On Weeds, Plastic Bags, Our Fire Hydrants, and A City That Seems Not To Be Paying Attention

This fire hydrant (yes, there is one in the picture) on N. 5th at Long Alley really inspires confidence in our Fire Department and DPW Water Department, doesn't it?  Don't you feel a little safer and securer knowing that the city is being sure to test and maintain every fire hydrant in town regularly?  If they can't bother with going anywhere near this hydrant, what others are they ignoring?  What other important things besides hydrants are they also ignoring?  Weeds?  Who cares!

Earth To Hudson! Come In Hudson! Is Anyone There? Do You Copy?

 

During the most recent informal Common Council meeting, Margaret Morris asked a question of Captain David Miller that I thought I would never hear any council member ask of the police department.  (The question was a bit wordy and time-consuming, but hey, at least it was asked.) Though Miller had recently been the Acting Police Chief and Acting Police Commissioner while still wearing his Captain's badge, he was back to being solely our Police Captain.  The real Commissioner quit months ago and, at least for the time being, the position itself seems to have dissolved, perhaps never to reappear. Our actual Police Chief, Mishanda Franklin, as Miller noted at the beginning of his report, was back from her maternity leave "but I figured I would finish out the rest of the year here."

Here is Morris' q-u-e-s-t-i-o-n and Miller's response, taken from the video of the meeting:  

Dear Mr. Perry:

Don't you think you are making Hudson a less attractive city with your lack of attention to our fire hydrants?

WHY OHIO? WHY NOT CALIFORNIA?

Today I came across something curious while walking down the sidewalk of the 300 block of Warren Street.  Standing next to a fire hydrant, a male in a bright orange vest had a large pair of headphones over his ears that were attached to a small probe in his hand.  He wiped the bit of snow off the very top of the hydrant and touched the end of the probe to it, then stood quietly for about one minute as if listening for something.  Then he got into an unmarked car (no logo) and drove a few hundred feet to the next hydrant to do the same thing over.

Be Concerned. Be Very Concerned. No Matter Where You Live, But Particularly If You Live In Or Near The 200 Block Of State Street.

The lead picture looks frighteningly similar to one featured in a HUDseen article from last summer, doesn't it?  See and read about it (and also the same from a year previous) here: is that a fire hydrant in there?

There are three FIRE HYDRANTS in the 200 block of State Street.  Here's what they look like, from east to west:

The City's Latest Pedestrian Hazards, Weapons and Eyesore Distractions All In One! (And Red Flagged Unnecessary Expenses?)

 

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.

They're Still Here! At Just $1,900 A Day!

GPRS listening to a fire hydrant on the
500 block of State Street in April

Almost 3 months ago, I reported on a company from Toledo, Ohio by the name of GPRS that was doing work for Hudson DPW in the form of leak detection of our underground fire hydrant pipes.  Titled Why Ohio? Why Not California?, from February 28th, it is the second most widely read article Hudseen has published, and it is time to revisit the issue. 

Go Ahead, You Can Park There! Like So Many Other Fire Hydrants In Town, It's Been Out Of Service For Years!

Last Friday afternoon, parking space lines were painted on both sides of the freshly installed asphalt in front of Galvan's nearly complete and completely regrettable apartment building at 76 North 7th Street.

Hudson Is Now A Little Tidier and More Respectable

Is this progress?  What did it take to get 
this done?

Readers of Hudseen are likely aware of my disdain for the city's use of plastic bags to cover its fire hydrants that have gone out of service.  You may even have been introduced to Hudseen over a year ago by an article on the topic!  To my pleasant surprise -- and possibly yours as well -- I think that I have finally found the right people to help get to the bottom of this issue and to right this wrong.  It was not easy, and our mayor was most definitely no help. 

Rob Perry Doesn't Give A Flying Crap About You Or Your Well-Being! Who Else At City Hall Doesn't?

 

At this month's informal council meeting, perhaps our current most useless council member of all, Dewan Sarowar, who appears to live in Greenport with his wife and child or children, actually asked a question!  And it was not a completely useless one!  But the answer Dewan got is the real news worth reporting on here.

It's Not A Problem! Fire Trucks and Hoses Are Never Far Away!

 

Following the Fire Department's monthly report at the beginning of last week's so-called SAFETY Committee meeting -- the remainder of which had everything to do with parking -- I asked a question of the Fire Department representative regarding out of service hydrants.  But Committee head Henry Hadddad decided that he was the most qualified person to answer my question.  "I think I can answer that one," he started with.  Before Henry could get much further, I interrupted him. "Can I hear somebody from the Fire Department respond to my question?  I didn't ask you a question, Henry."  Committee member Claire Cousin, seated at the table with Haddad and 2 people both from HPD and HFD, seemed to sympathize with my plight.  While Henry was responding to me, she said, "He seems to be willing to answer the question."  

Quit Your Worrying, They Only Cost Us $22.50 Each! We Can Always Afford To Buy More Of Them!!

 

The DPW Water Department recently bought twenty new metal fire hydrant markers that are easily bendable, have bright orange "flags" made of heavy duty plastic, are readily available to children and drunk people to "play" with, and also add charm to a city whose few charms seem to be slowly but surely disappearing!  And, of course, the hydrants can't do without the markers (not until this year, that is)!  Unless, of course, it's one of the many out-of-service fire hydrants found around the city.  No need to waste any money, time or markets on those useless things! No need to be reminded where they are! Just leav 'em be!

Hudson, Where Progress Comes In The Form Of "I Don't Think So."

On Wednesday night at 8:30, I came across 4 illegally parked cars surrounding the Pocketbook businesses complex. Four! Two were about to be issued tickets by a HPD officer on the east side of 6th Street across from the business complex where it is extremely rare to see parked cars with no one in them.  It's safe to say that the drivers and passengers of those two cars were not visiting friends in one of the nearby houses. 

Why Did DPW Bother To Repaint This Fire Hydrant Two Years Ago?

 

I'm thinking that the black gunk caked on this hydrant near the turn in the truck route is the same diesel engine effluent that gets lodged in our lungs so easily.  What else could it be?

Another out of service fire hydrant covered in a plastic bag by the DPW Water Department. A series of bags have been covering this hydrant on N. 4th Street for at least two years (when I first noticed it), and I was recently told by a DPW employee that this hydrant has been out of service for about 7 years. I was also told that DPW ran out of the round metal tags seen on some other out-of-service hydrants, and that they were having difficulty finding any to purchase.

find me another city that does this,
one that is not bankrupt

 

Age-Old Questions That Probably Flummoxed Even Socrates and Plato

Is it illegal to park your car along a yellow curb surrounding an out-of-service fire hydrant, including one that is wrapped in a black plastic for seven years or more?  
Is it illegal to yell FIRE in a movie theater if you are the only person in the theater?

This is How We Do Out of Service Now?

An out of service hydrant in front
of a large apartment complex

For well over a year, this fire hydrant on Front Street has been covered in a series of plastic bags which eventually deteriorate and get replaced by the DPW Water Department.  A Fire Department official told me that this hydrant is not critical, and that if there is a fire, other nearby hydrants can be used instead.  There are at least two other bag-coved hydrants in town that make me equally proud to walk past and see.

We Reap What They Sow

It seems to me like a no-brainer that if a city is going to make the effort to paint a fire hydrant, then the equally old, rusty and unattractive stanchions surrounding the hydrant ought to get painted at the same time.  That is, of course, if you want to create respectable looking sidewalks and a generally pleasant urban landscape where residents are proud of their surroundings, their neighbors, passers-by and their city.  Alas, this is not the case in Hudson, and not at a DPW with Robert Perry as Superintendent, where ugliness, sloppiness and little to no attention to detail seem to be the modus operandi.

The Downtown Beautification Policy at Robert Perry's DPW

The cheaper, preferred method 

Last Friday I was directed by a DPW Water Department employee (yes, there is a Water Department within the Public Works Department!) to another employee by the name of Nate who was doing some pavement painting at the corner of State and 2nd Streets.  I asked Nate what his department's policy was regarding covering out of service fire hydrants with plastic bags as opposed to using simple and permanent "out of service" tags.

No What? [with update]

Big surprise -- it's an enormous pickup
truck parked in front of a hydrant

This afternoon, on a busy Saturday downtown, approximately ten minutes after I called HPD about this pickup truck parked in a clearly marked fire hydrant zone at Warren & 2nd, a Parking Enforcement Officer had slapped a $50 ticket on the windshield. Since the truck was parked west of 3rd Street, where no meters are located and officers do not normally patrol, this ticket likely never would have been issued without a call to HPD.

The truck was still parked there 45 minutes after I made the call.