Just in time for a snowy summer, several new metal fire hydrant markers have appeared around town where none (or few) previously existed. If someone can give me a reason why we need any markers when snow covering hydrants is not an issue, I'd love to hear it. Or does the Fire Department need reminding where their hydrants are located as they set up to battle a fire? Typically, there are no more than three fire hydrants per block, almost always on the same side of the street.
Both of 8th Street's hydrants got markers within the past few weeks. According to Google maps, going back as far as 2016, those hydrants never had markers attached to them. Why now? Was there a problem needing a solution? Or a solution needing a (non-existent) problem? I haven't heard Rob Perry mention anything about fire hydrant markers at any recent Code & Infrastructure Committee meetings. Have you?
The manufacturer of the city's new hydrant markers is a company by the name of Pollard (or at least their name is on them; they're made in Taiwan). They retail for close to $23, though I don't know how much city taxpayers paid for the ones DPW must have recently ordered and received. These markers seem particularly heavy duty (the staff is nearly as thick as my pinky)... and fucking dangerous as hell. They're just the kind of readily grabbable things that any 10-year-old boy or drunk person would take an interest in and treat as a toy or a weapon. Talk about an EYESORE! What you will soon start to notice around town -- see lead picture! -- are bent heavy duty metal hydrant markers ready for your head to contact or for you to brush aside as you try to make your way down a city sidewalk full of hazards at your feet. And when the heavy-duty plastic* flags at the end of the staffs fall off from age or are destroyed by a kid having fun, city taxpayers can just order a "replacement kit with flag and pin" from Pollard. That kit -- with just one flag and one pin -- will only cost us $14.25, more than half the cost of the marker (with flag!) itself.
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| Allen Street (?) code violation this past winter. Notice there is no marker on the hydrant. |
Who told Rob Perry that they were having trouble finding our fire hydrants?
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| Did someone recently complain they couldn't find this hydrant, see it well enough, or that it didn't have enough protection? |
Which do you prefer?
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| Google maps, 2023. Shorter and thinner fiberglass staff, no flag. |
Will city taxpayers be buying Pollard fire hydrant markers to be installed by DPW on all of the city's out of service hydrants, perhaps with a black flag on top instead? (Sorry, Pollard only offers the flags in red!) Or does the Fire Department and Rob Perry's Water Department not need reminding where those useless hydrants are located?
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| Directly across 7th Street from the Depot Lofts, out of service for years. STILL! |
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| Would you tolerate this in front of or anywhere near your residence, even a house you own but don't live in? Would you accept a response from Rob Perry that "it's okay the way it is"? |
According to Rob Perry and at least two people at the Fire Department who I've asked questions of at council meetings, there is no problem with fire hydrants being out of service for years, if not forever. Meanwhile, according to at least one of the two flashing digital signs outside the Firestation on 7th Street (the sign on 6th Street is broken), the Hudson Fire Department asks that every city resident test their smoke alarms monthly to be sure they will work in the event of a fire. Is this an example of cognitive dissonance? Or just run of the mill hypocrisy? Help me out here, people!
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| If there was ever a "fire hydrant" in need of a marker... |
The red flags may be the most helpful aspect of the markers, particularly for anyone responding to a fire (or trying to keep an eye on DPW's budget). It says HYDRANT on each one of them, though they are a bit difficult to read from a distance, even two feet away. How about impossible to read!
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| Yeah, but is it working? Will it help put out a house fire? |
In a recent email, our dear mayor told me that the "mildly aged" window on the garbage bag vending machine couldn't be replaced due to "budget constraints." Is that so, Joe?
The idea of markers on our downtown hydrants (particularly installing them soon after the end of winter and well before the beginning of the following winter) feels a lot like the idea of attaching parking signs to the tops of parking meter poles. It's bound to fail and be a waste of money. And look ugly. And be dangerous. And be an added burden on the city's constrained budget.
* According to Pollard's description of the markers, the flags are made of "bonded Lexan." I'm too scared to look up the word Lexan to know what it really is, though I'm pretty sure it's a type of plastic material the planet needs more of. Lots more of!
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