In 2008, Mike Farrell was building roads — not for the town of Peru's highway department, but for a construction company. In his role as a heavy equipment operator in charge of small jobs, he operated heavy equipment.
Town of Peru Highway Department photo
When the town's highway superintendent resigned, some of Mike's connections in the garage suggested he run for the position. Not only was he uniquely qualified, having built roads, sewer systems and drainage systems and worked on bridges all over upstate New York and Vermont, but it turns out Mike had run against him years before, losing to his now-retiring rival.
"He's a good guy and is the son of the previous superintendent," Mike said.
But he had small kids at home and didn't want to spend all his Christmases clearing snow, so he resigned, leaving a vacancy that offered his former challenger an opportunity. Despite their previous competition for the job, he now supported Mike to become his successor.
Mike won the election and assumed office in 2009. Just recently (November 2025), he won re-election for his fourth term. Although the typical length of a superintendent's term is four years, the state's governor, in an attempt to connect future elections with the presidential race, implemented a three-year term before resuming the traditional four-year terms. Therefore, Mike will serve three years in office.
North American Peru
The New York native grew up in Morrisonville, approximately six miles south, but has lived in the town of Peru for 36 years. With a current population of 6,999, the Clinton County town in upstate New York dates back to 1772.
Named because its views of the Adirondack Mountains to the west and farmlands throughout the town resembled the scenery in its namesake, Peru, South America, the small town was formed from parts of Plattsburg and Willsboro in 1792.
Town of Peru Highway Department photo
The eastern edge of the town abuts Lake Champlain, the state border with Vermont and site of the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776 — noted for being one of the first naval battles of the Revolutionary War in which the Continental Army stalled British forces from reaching the upper Hudson River valley despite most of the American ships being captured or destroyed.
The region is an outdoor delight, with many campgrounds, farms, orchards and areas for fishing, boating and golf. Ausable Point Campground, along the shores of Lake Champlain, borders a wildlife management area that offers a hiking trail, as well as water access for canoeists and sea kayakers.
Ausable Chasm, known as the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks, offers hiking, rafting, rappelling, tubing and more, all set against cliffs and chasms in one of the oldest natural attractions in the country.
For winter activities, nearby Whiteface Mountain Ski Center is part of the Lake Placid Olympic Center, home to the 1980 Winter Olympics. Whiteface Mountain is the fifth-highest mountain in New York and one of the highest peaks of the Adirondacks, offering a 360-degree view of the Adirondacks and glimpses of Vermont and — on clear days — Montreal, Canada.
History buffs may enjoy the Battle of Valcour historical site; the Battle of Plattsburgh site, where the British invasion was put to an end in 1812; or Fort Ticonderoga, the 18th-century star fort built during the French and Indian War by the French at the narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain. The Americans captured it from the British early in the Revolutionary War but later abandoned it under threat from British troops.
Although his wife, Anne, said "he has not taken a true vacation in 16 years since starting as highway superintendent in Peru," Mike and his family, which includes son, Heath, 24, and daughter, Steffany, 32, frequently camp at Twin Ells just 20 minutes away. Having camped there for 20 years, he now leaves his camper there year-round, making weekend get-aways easy.
Many of his favorite pastimes are available in proximity. He enjoys big game hunting on his father-in-law's property approximately 100 yards from his own home, where he is sometimes joined by his grandson.
Other hobbies Mike enjoys include watching Plattsburgh State Hockey and local car racing. When his wife was pregnant, he filled in for her at her father's dairy barn, where she does computer work and helps out in the calf barn. But his work schedule keeps him pretty busy most of the time — particularly through the winter.
"We saw my parents in Florida about eight years ago," he said in response to his wife's comment about vacations.
The problem is, he explained, "winter is the worst time to go because I have to pay overtime."
And, while he has a competent deputy superintendent whom he is prepping to take over after what he anticipates will be his last term, that man also is a dairy farmer whose busy season is spring, which makes covering for the boss early in the year too difficult for Mike's comfort.
The Crew
The staff consists of seven full-time members, headed by Deputy Highway Superintendent Tyler Jarvis, who has become Mike's right-hand man. Just hours after a longtime employee retired in January 2018, Tyler showed up, looking for a job.
Town of Peru Highway Department photo
"He was in his 20s," Mike said. "But he was already a superintendent at his job."
Mike thought that boded will, so he offered him the job. "Hiring him was one of the best things I've done."
The two have become so close, Mike almost considers him another son. The superintendent and deputy balance one another. Tyler is mechanical; Mike is not.
"I can take things apart, but if I tried to put them back together, there would be a lot of spare parts," he joked.
Mike's specialties consist of building roads and "office stuff," which he is trying to teach his protégé.
In the hopes that Tyler will win election to the position after he vacates it, Mike is preparing him to take over.
"The long-term goal for the department is to guide my deputy through the process of how to implement a form, implement a budget and work hand-in-hand with him on daily matters and issues until I hand the reins over to him."
Other members of the crew include:
• Tom Rock, MEO
• Wayne Wells, MEO
• Andrew McLaughlin, MEO
• Andrew Roberts, MEO
• Kyle Spear, MEO
• Kyle LaPorte, MEO
• Pam Barber, confidential secretary to the board
Together, they work 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday through the summer and 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday-Friday in the winter, communicating by radios and cell phones while on duty.
They maintain 162 lane mi. in the town and 47.5 mi. of county roads. Of those, only two roads are gravel; 115 are paved. And when the snow falls, they divide up seven plow routes, each of which takes about 3-3.5 hours.
During the COVID years, Mike loaded all the trucks while his crew worked two days on/two days off. The dedicated superintendent said he didn't feel he could take days off at that time, so he cleverly worked out a schedule that kept contact among the crew to a minimum — knowing that once they were in their trucks, they were alone and safe.
The Brine Experiment
The town of Peru used to get a lot of snow, but Mike said not much falls, anymore. Instead, he deals with a problem he considers much worse: freezing rain. He still talks about an ice storm in 1998 that damaged several thousands of the town's hardwood trees, many of which are still suffering or even dying.
Town of Peru Highway Department photo
Noticing that the roads were re-freezing after being plowed, Mike took interest in a new science-based brine program.
"Culture change is hard," he said, but years after he first heard of the program, a younger crew in the department was interested in giving it a try. They drove to the town of Hague, a hilly town south of Peru similar to Peru, to learn about the program and were so intrigued, they went back a second time to hear more.
Mike liked the potential so much, he signed on to use all seven of his plow routes in the trial. Today, his department is one of the leaders in the northeastern area to implement the new system that incorporates a combination of four new technologies: salt brine, live edge plow blades, salt trackers and temperature sensors.
Mike estimated that they saved $72,000 the first year. In the second year of the trial, he bought salt trackers for all the plow trucks, in which sensors provide temperature information, along with correct numbers for salt output. This has allowed the highway department to be able to cut salt use dramatically. Savings increased to $82,000 the second year.
He doesn't have the numbers for this season yet but expects them to be a little down from last year due to anticipated black ice and freezing rain.
"We have to turn up the salt output for that," he said.
Another benefit of using the trackers is the ease of obtaining inventory information so he knows how much salt to order. His undercover capacity for salt storage is 8,000 yds. and he said he still gets 2,000 tons of salt "just in case," but usage is down.
Sand usage is not just down, it's over.
"We used to use 8,000 yards of sand mixed with 1,500 tons of salt, but we got rid of it," Mike said.
He cited the damage its gritty nature can do. Sand has a lot of inorganics in it and is not environmentally friendly, whereas salt is easier to control. By using the brine solution, he finds it unnecessary.
For added savings, Mike bought a brine maker. Fortunately, there's a water tower near the highway garage, so he dug a 2-in. waterline into the garage, where crews can make the brew in heated comfort. With the solution consisting of only 23.3 percent salt, the savings increase.
They pump the brine into three tanks that can store a total of 20,000 gal. He plans on purchasing three more tanks for a total of 35,000 gal. of storage.
"The goal is to pre-treat every road," Mike said — or at least the main roads, the hilly roads and any road with a 55-mph speed limit. To do so, he bought a 19,000-gal. Camion sprayer they use on the spare plow truck to pre-treat the roads.
"We can spread at 35 mph. It leaves nine lines a couple inches wide and stops the ice from bonding to the road."
Having been invited to share his experiences with other towns, villages and counties across New York, Vermont, Ohio and Canada, Mike believes his legacy as a highway superintendent will be this brine program, rather than the road building for which he always thought he was known.
"I came from building roads. That's my expertise. But salt reduction is my proudest accomplishment. It's probably my defining accomplishment."
Road Building Expertise
Mike has accomplished a lot of road building during his time as superintendent, as well as completing a couple thousand feet of the town's walking trail and dog park. In fact, he describes his best day on the job as the one when he completed repairs from 2011's Hurricane Irene.
Town of Peru Highway Department photo
Luckily, most of the damage was confined to a 1 sq.-mi. rural area in the mountains, so there weren't many residents impacted. Nevertheless, damage to power poles, driveways and the roads topped $1 million. Working with their engineer at Engineering Ventures, they installed head walls on the pipes and repaired the damage in record time.
Currently, Mike is waiting on a decision by the town board regarding which roads to repave next.
"The town wants to do a 284 agreement," he said.
This makes the choice of roads a joint decision between the board, the town supervisor and him.
"It's a signed contract," he said, noting that the board "never wanted to do one before, even though it's required in New York State."
In preparation, he relied on his expertise as a heavy equipment operator to grade 18 roads for their selection. The board then looks at them and either agrees with his suggestions or chooses other roads to pave.
He confessed to having a couple roads on the list that he doesn't think are likely to be chosen. One is a 600-ft. dirt road, and the other is a 200-ft. road paved with millings. There are few houses on either road, making it difficult to secure the funding to pave them.
In addition to roads, the department has completed three large culverts with box culverts on Patent Road, box culverts on Fuller Road and box culverts on Cook Road. Floods in 1996 and 1998 damaged numerous culverts. Unfortunately, Mike said, the galvanized culverts had to be replaced with the same material, which he doesn't seem to think is the most durable.
On the drawing board are seven more culverts. Work on one large culvert started in mid-October. It's a 69-ft. long by 10-ft. wide by 8.5-ft. high box culvert on Fuller Rd. and is expected to be completed as of press time.
Bridge to the Future
Town of Peru Highway Department photo
"In New York, a 20-foot span culvert is considered a bridge," Mike said, adding that the Peru highway department currently doesn't have any official bridges to maintain — but they're working on it.
One bridge project goes to bid before the end of 2025. It will span Dry Mill Brook on Telegraph Road, with an estimated cost of $1.2 million — which is less than the $1.5 million estimated when Mike applied for a Bridge New York grant ... three times.
But, while there's an anticipated savings of approximately $375,000, the taxpayers will be shouldered with paying for the bridge. That's tough on an annual operating budget that was recently reduced from $2,223,023 to $2,190,864, with an added CHIPS allocation of $430,793 that Mike doesn't want to use for bridges at the expense of road repairs.
The second bridge project on the horizon is on Wescott Road, crossing the Salmon River, with an anticipated span of 39 ft. Because it leads to a dead-end road, there's no access to establish a detour route, like they've done on Telegraph Road.
Desperate as the town is for these bridges, Mike recognized the difficulty in budgeting for two within one year. New York instilled a 2 percent tax cap that includes water, sewer and highway projects. That means they'll have to raise taxes to fund these projects, never an easy message to residents.
Stretching the Budget
Mike believes the highway department lacks a plow truck, a loader and a bucket truck for trimming trees.
"We spend tens of thousands of dollars each year subcontracting for tree trimming."
He believes that having their own equipment to enable them to trim trees would save a great deal of money.
If he acquires these items, they would join his current inventory, which consists of:
Town of Peru Highway Department photo
• 2002 International 4700 dump truck
• 2012 Chevy 3500 Cutaway van with Power Eagle hot water jet
• 2011 Freightliner M-2 112V
• 2013 Western Star 4900
• 2015 Freightliner 1145D
• 2016 Mack Granite
• 2020 Freightliner 1145D
• 2020 Freightliner M-2 106
• 2023 Freightliner 1145D
• 2025 Western Star 47X
• Ingersoll Rand 3-ton roller
• 2002 Bri-Mar 10,000-lb. trailer
• 2010 Wells 8-ft. enclosed job trailer
• 2019 Rampart 25-ton equipment trailer
• 1979 Caterpillar 140 grader
• 1993 Caterpillar D5C dozer
• 2012 Caterpillar 312 excavator
• 2016 Gradall D154
• 2021 Caterpillar 307.5 excavator
• 2023 John Deere 331G compact track loader with attachments
• 2008 Midland SA road widener
• 2022 Camion BrineMaster 300 5,000 gal. (2)
• 2022 Camion BrineMaster 300 10.000 gal. lifts (6)
• 2024 John Deere sidewalk plow
• 2006 John Deere 624J loader
• 2021 Volvo 110H loader
• Mohawk MP-800-018 portable truck lifts (6)
• 2016 Ford F250
• 2022 Chevy 2500HD
• 2025 Chevy 2500HD
The list also includes computers, which the department uses to keep track of budgets, office work and equipment inventory.
"They are also used for the remote cameras on the salt trackers," Mike said.
"Our major plans are to continue to repair and replace our aging culverts and infrastructure as the town can afford to," he added, "And to keep our failing infrastructure intact as best as we can with the rising prices and lower budgets."
But buying new equipment while searching for money to build two new bridges isn't easy. Mike, who attends highway school, has been researching ways to stretch the budget.
One way is to perform preventive maintenance on their equipment. His employees inspect and fill out reports after every use, making a list of any repairs needed. They then perform the maintenance in-house and get the equipment back on the road quickly.
The department has entered into "Shared Services Agreements" with the city of Plattsburgh, the town of Plattsburgh and the towns of Ausable, Chesterfield and Black
Brook. Working cooperatively helps the budget.
Post-Re-Election Reflections
"It's a tough job," said Mike, who also serves as vice president of the Clinton County Highway Association and member of the NYS Town Superintendents of Highway executive committee.
Budget woes and dealing with small-town politics aren't the only difficult aspects of the job. One of his toughest days occurred during the COVID years, when he lost a long-time employee to the disease. When the superintendent learned that emergency responders could get the vaccination right away, he notified his crew and got vaccinated himself. Unfortunately, one of his employees waited too long, contracted the illness and passed away. Despite doing everything he could, Mike said, "It will bother me for the rest of my life."
While he takes satisfaction in accomplishing things for the town, on the heels of winning re-election, Mike is already thinking about retiring at the end of this term.
"When this term is up, I will be 65," he said. "Once my career with the town is over, I will probably go back to being a heavy equipment operator work on a part-time basis."
But what he's really looking forward to is spending more time with his family and working on a different kind of legacy for his grandson. P
