| Author |
Message |
    
Woodster
Citizen
Username: Woodster
Post Number: 3
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Monday, September 9, 2002 - 5:03 pm: |     |
Vic, or Jerry,
I've posted the same topic in the soapbox but maybe this is a better place for it.
First, let me start by saying I moved to this town because of the good work the Township Committee has done for the town.
But, I have to say I am quite annoyed that I got this driveway sealer instead of asphalt on my street. Then to add insult to injury I have to walk by the Firehouse every morning for two weeks to see the parking lot being paved with asphalt. To make matters even worse, my partner goes to pull into the parking lot at the library this past Thursday and he couldn't get in because the town workers are filling potholes.
I just want to get some kind of understanding of how the decisions of what gets paved are made. To me it would have made more sense to pave the library lot which is used by the public rather than the firehouse lot which is only used by the fire personnell. And why couldn't they have sealed the firehouse lot instead of paving it?
It just seems that in the times we are in we should be looking to save as much as we can. You obviously know that I live in the of section town where the taxes went down by me saying that my street was just sealed; but I still feel for those people whose taxes went up so much.
Okay enough with the complaining. Now here is a compliment for the Township Committee: My partner and I were thrilled when you guys made the proclamation in June of 2001. We told all of our friends that we live in the best town on the East Coast.
I look foward to your answers.
Thank you |
gerardryan
Citizen
Username: Gerardryan
Post Number: 936
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, September 9, 2002 - 6:17 pm: | |
Woodster: I can give you a general answer to your question, but I don't have the information at hand right this second to post a specific answer for you. I or Vic will hunt it down for you.
The Township decides to spend a certain amount of money on road repair each year. The cost of road repair varies widely. Major road reconstruction, including storm and sanitary sewers, curbs, sidewalks, etc. etc. is very expensive. A road overlay is much less expensive, and a "seal coating" is even less expensive.
This question periodically comes up, so at the last meeting the Mayor asked the engineer to give us a report on the latest cost numbers for these type of projects. When I have the specific numbers I will post them, but the difference between the most expensive and least expensive alternatives is in the range of an order of magnitude per linear foot of roadway.
We cannot afford the major reconstruction all over town. We only do such major reconstruction on the major arteries through the town, usually roads that we can get aid from the State DOT to help fund.
In consultation with the engineering department, the Town tries to strike a balance that repairs and repaves the maximum amount of road for the dollars available, taking into account the condition of the roads being repaired. For example, some roads may be in good enough shape that they do not need to have a major overlay performed.
Parking lots are different in that, because of the traffic that they get, they generally have to have the more expensive overlay treatments.
That said, I do not -- off the top of my head -- know the answer to your question about the library lot. We may be just fixing potholes but not doing a major reconstruction of that lot, or the pothole work may be a precursor to an overlay project.
I'll get those details and post 'em.
Jerry Ryan |
Woodster
Citizen
Username: Woodster
Post Number: 4
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 10, 2002 - 7:41 pm: | |
Jerry,
Thank you for responding so quickly. I certainly can understand that we don't have the money to pave all the streets with asphalt. But I still have to question why the fire house parking lot had to be paved. I walk past it every day, and I always look up the lot to see what the Firemen are doing and I never noticed any potholes. So, if this lot was just cracking; the answer should have been to use the sealer material, no? Do you agree with me so far?
I tried to get the cost of this job from the engineers and the public works people, but I didn't get any where? Maybe you can get the exact numbers for this job and we could compare the asphalt to the sealer.
While I was out last night, I was told by a friend that being that it was done by our employees the job shouldn't have cost us much at all. I have to disagree with that statement. If you figure in how much was spent on the material and the man power hours it had to cost a lot more than the sealer would have. I'd be curious to see what it would have cost to have a contractor pave the lot compared to our employees.
Could you get those figures?
I know we are already paying our employees but there is are lot more important things that these guys should be doing. I have noticed that the town (or atleast in my section) has not been getting taking care of the way it use to. The streets are dirty, the trees need trimming, the parks have become an eyesore, and the sewers in my neighborhood still don't work properly.
Is there a committee that my partner and I could volunteer for that makes the decisions on the jobs that get done? He has a backround in construction and job costing and I am a number cruncher for a small company.
I hope to hear from you soon. |
toad
Real Name
Username: Toad
Post Number: 66
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 11, 2002 - 5:49 am: | |
Woodster-You can both be Deputy (with a capital"D") Inspectors and report back to Vic and Jerry. |
Woodster
Citizen
Username: Woodster
Post Number: 5
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 11, 2002 - 2:25 pm: | |
Toad,
What is your problem?? It seems like you are disturbed with me for trying to better the town. I don't want to be an inspector or a complainer, I am just trying to help save the town some money. If you noticed, I offered my services and the services of my partner for FREE. Do you volunteer your time on any committees in town? Or do you just sit back and complain about your taxes? I wasn't complaining. I was simply asking some questions because I thought I could help.
I don't know if my help is wanted or welcomed but it may help ease some of the work load on the town employees. This way they would be able to concentrate on the actual job. Maybe you're one of those people who think the town workers don't do anything or that you pay enough in taxes for them to do everything. I want you to ask yourself one question...Do you live in this community OR are you a part of this community?
Jerry, if you don't want the help or you don't feel you need the help, please let me know.
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eb1154
Citizen
Username: Eb1154
Post Number: 223
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 11, 2002 - 4:35 pm: | |
Woodster, you may be offering your help but you are complaining at the same time. I don't know how long you have lived here but there are plenty of committees you and your girlfriend can join. It sounds like you should try the CBAC, this committee looks at the budget and makes recommendations to the TC before they pass the budget.
It sounds like you may live in the Hilton section, if so there are a couple of groups you can join in that area, such as the HNA or the NPP. VIc and Jerry can give you more info on both of these groups.
If you are talking about the sewers on Princeton St. not working proplerly; they are. This is how they were designed many years ago. I spoke with a foreman at the DPW and he explained how they work and that the town was going to be replacing them with regular sewers in the near future.
If you have any questions for the DPW you can call and ask for Mr. Bishop he is the Director. I am sure he will answer any of your questions. |
Woodster
Citizen
Username: Woodster
Post Number: 6
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 11, 2002 - 9:33 pm: | |
eb1154
I think the girlfriend remark was uncalled for. You know my partner and I are the same sex. If you read my earlier post you would have seen where I said HE. But some how I think you already figured that out.
This is the abuse I have to take for wanting to make a difference in the town in which I live. I think I will see if we can get on the CBAC, maybe they can use some assistance from a GAY COUPLE.
Jerry, who do I need to speak to about joining this committee? |
us2innj
Citizen
Username: Us2innj
Post Number: 381
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 11, 2002 - 9:48 pm: | |
Hey eb, what is up with the girlfriend comment? |
toad
Real Name
Username: Toad
Post Number: 67
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, September 12, 2002 - 6:02 am: | |
Woodster - To answer your questions: Yes, I do volunteer my time to the Township and yes, I am not happy with my taxes but I don't complain about them because I love living here. I think it's wonderful that you are willing to donate your time to the town but you seem very critical of every aspect of the town; the trees, the parks, the roads, the sewers. Who really is the complainer? |
eb1154
Citizen
Username: Eb1154
Post Number: 225
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, September 12, 2002 - 9:40 pm: | |
Woodster,
I didn't mean anything by the "girlfriend crack" I assumed you were a male/female couple. I think it's great that you want to get involved, that is why I suggested the groups I did.
us2innj, come on now, you've been around long enough to know that I was the one who was defending the gay community on the is board just about a year ago. |
us2innj
Citizen
Username: Us2innj
Post Number: 383
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 6:00 am: | |
Yes, I do remember eb, but I thought this was some sort of personal attack. I stand corrected. |
ajc
Citizen
Username: Ajc
Post Number: 513
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 9:12 am: | |
Woodster, et al
Please allow me to share one of the most difficult things I struggle with on this board, day in and day out. When reading someone’s post that you don’t know personally, "Assume Friendliness".
When I first began posting on line, I felt some posters were attacking everything I said. I didn’t know who they were, or where they were coming from. Slowly, and often painfully, I began engaging in wars, making enemies, and generally feeling pretty shitty not only about the posters, but myself as well.
Then one day, a very knowledgeable lady in town gave me a gift. She told me to, "Assume Friendliness". Now when ever possible, I try to error on the side of friendliness.
Good look my friend. Art
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Jerry Ryan
Citizen
Username: Gerardryan
Post Number: 940
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 2:29 pm: | |
Woodster: Sorry for the delayed response; work and stuff has kept me a bit busy.
The engineer is going to give the TC a report next Tuesday about the costs of road paving. I invite you to watch the meeting and see it live when we hear it, and I'll post the statistic afterward.
As I suspected, and confirmed with the engineer, parking lots can't have the "sealer" treatment because of the amount of load that they get. The HAVE to be paved.
The firehouse lot repave was requested by the chief, checked by the engineer and the public works director, determined to be necessary, recommended to the township, and then scheduled.
For smaller jobs, like parking lots, the Township does the work itself with in-house staff in the Public Works department. The cost of projects like this is the asphalt; we have the equipment and the staff to do the work.
The decisions about what jobs are done and not done, what's funded, etc. are done as part of the township's annual budgeting process. You can find out a lot about this process if you reach out to the Maplewood Civic Association and join the Citizen's Budget Advisory Committee. You'll find out how the process works, get a detailed look at the budget, and have the opportunity to meet with department heads and make recommendations. Also you (and everyone) is welcome to attend the Township Committee's budget meetings, which tend to be additional meetings scheduled as evening or weekend workshops, or both. Watch the web for a schedule after the first of the year.
If you have complaints about areas that you think are not being properly attended to, please direct them to the Township through the administrator's office, or to a member of the Township Committee. You can reach me, at least, via privateline here on this board, and all of us have office hours posted in the newspaper and in town hall.
Hope that helps
Jerry Ryan |
Jerry Ryan
Citizen
Username: Gerardryan
Post Number: 948
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 12:24 am: | |
Road costs, per the township engineer, are as follows:
Micro-surfacing costs $5 per linear foot of roadway.
Milling and paving a street costs $27 per linear foot.
Road reconstruction costs $165 per linear foot.
jerry ryan |
vicdeluca
Citizen
Username: Vicdeluca
Post Number: 163
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 11:41 am: | |
A couple of other points related to road repaving:
Micro-surfacing costs $5 per linear foot and has a life span of 5 to 7 years. To do all the roads in Maplewood it would cost $1.43 million.
Milling and paving costs $27 per linear foot and has a life span of 10 to 12 years. The cost to do all the roads in town is $7.72 million.
Total road reconstruction costs $165 per linear foot and has a life span of 10 to 12 years. The cost to do all town roads is $36.94 million. |
Woodster
Citizen
Username: Woodster
Post Number: 7
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 8:24 pm: | |
Thank you both but for those answers but I still haven't heard why the Fire House parking lot had to be paved. Nor Have I heard if we saved money by having it done by our workers compared to the cost of a contractor.
eb1145, I called the Public Works office and spoke with the Sewer Department Supervisor and he explained that the sewers on Princeton St. are called "bubblers" and that's the way they were designed to work. He sent his men over to clean them to prove to me that they weren't full. It just doesn't make sense to me, why would they have built something like that? I'm not sure I believe him. Has anyone ever heard of a sewer that doesn't have pipes? Maybe I misunderstood what he said. To his credit, he had his men here within two hours and he was polite, but I think he was trying to hide something.
If the "girlfriend crack" was unintended then I apologize.
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Jerry Ryan
Citizen
Username: Gerardryan
Post Number: 950
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 10:32 pm: | |
Woodster: I think I answered you twice on that; pls check my posts. To recap: In general, a parking lot has to be repaved because of the amount of load it sustains. You cannot simply micro-surface it. Specifically, the firehouse lot was paved because the Fire Chief felt it needed to be done, the Township Engineer and the Public Works Department agreed and recommended it to the Township Committee, and the Township Committee agreed, authorized the work, and funded it. I also explained that small projects (like parking lots and other projects on municipal-owned land) are done by the Public Works department for less money than would be required for an outside contractor; we avoid bid spec preparation costs and advertising costs for the bids, among other things. We could not do such things for a major road reconstruction projects because we have neither the staff nor the equipment to accomplish such jobs, but we can, and do, for smaller jobs.
On the sewer topic, the Sewer Department Supervisor is telling you the truth, and isn;t trying to hide anything. You say "why would they have built something like that". You should know that the "they" that built the town's infrastructure built it many years ago (in some cases before any of us were born). Much of the infrastructure here is vintage 1920's; those that built it are long gone, and it's left to us to repair what we've inherited. |
sbenois
Citizen
Username: Sbenois
Post Number: 621
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 10:59 pm: | |
Dearest Mr. Recliningest Member,
If I might, please allow me to take over from here.
Thankey.
Woody Woody Woody. Woodster.
Mr Suspicious-Paranoid-Hombre-Not-Willing-To-Do-A-Shred-Of-Research-Before-Denigrat ing-A-Fine-Municipal-Employee,
here is a link that took all of 3.6 seconds to find.
bubblers
Woodman, future-paper, why are you so suspicious? Why do you think you are important enough in this man's life to warrant having him make up a story for you?
If this link is not good enough for you then perhaps you can search on bubblers/sewers/etc and find the other 9,453,756 links that come up.
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