Construction is set to begin in the spring on the state Department of Transportation facility which will service northern Otsego County sections of state routes 20, 80 165, 167 and portions of state route 28, 51, 166 and 205, said Dave Hamburg, public information officer for the Region 9 NYS DOT.

No new jobs will be created by the facility and no jobs will be lost when the Cherry Valley and Richfield stations are closed, he said. Hamburg said workers from those two locations will likely move to the Springfield facility sometime after it is constructed.

Hamburg said the DOT was consolidating the two facilities into one location in order to make the DOT more efficient in the area.

"This new DOT building being constructed will be a modern, energy-efficient salting and snow plowing facility that will help DOT better serve the public in that region," said Christine Burling, assistant commissioner for public information with the NYS Office of General Services.

Burling said the bids on the project will be opened Feb. 28 and awarded approximately 45 days later, in mid-April.

According to the Office of General Services, construction of the facility will cost between $1 and $2 million, with electrical, heating and plumbing set to cost between $450,000 and $1 million more.

Springfield town supervisor Tom Armstrong said he wasn’t concerned with the facility and that it is in a good location.

"You can’t find a better place to pull in and off the road," he said. He said one or two neighbors complained that it might be lit up like a Christmas tree all night, but said it will be situated in a way that keeps it from blocking anybody’s view.