A five-year road repair program that began about 10 years ago is now eight years behind.
That was one revelation of Monday's budget session featuring the Public Works and Inspections divisions. But it is probably not news to residents who have racked up repair bills from potholes and bumpy roads. Public Works Superintendent John Louise said new equipment is helping to patch potholes, but Cynthia Smith of the Engineering Division said the city now needs to go beyond milling and repaving projects to complete reconstruction of roads. Repairs will take longer "because funding has been cut drastically," she said.
The governing body set a rule early on that funding should be divided equally among the city's four wards, but with varying needs, Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee member Richard Stewart said, "Sometimes being fair is being unfair."
Public Works & Urban Development Director Eric Watson said he wants to "get an assistant engineer in-house" to help set priorities.
Watson previously served as the department head about 21 years ago before becoming executive director of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority. He said he remembered when the city had its own in-house engineer instead of relying on an outside company. Currently, the administration and governing body are at odds over engineering services.
Louise described several ways the division is saving money and incorporating technology, such as using brine instead of road salt to keep roads free of ice. Two new trucks are equipped with GPS devices that also yield lots of data about vehicle usage. In addition, Public Works borrows specialized equipment from Union County and the Plainfield Board of Education to cut costs, and no matter what their titles, workers pitch in for the job at hand. Louise said even with staff reductions, the division comes in under overtime costs year after year.
"We live within our means," he said.
One Public Works budget request was for two new hires to replace retirees and bring the complement up to 40 workers. Jackson recalled a Public Works division with 90 employees when he served.
Phil Izzo, the new director of the Inspections Division, and Chief Code Enforcement Officer Audrey Counts spoke on another thorny issue, property maintenance. Among tax revenues, residential property is by far the largest source, with commercial and industrial property minimal in comparison. Foreclosures and vacancies have led to more and more instances of neglect and the city has been chasing down banks and out-of-state owners to get grass cut and repairs made to housing stock.Finance Director Ron West the city now has information on only 46 of "a couple hundred" abandoned properties.
At the same time, the city is experiencing new developer interest in constructing rental property near its two train stations, so there is a greater need for timely electrical, plumbing and construction inspections. Counts said the division will soon be replacing a manual system with a computerized one that will not only streamline the inspection process, but will also generate property data.
The Recreation Division was originally scheduled to give a budget presentation last week, then rescheduled to Monday, but Council President Bridget Rivers said it will now be part of the Wednesday (May 20) budget meeting as Recreation Superintendent Veronica Taylor was at graduation ceremonies Monday. Wednesday's meeting was supposed to be for feedback from the council, the CBAC and the council's budget consultant as well as a public hearing and possible budget amendments, but another meeting will have to be added to the schedule.
Wednesday's meeting is 7 p.m. at the Plainfield Senior Center, 400 E. Front St.
--Bernice
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Richard's comment is very interesting. I assume he means that some areas of the city are more in need of construction than others. But what Wards 2 and 3 are the ones that need more attention? I am wondering, what would the reaction be?
ReplyDelete"The governing body set a rule early on that funding should be divided equally among the city's four wards,"
ReplyDeleteHow about if we divide up taxes equally among the four wards?
Better yet, how about we divide up the Dollar Stores and place them equally throughout the four wards.
And don't forget srb is still crying "where's my car, where's my car". I wonder why this is such a consistent point for her to bring up. Doesn't every new administration get new cars? I wish she would talk about the $500,000 applied for and mishandled by her administration and then this administration has to straighten it out and gets blamed by J. Green in his mailings for losing it. Why doesn't she talk about the two police officers she took off the street to follow after her since she's so concerned about the police budget.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the prioritization regarding repaving should be to pave the streets that need it the most first rather than where they are located?
ReplyDeleteI think if you look deep SRB had some new vehicles purchased also unlike her claim that she did not
ReplyDeleteWhat is so hard about paving the roads with the most daily traffic and the ones that need it the most regardless of where it is? There are roads in South Plainfield that seem like they get paved every 5 years.
ReplyDelete