Decker ready to rock (salt) and roll

With big machines come big responsibilities

By Allison Froehlich and Mya Ross | Manor Ink

Livingston Manor, NY – The race for Town of Rockland Highway Superintendent was hotly contested this year. When the dust settled after the Nov. 2 election, Roger Decker emerged as the clear winner. Several weeks later, Manor Ink interviewed the newly elected superintendent.

Roger Decker has worked as a heavy equipment operator for the Town of Rockland for 23 years, and has been a resident for 25. His main duties as an operator included digging ditches, plowing snow, driving trucks and operating all manner of large machines. When he steps into his new position as highway superintendent, his tasks will be very different, with many changes for him.

Decker will now be responsible for helping to manage the Highway Department’s work crew, making sure they do their jobs properly, ordering sand and salt for winter conditions, making sure bills are paid, ensuring town trucks are in good working condition and coordinating flood emergency responses. In addition, Decker will need to go out early on winter mornings to check roads to make sure school buses and community members can get to school and work safely.

Working in the office will be a learning experience for the new superintendent, because he hasn’t performed many of these tasks before. Those include managing a large team of employees. The Town of Rockland Highway Department has 14 employees, consisting of 12 crew members, a secretary and Decker himself.

Decker said that the pandemic did not cause a shortage of employees, although it did cause a few days of closure for the department. When he does have to hire additional workers, Decker is guided by their experience. “It’s all about what they are applying for and how they would do the job,” he said.

The superintendent may make some small changes in the department, but not many. His main goal is to keep the town’s roads safe while getting the department’s various tasks done efficiently. He is also big on the safety of his employees. “I look forward to being able to serve the public and serve my guys,” Decker said. “I can´t do the job without my guys. I depend on them a lot.”

In winter, the highway crew takes care of about 120 miles of road, not including main roads. They are responsible for plowing snow, salting and sanding, and fixing washed out roads after floods. During the summer, Decker indicated that they fix winter road damage, mow the shoulders of roads and fix broken equipment.

Roger Decker said that though he is a bit nervous about becoming the new highway superintendent, he also very excited about the job. He takes the office officially on Jan. 1.