The only noteworthy thing revealed during last Thursday's Public Works Board meeting came from Mayor's Aide and ADA-Coordinator, Justin Weaver, the city official keeping an eye on all things ADA-related, including Luizzi's recently (not so) completed DRI street and sidewalk work on the city's west end. It was noteworthy, for sure, but not at all surprising. Justin's few-minute ADA/DRI update began 16 minutes into the half hour meeting.
"Let's suffice to say that none of us are happy with Luizzi. We are going to be seeking liquidated damages, for breach of contract, for many things... for all of those mistakes." Among Luizzi's "mistakes" are "cracks in the sidewalk, granite sets that are uneven that need to be fixed, and all the promised lips at the corners that are still not ADA-compliant." (I'm sorry, but sidewalks that begin to crack within days or weeks are not signs of "mistakes.") Apparently, even the DRI architect/designer, Arterial, came back to town to have a look at Luizzi's work "after hearing about the murmurings of things not going to plan," and subsequently created a "humongous punch list" of things Luizzi failed to do or got wrong. And, according to Justin, a final "walk through" to examine Luizzi's DRI work "is imminent."
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| Luizzi (and the sign) left town a few weeks ago, but their work is not done. They should probably bring the blueprints back with them, too (if they still have them). |
Justin ended with this: "We hold payment until we get the product we're paying for. We're not paying for junk. Everybody's frustrations are valid."
Junk is the perfect descriptor for what Luizzi left us. A punch list is pretty good too!.
I wouldn't be surprised if the city attorney will be getting involved with this shitshow or already has. And can you imagine the amount of time that our mayor's aide has spent on this and will continue to spend on it? This is what any mismanaged (or unmanaged) organization can expect: WASTING TIME AND MONEY CONTINUALLY! And we all know that never ends well. I imagine that the moral at City Hall is pretty low these days.
It should be noted that at the same time Luizzi was (barely) doing their junk DRI work during the month of May, they were also paving portions of several of our streets and creating much needed ADA curb ramps as part of this year's biannual CHIP's repaving project, another city project they were awarded because they underbid the competition. (With no history of working with Luizzi, the city had no option but to hire them for both projects.) Only time will tell how well the CHIP's work was performed (will their 29 or 30 concrete curb ramps begin to crack soon enough if they haven't started to already?). But, as HUDseen has already pointed out, there were at least two omissions from Luizzi's CHIP's project: four painted pedestrian crosswalks were not included at 5th & Union, and the 300 block of Union was not repaved (which was to include 9 new ADA curb ramps and several crosswalks) as Rob Perry told the council it would be.
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| Why were no crosswalks installed by Luizzi's street striping contractor and paid for by NY State DOT? Does Rob Perry care? |
If Luizzi ever truly finishes with the DRI project (and CHIP's project?) by attending to all their mistakes and omissions, expect one thing: Much of the stuff they leave us (asphalt, curbs, granite pavers, concrete sidewalks, etc.) will fall apart, forcing DPW to fix, replace or just get rid of it altogether while taxpayers pay for it to be done. One other thing should happen: The city should never allow Luizzi back in Hudson to touch our infrastructure.
I have no doubt that the mayor's aide agrees with me on that last point. He never should have been put in the position of dealing with this Luizzi fiasco in the first place. Sure, Luizzi was not up to the task of handling their portion of the $10 million DRI project, but just as much blame should be levelled at City Hall (though certainly not Justin) for its lack of preparedness and structural deficiencies. (Boy, wouldn't it be interesting to get Kamal's opinion on all of Luizzi's shortcomings?!)
Anyone paying attention, as HUDseen was, could have seen this shitshow coming. And that is the heart of the problem at City Hall: a serious lack of supervision and proper management of, among many things, major projects meant to improve our city (think parking kiosks as well). The management vacuum at City Hall needs to be acknowledged and dealt with before things get truly awful (if we aren't there already). But acknowledged and dealt with by whom? Continuing to elect a mayor and new council every two years (or four, for that matter) just perpetuates the problem that could sink our ship. Our only chance at moving forward instead of backward is to have a city manager at the helm. A PROFESSIONAL MANAGER WHO IS NOT ELECTED AND IS ACCOUNTABLE TO THE COMMON COUNCIL!
With that said, here is the tune of the day. Sing along with me, won't you?
Surprise Surprise, Luizzi left us junk
They told us they were pros
Turns out they were full of bunk.
Surprise Surprise, Luizzi left us crap
Now whatta we gonna do,
Wake the mayor from his nap?
Surprise Surprise, Luizzi left us junk
How much longer
Before the city is sunk?
Surprise Surprise, Luizzi left us doo
Cracked sidewalks, yellow curbs
And plenty of dead trees too!
Surprise Surprise, Luizzi left us shit
Not to worry, though,
Your City Hall is ON IT!
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