Highway Superintendent James Martin and the Town of Woodhull
By Jay Nachman - June 2026
Jim Martin, the highway superintendent of the town of Woodhull, recalls the worst day on the job without hesitation. It was Aug. 18, 2021, when Tropical Storm Fred triggered flash flooding throughout Steuben County.
More than 6 ft. of water poured through the department's garage and a newly built wastewater plant also was flooded. There was substantial damage to the town's roads and scores of buildings and homes were damaged in the town and beyond.
"Nothing you can do," Jim said. "You just ride it out and make sure everybody's safe. I had a loader out at residences picking people up and taking them to safety."
But these weren't just town residents Jim was helping rescue. They were his friends and neighbors. He had lived in the town since 1995 and grew up in nearby Canisteo. At the time of the flood, Jim had been highway superintendent since December 2019.
Woodhull lost tools, six trucks, a paver and "just about everything in the shop was gone," Jim said. It was a blow to the department, which currently has an operating budget of $1,560,569, including a CHIPS allocation of $383,850.
With the insurance money, Jim was able to replace two trucks. He was able to replace the other vehicles through FEMA money the town received and money that was subsequently budgeted.
Nearby townships that didn't get as flooded helped keep the township functioning.
"They brought trucks in, excavators in, manpower, fixing roads and everything," a grateful Jim said.
In August 2024, there was another flood, but Jim and his crew had learned their lesson.
"When we got the warning for the flood, we moved all the equipment out of here," he said.
Farm equipment supplier Larry Romance & Son allowed the highway department to store their trucks in their lot, which sits on a hill off Route 417.
The town of Woodhull is situated between the Tuscarora River and a creek and both overflowed during the 2021 flood. The creek, which caused so much damage to Woodhull, has played an important role in the town's history.
Woodhull, which was first known as the settlement of Newville, began with its first settler in 1804 when Daniel Johnson built his home here just west of the current village. The trees were thick, and there were no roads, so travelers used the creek, either by raft or on the winter ice to get around.
According to the town's history, this part of the state was so wild and densely forested that the Native Americans avoided it, perhaps entering only to hunt the abundance of game at that time. The hunting was excellent, including deer, bear, wolves and panther. Fish also were jumping out of the creek.
The official formation of Woodhull, which was named after General Nathanial Woodhull, was done by an act of the New York legislature on Feb. 18, 1828. Formerly part of Middletown, it took lands from Rathbone, Troupsburg and Addison. Woodhull now includes the hamlets of Hedgesville and Borden.
While it was once a substantial farming community, few operate to the capacity that they once did.
Jim began working for the town of Woodhull in 1997 as a highway maintenance equipment operator. He was appointed to his post in 2019 after the previous superintendent left for another position. Jim has been re-elected to additional two-year terms since first being elected in 2020.
He is joined in the department by Jack Lewis, the deputy highway superintendent, and Dennis Alleger, Robert Baker and Scott Farrand, all heavy mechanic equipment operators. To communicate, they use cell phones and two-way radios.
In the summer, two seasonal employees join the department. They work 10-hour days, 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
"We get everything done in the shorter week," Jim said, adding "The superintendent's job is considered 24/7 even though if you're off after the four tens, you're still on call with your phone."
One aspect of the department that Jim wanted to improve upon taking office was to improve the responsiveness of the department. It seemed to him that the department didn't have very good relationships with the town residents.
Jim "just showed up to talk with them. Let me ask questions and just talk to them. I didn't ignore them when they called with a question or something."
In the town of 1,650 residents, Jim always is running into residents/constituents/neighbors at the gas station or a store, and that makes it easy for him to hear about their concerns. And he likes it like that.
"That way you know there's a problem in town, if you don't catch it, they catch it and they let you know," he said. "I take that note and go and get on it right then. I enjoy doing that."
The department has a three-bay garage, built in 1948 and a seven-bay garage built in 2008. The town's mix barn dates to 1940 and it has a salt barn constructed in 2015. The salt barn, which is situated next to the mix barn, has a storage capacity of 400 tons.
"It's not really enough," he said. "It gets us through, but I have to reorder salt to put back in. It's enough to get us started with."
There are no current plans to enlarge the barn for more storage.
The department currently has a mix of new and older vehicles, including a 2018 New Holland tractor and a 2016 John Deere moving tractor. It has four Western Star trucks, two purchased in 2022, one purchased in 2025 and one purchased this year, in 2026.
It also has a 2019 Ford F-250 along with one bought in 2022. There also is a 2022 medium-duty commercial truck and a 2016 Peterbilt dump truck.
The vehicle inventory also includes a 1994 Peterbilt water truck; a 2017 Hyundai HW 180 wheeled excavator; a 2024 John Deere 160 track excavator; a 2024 Ammann roller ARS 110; a 2024 Cat loader 950G; a 2021 Cat grader 140; a 2025 Interstate trailer 500 DLA; a 1988 Haulmark trailer and a 2025 road groomer.
The vehicles get a daily inspection and are serviced twice a year, in the fall and in the spring.
The wheeled excavator is on the list to be replaced on Jim's five-year plan. He is looking to purchase a new one for $325,000. Also on the drawing board is a used paver; he lost his previous one in the flood. He estimates the cost of the paver at $50,000.
For small paving jobs, like for filling potholes or patching, he uses the town's grader. He bids out larger jobs to contractors.
Also in the plans is the purchase of a double-drum roller for those small paving jobs, to work in tandem with the single-drum roller he purchased a few years back for $166,000.
"Our single one right now has tires on it," Jim said. "It leaves some tracks in the blacktop. If you have a double-drum roller, it won't leave any tracks in the blacktop."
He hopes to buy a used one for approximately $75,000.
Also in the works is the not-yet-budgeted complete repair of a parking lot with approximately 40 spaces in the middle of town on Main Street. The municipality bought it right before the 2021 flood. Jim said it will be completed this year. His crew put an initial coat of blacktop on it, and did all the groundwork and gravel work. Now, he needs to bid out the work for a contractor to lay down the permanent blacktop and estimates it will cost approximately, $125,000.
Woodhull has approximately 58.5 mi. of road, totaling 117 mi. of two-lane roads — that Jim is responsible for, about half of which are gravel and dirt and the other half are paved. There are no bridges that he is responsible for.
The paved roads used to be covered with a triple coat of oil and stone.
"We had a lot of problems with keeping it and it kept breaking up," Jim said. "So, I redid them and put them all as blacktop of like three inches of binder so now they are all blacktop and there's no oil and stone in Woodhull now."
The oil and stone roads lasted approximately five years before needing to be replaced.
"The blacktop, as long we keep the upkeep here, should last up to 20 years," he said.
An ongoing project of the department is replacing the driveway crossover pipes in ditches for all households in Woodhull, all 700 of them or thereabouts.
"So they can get in and out of their driveways, we're replacing all the steel pipes. Steel pipes freeze during the winter and then we have problems with water running and then you have water out in the road and then it freezes. And then you have water in the driveway. We're trying to get away from all that water coming out into the roads."
Jim is replacing the steel pipes with corrugated plastic pipes, which don't freeze as easily. The pipe replacement is done with the department's excavator. The pipes are covered with approximately 10 in. of gravel, and then leveled out with the excavator, tractor and rake.
"My guys are pretty damn good at it, and I would say a driveway pipe will take us about three hours," Jim said.
He estimates the work will be completed in approximately five years.
The department doesn't face any big challenges in the days and months ahead, Jim said. His biggest challenges, he added, are more day-to-day.
"The biggest challenge is to make sure things are getting done the way they should be and making sure they're done."
When storms come, Jim and his team each man a truck for snow and ice removal. Each route takes approximately four hours.
Jim said his satisfaction comes when the "job is done and it's done correctly, and the residents of this township appreciate it and thank you for all the work we've done."
He also wants to keep upgrading the town's equipment and "to make sure the crew is well taken care of."
Jim said the biggest change in his work since he started is how the equipment has gotten larger. As an example, he said when he started in the late 1990s, he worked with a single-axle, six-wheeler dump truck. Now they use a 10-wheeler dump truck.
The larger trucks, he said, are more efficient. It allows the department to get more material out on the road and to push more snow off the roads. In addition, he said they had to chain the tires of the six-wheelers before they could even bring them out for storms.
He uses trucks for filling potholes and patching broken blacktop.
Woodhull does have a shared work program with neighboring townships. Under the program, the highway departments will gravel roads together.
Jim's wife, Barbara, said, "I'm very proud of Jim and his accomplishments over the past six years."
They have two sons, James, 38, and Justin, 35.
Jim is a member of the Town and Municipal Highway Superintendent's Association of Steuben County Inc.
When he's off the job, Jim likes to visit a nearby casino. But his favorite pastime is the Woodhull hobby farm where he raises and then sells approximately 75 head of cattle each year with his brother. The farm was their grandparents' and Jim spent a lot of time there growing up, helping them out with chores.
At the farm, Jim said, "You're outside in the sun. It's just enjoyable. It's relaxing to me even though it's hard work."
That sounds a lot like his job as highway superintendent of Woodhull. P
(All photos courtesy of the town of Woodhull highway department.)