Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the village of Athens Department of Public Works is now operating out of a new building. The $1 million structure is 90 by 54 feet and will replace the former office on North Washington Street, behind the firehouse on Third Street. “I’m very happy to report the DPW crew is now working inside the building,” Athens Village Trustee Robert Scott said. The department was previously located in a building about 100 years old, he said. “It was inadequate workspace for them. The original structure was never designed to be a DPW building. It was an electric generating plant back in the day,” he said. The new building has LED lighting, radiant floor heating and an exhaust system that will flush the building with fresh air if carbon dioxide sensors are triggered. The old building also lacked storage space for the DPW, Scott said. “The plow trucks were sitting outside in a pole barn,” he said. When we were drawing up the blueprints for this structure, we got measurements of all equipment they wanted to place inside the building,” he said. “We stayed under budget which is remarkable,” Scott said. He said he was happy with the finished product. Former trustee Joshua Lipsman said the project is another great example of the village board working together in a completely non-partisan manner to successfully get the job done. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.