Well, a sensible person wonders, when is DPW going to direct some of its biannual NY State funds toward replacing the mess that has not been a joy to drive or ride on for years and that DPW is continually working on? Isn't the pavement of at least 3 blocks of our dear truck route long overdue for replacement? Heck, S. 3rd Street, also part of the truck, got redone in 2017 (and began falling apart soon after!). Even a portion of Green Street was repaved last year! What are you waiting for DPW?
 |
| When full, these septic trucks are extremely heavy |
I am here to tell you: Don't expect Columbia Street from 3rd to 7th to be repaved any time soon. Do expect the driving conditions there to worsen for years to come. Do expect to see more DPW work excavating Columbia Street, rerouting trucks and creating traffic (as well as spending money and keeping DPW workers concentrated on the truck route instead of elsewhere).
Rather than announcing ahead of time which portions of city streets he was planning to have repaved this fall using State DOT funds (he rarely, if ever, announces the streets before the bid goes out), DPW Superintendent Robert Perry was asked about this year's CHIPs project at last week's Informal Common Council meeting (someone actually asked a worthwhile question of Mr. Perry!). Mr. Perry's response began: "We have a bid out on the streets already." Gee, Mr. Superintendent, couldn't you have told us about this months ago on your own, without being asked about it? Like two and four years ago, did you forget to mention it, or did you decide not to mention it again this year? You aren't interested in any input from anyone else, or even bothering to inform us? If you hadn't been asked about this year's CHIPs project tonight, were you ever going to mention what you made up your mind to do? Do you ever ask the council members to let you know about streets that might be problematic that would be a relief to have repaved before you go putting street repaving out for bid? When you say "already," how long go was "already"?
(Back to the show...)
Perry then did his best to explain how the CHIPs program works and what streets are getting attention this year. He said that this year's CHIPs project would "run about $600,000." (Gee, Mr. Perry, thanks for letting us know right away how you plan to utilize over a half million dollars of free money on our beleaguered streets!) Then, after another question about street repaving, the subject arose of what portions of the truck route had and had not been repaved using CHIPs funds. Perry said that Columbia between 3rd and 6th had "not been done," likely meaning that those blocks hadn't been repaved in ten years. Perry then went on to say this about why Columbia Street between 3rd and 5th Streets has not recently been repaved as part of the CHIPs program: "There is an ancient stone sewer there that keeps collapsing. I can't very well tell DOT that we repave the 300 block of Columbia Street that it's going to last 10 years when I know that the next time it rains it will collapse."
To obtain CHIPs funds, Robert Perry does not have to inform the DOT that a street slated for CHIPs work will last ten years, and DOT does not ask him to do so. Stating anything else is complete hogwash! Nonsense! False! Once again, Mr. Perry twists words and the truth to create his own narrative. The fact is this: the State DOT will not offer CHIPs funds for a street to be repaved if they have already done so within the past ten years. DOT does not require CHIPs-repaired streets to last ten years and DOT doesn't inspect CHIPs repaved streets every year for ten years to make sure they haven't collapsed! The issue is not how long a repaved street might last. The rule is that municipalities can't use CHIPs funds to repave the same street within ten years, and that is all. DOT does not base their allocation of CHIPs money on the condition of a street, how many or what type of trucks ride on it, what is going on beneath it or how long they think, or are told, the street might last -- they don't care about any of that. The DOT just wants to know what streets a municipality has decided it wants repaved, and they allocate a certain amount of money toward that goal. "Here's some money to fix your streets," DOT is saying. "Best of luck and we hope the pavement job is done well and that it lasts. If not, too bad. Just don't ask for more money for another ten years if it fails." Apparently, this is not how Mr. Perry understands things, or, at least how he wants the Comon Council nd the public to understand CHIPs funds and projects.
The tactic that Mr. Perry used at the meeting, as he often does, and as the devious often utilize, I think is called deflection. "Look, it's not my fault that the worst parts of the truck route can't be repaved until the ancient sewer below is replaced. It's the State DOT. They won't let me." It's "they" or it's "them," not "me" or "I." And guess what? His deflection often, if not always, works. (Almost) everyone takes him at his word.
"...the next time it rains it will collapse." He makes it sound like the entire street is going to collapse tomorrow. Such reassuring words from our $115,000 DPW Superintendent!
If that's not frustrating, concerning and ridiculous enough, what was not asked of Mr. Perry was, to me, beyond friggin' belief. It was further evidence of a common council that is truly ineffective, truly uninvolved, half of whom have already checked out and won't be back next year. These are the elected officials supposedly guiding our city in a positive direction, in a City Hall where business as usual is the order of the day.
No one raised a hand -- not one of the 10 council members, nor the so-called Common Council President Tom Depietro -- to ask Mr. Perry the obvious questions hanging heavily in the air, and to put his feet to the fire. "Okay, Mr. Perry, arguably the worst, most damaged and dangerous city street can't be repaved because there is a problem underneath with ancient water infrastructure. Then can you please explain when you plan on replacing the "ancient stone sewer" that you acknowledge is so problematic, costly and time consuming for DPW, so that the busiest street in all of Hudson can be repaved? You do have a plan, don't you, Mr. Perry? What is it going to take to replace that outdated sewer, and have you done anything about moving in that direction? At some point, those 3 blocks of Columbia Street need to be repaved, don't they? When do you see that happening, if ever? Why have you never once mentioned any plan or thoughts to the council in recent memory about replacing the "ancient stone sewer" that is located beneath the truck route and is threatening the entire street with collapse "the next time it rains"? Does any of this make any sense to you, Mr. Perry, or am I barking up the wrong tree?"
 |
| Contrary to Robert Perry's assertions, the State DOT would absolutely allow Hudson to repave the worst sections of the truck route with CHIPs funds. |
No, no one thought to ask any of those questions. Instead, there was essentially silence, and Mr. Perry's monthly report was soon finished.
A few weeks ago, at the site of a large and deep DPW excavation to repair a sinkhole in the 400 block of Columbia Street that had been excavated last year by DPW or someone else, I asked the DPW foreman what the likely cause of the sinkhole was. Ronny told me that there is an old stone sewer underneath Columbia Street that is constantly breaking because of all the truck traffic. He said, essentially, that the street, and what is below, shakes each time a truck rumbles by, and the old sewer just keeps falling apart from the constant vibrations.
This is worse than a game of whack-a-mole. It's like a cat chasing its tail before it just wears itself out or gets so dizzy that it falls over. The trucks cause the ancient sewer to break, so DPW has to cut into the street to fix the problem. Now the street is compromised -- less stable and smooth, less a cohesive, strong and stable unit -- and there is more shaking of the street and infrastructure below from the trucks rolling by and hitting the patched areas, causing further damage to the sewer and to the street. And on and on and on the compounded damage goes with every additional excavation that DPW is forced to do, and we pay for every bit of it.
But do we ever hear a peep out of Mr. Perry about how to solve this costly and time-consuming cycle of damage? No, we do not. It is as if he would prefer to keep his DPW employees busy patching sinkholes and potholes rather than solving the bigger, no-end-in-sight problem of ancient infrastructure and the trucks. Just leave the ancient sewer in place, do not repave the street, keep the trucks coming, and Mr. Perry will have plenty of opportunities to show pictures at council meetings of how busy his crew has been repairing sinkholes caused by the ancient, brittle sewer and the heavy trucks rolling over a street that hasn't been repaved in over ten years and won't (CAN'T) be repaved for the foreseeable future.
 |
| More trouble below! $inkhole! |
During a Common Council meeting several years ago, I asked Robert Perry what his feelings were about the truck route and the impact that the trucks were having on his department's work. He replied that he had "no comment."
At least a month ago, DPW, with their pavement saw, cut a huge square in the 300 block of Columbia Street (near 4th Street) in preparation of getting at and repairing a sinkhole that had appeared after heavy rains. DPW doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get to this one. Can you blame them?
The greater, more critical issue here, and one that I hope to write about soon, is that Mr. Perry is tasked with far too much for one person to handle. We need to split the DPW into two departments with two supervisors if we are to make progress in Hudson. For Pete's sake, the 17 huge lamps in the City Hall Municipal Parking Lot haven't turned off for at least 9 months! This can't be acceptable in the year 2023! Mr. Perry can't be bothered! There has been a picnic bench in the 500 block of Warren Street pocket park covered in graffiti, including the words FUCK and BITCH, for well over a year and a half. Sorry, I can't be bothered, Mr. Perry says.
The DPW absolutely needs to become two separate (but associated) and separately managed units: One for water (sewer and tap water, below the streets) and one for everything else above the streets (a Streets and Highway Department). This is the way it is done elsewhere, even in Greenport. Putting one person in charge of everything that Hudson DPW is dealing with is a no-win situation. We are not winning right now, and climate change, with all its additional rainwater, recently brought that point home loud and clear (Mr. Perry recently mentioned the effects that all the recent rains are having on our infrastructure). It's time to get our house in order before it is too late, to improve the foundation of the house we all rely on.
It's obvious, at least to me, that Robert Perry can't take care of everything at DPW properly, no matter how much we pay him. It's simply not possible to do -- not for him, nor for anyone, no matter how smart or qualified they may be. My guess is that Mr. Perry is aware of this, but who the heck offers to take a hit to a salary of over $115,000 for the greater good of humanity?
No one person can supervise that entire department properly and efficiently, unless, of course, we want poor, sloppy, half-assed or non-existent work done regularly that we all suffer for. There is just too much concentrated, unaccountable power at the DPW to get beyond the poor performance that is all too common. That, my friends, is how ugly things like back room deals, graft, dysfunction, unaccountability, and WTF can occur. That is how a department head can decide where to spend over half a million dollars of state largess and decide to not mention anything about it at a public meeting until he is forced to, months after that person has made his mind up how and where to spend that money.
We all deserve better! A whole lot better!
No comments:
Post a Comment