I incurred the wrath of the mayor and the less strident response from the sewer dept. (although I don't think I'm their favorite person) when I said I had called a place in Michigan that has the same vacuum system and this is what the guy told me ... blah blah, pump out pits every year, blah blah, calibrate pistons, blah blah, check connections on tubes that work loose ... no more problems with freezing - out there, at least.
Holy shit!
Brendan O'Regan later told me they do all that stuff, but the mayor ... well just don't be telling him how to "run our business."
Gee, silly me - I thought it was the responsibility of a reporter to verify what local officials were saying about a sketchy debacle. And they are the ones who directed me to Michigan ... them and the AIRVAC website.
The mayor, btw, does not see it as a debacle. He pointed out that you won't see him "jumping up and down" and writing 5-page memos about what a nightmare the system is. He's got more important things to worry about, like budget deficits.
Can't argue with that, Mr. Mayor.
Although ... somehow it seems that fixing this problem - whatever it is - may increase the budget deficit. Since they do all the required maintenance, it must be something expensive.
That's how it works, right? With anything mechanical, it's always something expensive.
I was assured that they can fix the problem. As soon as they find out what it is. And who is responsible, of course.
End of Part 1 of this post, which I actually wrote this morning. Now on to Part 2:
They had the big meeting with CDM (designer of the system) and AIRVAC (the manufacturer) today.
Before the joint B&F/Public Utilities meeting tonight, I asked Brendan how the meeting went and he said I should talk to the mayor, since Moak is running the show.
Of course, not 15 minutes later, he was telling the councillors all about the meeting. So I don't have to talk to the mayor about it.
Basically, as you would expect, neither company wants to take any responsibility. And they don't really have to, since all warranties have expired.
I have to give DPS Director Brendan O'Regan some credit here for getting an extension of the warranty on the AIRVAC system to May, 2008. He successfully argued against declaring the system substantially complete in Nov. 2006, which meant the warranty would have expired in 2007.
Of course, this winter was the first one where almost everyone was hooked into the system and it was so much colder this winter than last ...
Anyway - B&F voted to recommend approval of the sewer OT ($49,500 of it for PI issues) and the two committees voted on recommending approval of the bond order for the wastewater treatment facility - only Brian Derrivan, who said he wants to do a little more research, voted NO.
"A 'no' can be turned into a 'yes' much easier than turning a 'yes' into a 'no,'" he said after Donna Holaday asked him why he voted "no."
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Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.
Again? The trick never works!
5 comments:
Dearest blogger Gillian,
Given the astounding difficulties in providing ANY sort of sewerage and water system to the Plum Island, the rising tides of water and the lack of basic maintenance on the existing system by the Wastewater Workers would it not have made more sense to not install the system and slowly but surely disallow all growth and new building on the pathetic strip of sand known as the Plum Island?
A noted friend of mine has noted that indeed the Plum Island once resembled 'Dogpatch with a beach'. Perhaps in the name of historic restoration we should allow it to return to this state of affairs?
- Mahatma Kote
As long as I don't have to run around in tight cutoffs with a shirt tied around my waist and a straw hat ... that would be a disaster for all.
By the way ... what led you to the conclusion that there was a "lack of basic maintenance on the existing system by the Wastewater Workers?"
Dearest blogger Gillian,
By the thinnest of suppositions, I am afraid, but still it is a puzzle why the system will not work here but works quite well at removing the night soil from a tundra-like environment. My knowledge of the public employee also would lead me to think that perhaps they would SAY they have done things that perhaps they have not.
Perhaps I am wrong, or perhaps O'Regan's workers simply need more training.
Do you suppose we can simply pipe the sewerage to the landfill on a temporary basis?
- Mahatma Kote
Oh my! ... are you implying that a public employee would dissemble and mislead? Wow, that never occurred to me ... especially not after that meeting Thurs. night ...
Do you sometimes wish, Mahatma, that you carried a snow shovel around with you?
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