicate, and I think that that’s a key, and that’s something that you work on every day – making sure that people are aware and knowing what’s going on. I think that, under the last eight years as superintendent, with the town boards, there’s been open communication, and that’s just key to success.”

On to retirement

His thoughts on retirement?

“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be bittersweet,” Crawford said.

His heart and his history keep him dialed into Town Hall.

“If there’s something that I can ever help with, I’m a phone call away,” he has told his colleagues.

“I’ll be more active as a Lion; I’m a trustee on the library; so, I’m looking forward to going to the library more and reading more books in my leisure time,” Crawford said. “It’s a new chapter. I love to golf, so I’ll be golfing a little bit more; working around the house at my own pace, with that big, long job jar list.”

“It will be interesting probably that first six months, but then spring will be here, and I’ll be on the golf course. My plan and my goal is to see what retirement brings.”