POUGHKEEPSIE – It took 10 weeks and a number of goats from Green Goats
of Rhinebeck have completed their job of controlling the vegetation under
the Walkway Over the Hudson on the Poughkeepsie side.
The job cost $10,440 to contract the goats, about half of what it would
cost if the New York State Bridge Authority used summer maintenance crews,
said authority Executive Director Joseph Ruggiero.
“We got the outcome we were looking for at a relatively low cost
to clean the area under the walkway, which didn’t cause us to have
any of our traditional employees get poison sumac and other issues and
the neighbors were very receptive to the goats being their all summer,”
he said.
The work was so cost effective that Ruggiero said the authority will hire
the goats again next year to clean up the vegetation.
Before – July
After – September
