The Council's PMS results
Last summer the Council voted to waste spend $50,000 on a Pavement Management System (PMS). Tonight the voters heard the results of the project.
We learned that we now need only $18,000,000 to improve our roads over the next ten years... or maybe $1,300,000 for each of the next ten years to maintain the status quo! We learned that we can reduce the overall spending to maintain our roads, if we spend money to maintain our roads... and not exclusively focus on fixing the really bad roads. We also learned that the $50,000 consultant suggested the Town perform this type of road maintenance with sealant... even though Town Hall will not always seal cracks.
Wow. I am enlightened. Now everything will be wonderful that we threw away $50,000.
Tim White
6 comments:
Nice, spend $50,000 to say we need $18,000,000.
They could have paid me that amount and I would have told them what roads need paving.
And when I tried to figure out which roads would get paved with the $1 million that passed at referendum last fall... it was business as usual...
We haven't decided that yet!
Translation:
We don't yet know which favors will be distributed this year.
IMO, the Council sets the criteria by which the DPW allocates the road funding. But then that would eliminate the political influence... and also be The Rubber Stamp directing their Boss. And that would be unacceptable.
Glad you refer to them as favors..you're telling the truth. My street--Curve Hill Road was last paved in 1973 (it's falling apart) & not scheduled to be redone until 2018; Sharon Drive has been repaved TWICE since 1986!!!!
In fairness, I think the use of the word "favor" is unnecessarily negative.
From my perspective, the situation is this... Town Hall has no criteria by which to prioritize projects. Instead, if there's manpower available and a call coincidentally comes that day... well then the project may get done.
And whenever there is time available and multiple calls at that time... then projects often will be done at the request of a Councilman (etc.) before other projects... independent of any merit / criteria used to prioritize.
I didn't mean to suggest "VIPs" get projects completed at the drop of a hat. It just seems to me more like there's little planning and it's more happenstance that a project gets done.
But from your perspective it could very easily look like VIPs getting favors. When it's more an issue of poor planning.
So I think the use of the word "favor" was not the best choice. I wrote too quickly as I was running out the door to work this morning.
Either way though... there are problems that need to be addressed. But I've already been informed that addressing these problems will not happen before November.
"No criterion with which to priortize projects????!!!" EVER HEARD OF "COMMON SENSE"?
Any roads that are going to be paved this year are already in the works. I do not believe that 1 person calling is going to make a difference either way. Public Works makes a list of roads that has to be done and they repave them in order. Hopefully, the Country Club Road bridge gets priority because of the amount of traffic and emergency services affected by it.
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