Earlier this evening, the Associations "Tidal Street Flooding" committee met with representaives of the Queens Borough President's Office, the Office of Congressman Anthony Weiner and the Office of State Senator Shirley Huntley on West 12th Road.
Earlier this month at a previous meeting with city officials and agency staff we learned that the project was no longer being pursued under an "emergency declaration" which would have substantially expedited project timelines and now was being processed as a "routine" Capital Project with a delayed projected start date for construction of sometime in 2012.
The primary purpose of this meeting was solicit the assistance of our elected representives in attempting to place the flood mitigation project back on an expedited track which would allow for flood control construction to begin on West 12th Road next Spring as originally promised by DOT back on May 14th of this year under the previous "emergency declaration."
The good news is that all of the reprsentives present at the meeting asured us that they would do what they could to attempt to reinstate an emergency declaration for this project or, failng that, to intercede on our behalf with DOT and DDC agency staff to have them "work outside the box" in order to expedite project protocols to attain an earlier start date for construction in this issue.
The minutes of this meeting are posted below for your information.
The good news is that all of the reprsentives present at the meeting asured us that they would do what they could to attempt to reinstate an emergency declaration for this project or, failng that, to intercede on our behalf with DOT and DDC agency staff to have them "work outside the box" in order to expedite project protocols to attain an earlier start date for construction in this issue.
The minutes of this meeting are posted below for your information.
Tidal Street Flooding Issue Committee Meeting Minutes
Tuesday August 24, 2010
Attending
Grace Arnemann (W2th Rd)
Sophia DeVirgilio (W12th Rd)
John Heaphy (W12th Rd)
Robert McCarthy (W12th Rd)
Peter Mahon (W12th Rd)
Jonna Barnes (W12th Rd)
Mark Scott (Office of the Queens Borough President)
Larry Lovelaw (Office of Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer)
Todd Sloves (Office of Congressman Anthony Weiner)
Outstanding Issues:
A. Credibility and Communication:
It has been said by some who have viewed the timeline of events on this project that the city has been “...moving at an appreciably rapid pace” in responding to this issue. Although when these events are viewed solely from the short perspective of our association’s initial meeting with city officials back on April 16th of this year that may appear to be true, this issue must be constantly viewed in light of the fact that the serious matter of tidal street flooding on West 12th Road in Broad Channel had previously gone unaddressed by the city for over a decade without any definitive corrective actions being undertaken.
When viewed from this “long perspective”, it can then be readily understood why any delays in flood mitigation efforts on the part of the city would be met with skepticism and frustration on the part of the residents of West 12th Road. I have personally been approached by several long time residents of West 12th Road who have expressed their appreciation for the efforts of the West 12th Road Block Association in this issue but add; “Both you and I will have kept our appointment with Hillerbrand’s (our local funeral home) before anything is actually done!”
At our April 16th meeting with the Queens Borough President, the DEP representative present assured us that he would ascertain why the previously promised (Octoer 2006) interim flood mitigation actions were never acted upon. We have never been contacted by the DEP or any other city agency or official regarding this matter.
At our April 16th meeting with the Queens Borough President, Queens DOT Commissioner Maura McCarthy stated that she would “work with DEP to ascertain what can be done immediately to assist us in this issue.” Since April 16th, there have been no instances of “immediacy” forthcoming from DOT or DEP.
At our April 16th meeting Borough President Marshall had offered the residents of West 12th Road the assistance of her office counsel to assist in the preparation of affidavits to explore the possibility of expediting this Capital Project under an “emergency declaration” ruling . Shortly thereafter, we wrote to Borough President Marshall and reminded her of this offer but her office counsel never contacted us nor were any affidavits prepared.
Notwithstanding the above, when Borough President Marshall held her May 14th press conference on West 12th Road and stated that an "emergency" allocation of $24 million dollars for this project would be made available July 1st, it was not unreasonable for the residents of West 12th Road to assume that such “emergency declaration” had been obtained without the necessity of the aforementioned affidavits.
When Borough President Marshall and all the other city officials and agency staff departed West 12th Road back on May 14th earlier this year, the topic of conversation on West 12th Road and throughout Broad Channel was that “...the city finally came through for us…” after Queens DOT Commissioner Maura McCarthy stated that project design would start shortly after July 2010 and construction would commence in July of 2011!
Unfortunately it was not until three months later at our August 11, 2010 meeting that we learned (from DDC) that the previously mentioned emergency declaration for this project had been denied and the Capital Project Initiative (CPI) was being processed by DDC as a “routine” project with substantially extended project start dates. It became succinctly apparent that, save for the allocation of funds, there was no longer any “immediacy” to this project!
All of the above instances and especially the denial of the “emergency declaration” speak to a failure of timely communication and follow up actions. Unfortunately, these failures also lend themselves to a lessening of our residents perception of credibility on the part of the involved city agencies.
When we invited NY1 to come to our block on August 14th and explained that the emergency declaration had been denied, thus substantially delaying the start date of the construction phase of this project, NY1 contacted DOT which simply responded by stating “... the new start date for this construction project may have been pushed back six to eight months from 2011 to early 2012.”
The resident’s of West 12th Road can only interpret DOT’s public response to this issue as simply, “What’s the big deal, it will get done when it gets done.”
After more than a decade of inaction on the part of the city in this matter, we now find the DOT’s “laissez faire” towards the seriousness of this issue, which back in April was described by all parties as requiring immediate attention, to be somewhat disconcerting and totally unacceptable.
B. The “Emergency” declaration:
We require real and substantive answers to the questions surrounding the matter of the “emergency” declaration.
* When, how and to whom was the request for such “emeregency” declaration presented?
* What agency denied such application for an “emergency” declaration?
* What was the specific justification for the denial of such “emergency” declaration?
* Why was the denial of this "emergency" declaration not comunicated to the residients of West 12th Road in a timely manner?
* What possible avenues of redress are available to us in order to obtain/reinstate such an “emergency” declaration?
C. DDC’s Involvement in this Project:
We require real and substantive answers regarding DDC’s involvement in this project.
* If, in fact, DDC is unable to pursue this project on a design and build basis, what actions can be pursued by DDC ,or jointly by DOT and DDC, to expedite the design phase of this project to allow for construction to start during the summer of 2011?
* DOT/DDC should provide all involved parties with a tentative “project schedule” with timelines and start dates for all phases of this project to be updated and distributed on a real time basis as revisions to the plan are made.
D. Designation of a City Agency “Point Person”
We require the designation of a City Agency “point person” in this matter (from the Queens Borough President’s Office or DOT), to serve as a liaison between the city and our community for the duration of this project.
Such a designation would address the communication and credibility issues that have arisen from disparate city agency’s operating without an awareness and complete knowledge of the current project and existent conditions in Broad Channel as a result of continual and serious tidal street flooding.
E. Tidal Street Flooding “School Inconvenience Advisory”
A review of the pending September 2010 tides indicates that West 12th Road will experience high tides of 6 feet or higher on fourteen of the thirty days in that calendar month.. Keep in mind is that on the first three days of school (September 8th, 9th and 10th), our block will experience serious morning tidal street flooding with tide heights ranging from 7.0' to 7.3'. Remember, with these tide heights, water will be on the block well in advance of the actual time of high tide!
Wednesday September 8, 2010 8:35 am (7.0 feet)
Thursday September 9, 2010 9:24 am (7.2 feet)
There is nothing worse than having your child (children) fed, dressed and ready to go and when you open your front door to get them on their way you are greeted with schools of fish swimming on your sidewalk!
Starting with the first week in September, we will begin posting a "Tidal Street Flooding - School Inconvenience Advisory" on the home page of this site listing those school days which may be inconvenienced by street flooding. Additionally, email alerts will be sent to all residents.
* Continue to document all instances of tidal street flooding and all attendant effects of same.
* Continue to keep all residents of West 12th Road (and all other interested Broad Channel residents) fully informed of our actions in this issue via newsletter, website, email advisories and personal contact.
Strategic (Long Term) Actions
Note: The type and scope of response we receive from the city regarding all aforesaid issues should determine all planned strategic actions on the part of this committee in seeking an expedited construction start date in this matter. Prior to September 15, 2010, the committee will draft a series of actions to be undertaken for consideration by the association.
If a full and substantial response is not forthcoming from the city in the above issues by September 15, 2010, the commttee will immediately reconvene to immediately consider implementation of a separate strategic response to same on the part of our committee.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m
Peter J. Mahon
for
The West 12th Road Block Association
Friday September 10, 2010 10:13 am (7.3 feet)
There is nothing worse than having your child (children) fed, dressed and ready to go and when you open your front door to get them on their way you are greeted with schools of fish swimming on your sidewalk!
Starting with the first week in September, we will begin posting a "Tidal Street Flooding - School Inconvenience Advisory" on the home page of this site listing those school days which may be inconvenienced by street flooding. Additionally, email alerts will be sent to all residents.
F. Follow Up Action(s) on the Part of the Association:
Operational (Interim) Actions:
* Close, continual and documented liaison should be maintained with those elected officials who have supported us in this regard.
* Close, continual and documented liaison should be maintained with those media outlets ho have provided coverage of this issue and new media contacts should be explored to expand that base of coverage.* Continue to document all instances of tidal street flooding and all attendant effects of same.
* Continue to keep all residents of West 12th Road (and all other interested Broad Channel residents) fully informed of our actions in this issue via newsletter, website, email advisories and personal contact.
Strategic (Long Term) Actions
Note: The type and scope of response we receive from the city regarding all aforesaid issues should determine all planned strategic actions on the part of this committee in seeking an expedited construction start date in this matter. Prior to September 15, 2010, the committee will draft a series of actions to be undertaken for consideration by the association.
If a full and substantial response is not forthcoming from the city in the above issues by September 15, 2010, the commttee will immediately reconvene to immediately consider implementation of a separate strategic response to same on the part of our committee.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m
Peter J. Mahon
for
The West 12th Road Block Association
Two other reprensentatives attended:
ReplyDeleteMike Gluck (Office of Congressman Anthony Weiner)
Warren Gardiner (Office of Senator Shirley Huntley)
THANKS!!