The following information is provided based on the presentation and discussion of the new bulkhead/"shared space"/raised streets Flood Mitigation Project by City DOT, DDC, and "The RBA Group" design firm as that project pertains to West 12th Road at yesterday's Civic Association meeting.
STATUS OF PROJECT
Commissioner Maura McCarthy (Queens DOT) stated that "...we are getting close to the end of this initial phase of the project...initial plans for this project were submitted toDEP DEC for the permitting process back in May pertaining to bulkhead work and is proceeding....Mass Mailing II was distributed to involved city agencies and others this past June...Just recently, consent letters were distributed to all affected property owners for signature by individual owners and return to the city."
Mr. JosephMenza Menzer of the "RBA Group" design firm stated that "...although the project was delayed for a period of time due to the problem of individual street widths, that issue has been resolved and all streets will now share a common 32' width designation with parking available on both sides of the street and a dedicated pedestrian walkway on one side....assuming the permitting process proceeds without serious problem and all consent (waiver) letters are signed and returned to the city, the final plans will be ready by the end of this year and the project put out for bid in January of 2013 with a subsequent contract award and start of construction, hopefully, in June of 2013."
Mr.Menza Menzer further stated that "...although we have met individually with property owners in the past to discuss specific issues we will not be meeting with individual homeowners any longer. It should be kept in mind that a representative from the DDC will meet with individual property owners several weeks prior to the commencement of construction."
DISCUSSION
Several residents from 11th and 13th Roads expressed concern regarding the "impact and mitigation" data provided on their individual consent letters. If any West 12th Road property owner has any such concerns or other questions, they are urged to promptly contact DDC Program Director Gary Ambroise, P.E. at (718)391-1314.
If Mr. Ambroise is unable to satisfactorily address your concerns in this regard, please contact either myself, Sophia DeVirgilio or John Heaphy and we will attempt to resolve any outstanding issues you may have.
Questions were also raised regarding how the city would obtain consent forms from properties
with "absentee landlords" or those properties deemed "abandoned" or under "foreclosure." It was explained that in those instances multiple mailings of the consent forms were made to both the property address as well as the individual or other entity listed on the tax record for that property.
The issue of resident parking during construction was addressed by Commissioner McCarthy who stated that it is tentatively envisioned that "...the bike lanes on Cross Bay Boulevard on 11th, 12th and 13th Roads will be removed to allow for additional traffic footage with parking allowed on the Cross Bay median." Commissioner McCarthy stressed that this parking policy is not yet set in stone but is being actively pursued.
Once construction starts, work on all 3 new bulkheads for the affected blocks will commence and once completed, work will then begin on individual blocks, one block at a time, starting with West 12th Road. It is anticipated that street construction for each block will take approximately 9 months to complete.
PRESENTATION
STATUS OF PROJECT
Commissioner Maura McCarthy (Queens DOT) stated that "...we are getting close to the end of this initial phase of the project...initial plans for this project were submitted to
Mr. Joseph
Mr.
DISCUSSION
Several residents from 11th and 13th Roads expressed concern regarding the "impact and mitigation" data provided on their individual consent letters. If any West 12th Road property owner has any such concerns or other questions, they are urged to promptly contact DDC Program Director Gary Ambroise, P.E. at (718)391-1314.
If Mr. Ambroise is unable to satisfactorily address your concerns in this regard, please contact either myself, Sophia DeVirgilio or John Heaphy and we will attempt to resolve any outstanding issues you may have.
Questions were also raised regarding how the city would obtain consent forms from properties
with "absentee landlords" or those properties deemed "abandoned" or under "foreclosure." It was explained that in those instances multiple mailings of the consent forms were made to both the property address as well as the individual or other entity listed on the tax record for that property.
The issue of resident parking during construction was addressed by Commissioner McCarthy who stated that it is tentatively envisioned that "...the bike lanes on Cross Bay Boulevard on 11th, 12th and 13th Roads will be removed to allow for additional traffic footage with parking allowed on the Cross Bay median." Commissioner McCarthy stressed that this parking policy is not yet set in stone but is being actively pursued.
Once construction starts, work on all 3 new bulkheads for the affected blocks will commence and once completed, work will then begin on individual blocks, one block at a time, starting with West 12th Road. It is anticipated that street construction for each block will take approximately 9 months to complete.
IMPORTANT*****IMPORTANT*****IMPORTANT
In order for this project to proceed smoothly to the next important stage (the January 2013 request for contractor bids), three things must take place.
1. The permitting process by DEP must be finalized.
2. Completion of final project design plans for distribution to interested contractors.
3. All consent "waivers" for each individual West 12th Road property must be signed, notarized and returned to the city in a timely fashion.
Although I do not not foresee any problems with items 1 & 2 above, I must stress the fact that unless all consent "waivers" are received by the city this project will be delayed.
If only one individual property owner refuses to execute his or her property consent "waiver" the project bid for West 12th Road will not take place.
In those instances where a property owner steadfastly refuses to execute this "waiver" a process exists whereby the city would be allowed to purchase up to 2 feet of an individual property's land for the sum of $1.00 dollar, thus allowing the project to proceed, but this process is time consuming and can take as long as two years.
If any West 12th Road property owner has strong reservations regarding executing their individual consent "waiver" we are respectfully requesting that he or she contact this Association in order that we can sit down to discuss this matter in the hopes of arriving at an amicable resolution to your concerns.
Your neighbor,
Peter J. Mahon
55 West 12th Road
(718) 945-0805
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