Highway Superintendent Douglas Robinson and the Town of Urbana

Ruksana Hussain - PROFILE Correspondent - March 2025

(photo courtesy of the town of Urbana highway department)

Seen here is a gravel job on Bootjack Road. Fluffy called in shared services from all of the area towns for help and received 23 trucks for three days of hauling. He got them pizza.

Seen here is work on Urbana Road as part of a rebuild project.

Seen here is part of the drainage project on Urbana Road as part of a rebuild project.

Seen here is the dump truck the town of Urbana highway department had made from donations from the Touch a Truck program. It is going in a playground the department is building for the kids in town.

Seen here is a plow on which kids paint pictures and sayings during the Touch a Truck show every year; then, Fluffy puts it in front of the town barn for the year.

The 2019 Volvo dump truck and Felling 50-ton tip trailer the department uses to move its equipment from job sites.

The department purchased this 2022 John Deere wheel loader, which is on a three year payment plan.

Standing in front of the department’s John Deere grader (L-R) are Lucas Calafiore, Tim Slayton (deputy superintendent), Bruce Wheaton, Fluffy, Zackary Preston, Terry Hough and Josh Mault.

The town of Urbana highway department’s shop is 120 ft. by 60 ft. and holds its four plow trucks and one work bay for repairs; it also has a break room, bathrooms, office and part storage for the trucks.

The town of Urbana highway department’s salt storage barn stores a mix of salt and sand — approximately 1,500 tons — for use on the town’s gravel roads, and approximately 150 tons of salt for its blacktop roads. The department also lets the village use a corner of the barn to store its salt.

The storage barn was built to house all of the other equipment like the excavators, grader, tractors and other trucks.

The crew from soil and water begins to place stone in the stream for erosion control.

A stream is all cleaned out and ready for stone.

Seen here is the bottom of the stream at the inlet of the pipe.

The town of Urbana highway department collaborates on projects with Steuben County and Steuben County Soil and Water.

"I wanted to continue to build relationships, not only with residents, but with the surrounding communities, while working together to expand all of our abilities," said Highway Superintendent Douglas Robinson, aka "Fluffy," of the town of Urbana in Steuben County, an area known for attractions such as Keuka Lake, Glen Curtiss Museum, Finger Lakes Boating Museum and many wineries and breweries.

Having lived in Urbana all his life, Fluffy always knew he wanted to do more for his hometown. Before becoming superintendent, he worked for the town of Urbana for 20 years.

He was elected to his position in 2018 and his current term expires Dec. 31, 2025, but he plans on running for another four-year term.

Tammie Nelson, town of Urbana's bookkeeper-budget office and HR, praises his work ethic, his organizational prowess and dedication to his role.

"He will come in everyday approximately 2 a.m. to drive every town road," she said. "He will head to his office to put together all the bills he has received. It is not unusual to come into e-mails that have been sent at 4 a.m. His attention to the budget is amazing. He will do all the research, for anything the highway department needs or wants prior to coming to myself and the town board to make a purchase. He never makes a purchase or proposal without brainstorming and making sure it will be covered in the budget."

Handling the paperwork and budgeting were new responsibilities in Fluffy's first two years in office, but he attended Cornell Local Roads Annual School for Highway Superintendents where he learned about the CHIPS program and other important aspects of the job.

He also has received the continued support of his town board, which he said has helped keep things smooth sailing through the years.

"While attending Hammondsport Central School, I was given the opportunity to attend GST Boces in heavy equipment," he said. "Upon graduation, I applied for an MEO position with the town of Urbana highway department. While in that position, I learned from my coworkers and had the opportunity to learn from other departments and municipalities. That is what gave me the confidence to seek the superintendent position."

"Anything we need, from setting up desks, moving office equipment, to delivering water and heaters, we can count on him," Tammie added. "He checks in regularly with all of us here at the town hall. I have seen him take phone calls to help other municipalities find information on how to use programs like Auctions International and Sourcewell. If a training is set up that he knows the surrounding towns need, he makes calls and informs them, he will fill the room. He will be the first to tell you when a state budget cut is coming or new regulations are in the works that will affect us. His life revolves around his work and what he puts out. He is truly a wonderful human. We are lucky to have him at the town of Urbana and we know it."

Teamwork, Tasks

Fluffy and his team are responsible for 101 lane mi. of roads, all of which are municipality — 75 roads are gravel, 25 are paved. There are four plow routes. A normal full loop takes three hours for all routes.

Additional responsibilities include two bridges, dock repair, lawn mowing and maintaining a community dog park along with the town hall and grounds, four park areas and six town cemeteries. The municipality does not have a waste water treatment plant.

There are five full-time staff members: Motor equipment operators Bruce Wheaton, Zachary Preston, Lucas Calafiore, Terry Hough and MEO-Deputy (his right hand) Tim Slayton. The only part-time crew member is Groundskeeper Josh Mault. The team works Monday through Thursday, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. serving the 2,125 residents in the municipality.

Fluffy has worked with three kids from the area schools, where students go their junior year to BOCES for heavy equipment and work their senior year at the highway department. If there is a job opening, they are offered a full-time position after their senior year.

Total annual operating budget is $1,475717.00 and annual CHIPS allocation is $220,562.65.

Computers used in operations are for Fluffy's truck for his DigSafe and highway use permits. Portable communications between garage and working machines/crew include two-way radios, cell phones and CBs.

The highway department communicates with residents of the municipality through their website, announcements in the local paper and messaging boards on Facebook.

Office Space, Equipment

Facilities include a main shop, second shop, tire shed, steel container and salt barn with 200 tons of undercover capacity for salt storage and 1,500 tons of salt sand mix. The main shop was built in 1993, Quonset hut in 2003 and salt barn in 2000.

The main highway shop is a 60-ft. by 120-ft. steel building, which houses five bays, the first two where trucks are serviced and minor repairs addressed. In the winter, each bay houses a truck for one of the plow routes.

This main shop is well supplied so when they break down, day or night, they are able to get back up and running with minimal down time. They also can build their own hydraulic hoses in-house and purchased a battery-powered impact drill to be able to change the truck and loader tires as needed.

The Quonset hut stores everything from mowers and excavators to the sweeper, and there is also a small 10-ft. by 20-ft. shed for tires. A 10-ft. by 40-ft. steel container holds all their road signs, hand equipment, cut off saws, etc. A 60-ft. by 80-ft. salt storage shed holds a mixture of salt and sand for dirt roads and salt for black topped roads.

Equipment and trucks in the fleet include:

• 1998 John Deere 6506 dozer

• 2000 Case 580L backhoe

• 2006 Case JX109OU tractor

• 2014 Volvo roller

• 2018 Falcon asphalt hot box

• 2018 John Deere tractor with flails

• 2020 John Deere grader

• 2021 John Deere 624P loader

• 2021 John Deere 52014 compact tractor

• 2022 John Deere mini-excavator

• 2011 Scag zero-turn mower

• 2020 Ferris zero-turn mower

• 2023 Volvo EW160 excavator

• 2009 Volvo 10-wheeler

• 2005 Volvo 10-wheeler

• 2017 Volvo 10-wheeler

• 2019 Volvo 10-wheeler

• 2016 Peterbilt 10-wheeler

• 2013 Western Star 10 –wheeler

• 2008 chevy pickup

• 2022 Chevy one-ton

• 2023 Chevy one-ton

• 2013 LayMor sweeper

• 2023 Felling tip trailer

Preventive maintenance schedule for equipment/trucks includes a pre-trip inspection before operating and in-house full services every 200-250 hours on equipment and trucks.

Instead of a typical lease, the town of Urbana has built-in payment plans in the budget to allow for bigger purchases with a smaller impact to the tax rate.

Currently, there is a three-year payment plan for the 2021 John Deere loader, a seven-year payment plan for the 2023 Volvo EW 160 excavator, and they are in the last year of a five-year payment plan for the 2020 John Deere grader.

"My plan is to use the the payment for the grader toward two new 10-wheelers in the next year," he said. "This works for our municipality as we don't have to come up with all the funds up front. With the cost of equipment constantly rising, we can plan and purchase the vehicles we need."

Collaborations, Accomplishments

The town of Urbana has a shared services agreement with Steuben County and works closely with the surrounding towns of Bath, Pulteney, Prattsburg and Wayne. They collaborate on projects with Steuben County and Steuben County Soil and Water.

"Their help has been instrumental in completing some of our larger projects," he said. "We are a small crew of five drivers so when they help with a truck/operator or two, it helps tremendously. We had a job last year on Boot Jack Road, a dirt road. The surrounding towns pitched in 22 trucks and we hauled 210 loads of #4 stone to the site over two days. The plan is to oil and stone that road next year, but we could never have accomplished it in that timeframe without the help."

Major work accomplished in Urbana by the highway department includes projects on Urbana Road and East Lake Road.

"Urbana Road was a one mile road with half of the road being only seasonal," he said. "We took the seasonal section and made it two lanes to open it up to traffic. We did a total rebuild on the entire mile of road by adding new pipes, ditches, lined the ditches, gravel and some catch basins, turning it into a year-round road that can accommodate the traffic. We were then able to oil and stone the road."

East Lake Road had a section that was flooding due to heavy rain and run off but with help from Steuben County Soil and Water, Fluffy and his team replaced the culvert and drained and lined the creek to slow the water flow.

Some of the smaller projects have included adding two large pavilions at Champlin Beach for public rental and updating the public bathrooms at the depot where public boat docks are located.

The boat docks have to be expanded so the highway department is waiting on a permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation to move ahead.

The town is in the process of creating a bridge/walking path to connect the two public parks — Curtis Park and Champlin Beach at the head of Keuka Lake — and Fluffy's team has been involved in helping with the clearing and overseeing of these projects.

"I have implemented a highway use permit with the support of the town board, so if there is any work on a roadway or in the town's right-of-way, they must get a permit to do so," he said. "This is helping to decrease the road damage and undermining of roads."

He would like to continue to rebuild one mile of dirt road a year, from the ditches to driveways, crossover pipes, any tree removal, then widening the road if necessary, adding heavy stone to the soft spots and graveling, and then oil and stone that section of road the next year to help preserve it.

Community Initiatives

Fluffy's Touch a Truck is a program that he has organized for the past two years for the kids in the community. It is a hands-on event for children (and adults) to climb into the vehicles, talk to the operators, watch demos and enjoy rides.

Organizations such as New York State Electric and Gas, Steuben County Emergency, T&R Towing, Teamsters Local 118 and companies and non-profits such as Wilbri, Fleet Pride, Admar, Steuben County Soil and Water, village of Savona, Monroe Tractor, Saratoga Associates and John Deere all participated with a booth or donations.

Every year, the kids sand and paint the V-plow, which is proudly displayed outside of the highway department on SR54.

"My hope is to spark the interest in kids/teens/adults to these fields, we need help and good workers," said Fluffy. "After last year, I had a playground truck built. It will be the first piece in a community playground at Champlin Beach. All playground pieces will be based on trucks and/or rescue vehicles. This is solely funded by donations."

Fluffy remembers his childhood and when in school, hearing the trucks come off the hill while playing during lunchtime.

"That's what got me into wanting to do this job," he said. "I always told my parents that I want to become a truck driver. But now we are having a hard time finding people to do our job. Nobody wants to drive trucks. Every one of our towns in this area is looking for help."

Thus, was born the idea of a truck show, hoping that kids' exposure to the profession at a young age would help pique their interest in pursuing a career here. That also led to the playground, where all the apparatus looks like trucks — dump truck, backhoe or a dozer with swings on it, sandbox with diggers, etc.

With a demanding work schedule that is weather-dictated and plenty of plans for improvements around the community, Fluffy has a full workload and is usually shuttling between work and home.

"It's a busy life, but I love it," he said. "I've been doing it so long and I love the community. I want to do it for as long as they keep me here."

His wife Paula agreed. "My husband loves his job and has made many positive changes as superintendent. I couldn't be prouder. He gives his job his all and works at least 12 hours a day."

The couple have been married 26 years and head out camping some weekends at nearby Cardinal Campground, where Fluffy enjoys smoking meat and relaxing by a campfire, before heading back to the office for the week.