Concerns about newly paved streets being dug up again by utility companies will result in a conference between town officials and representatives of utility companies.
At a Sept. 23 Town Council caucus meeting, 2nd Ward Councilman Bob Kickey said that Front Street was dug up by utilities just six days after the town had spent money to get the street repaved.
“We went bonkers when we found out,” said Town Administrator Anthony Iacono, noting that he had issued warnings on paving plans months before the town began.
Although Mayor Dennis Elwell said utility companies often had to handle emergency situations requiring street digs, he believed some situations in Secaucus could have been arranged around the paving program’s schedule.
Hook-ups, underground repairs to water pipes and gas lines, and other work have accounted for the patching on many recently repaved streets, raising concerns on the council about lack of clear communication with the utility companies.
Elwell said the town notified the utility companies four months prior to the repaving in order to allow the companies to perform needed tasks prior to the start of work.
“We wrote letters, too, telling them we intended to repave,” Iacono said.
Kickey said problems of this sort had occurred on Franklin Street as well, where repaving was finished on Friday only have someone dig into it the next day.
Several streets such as Eighth and Hudson Street as well as Elisabeth Court were particular problems in this regard, officials said.
Kickey said Elisabeth Court has been dug up so often over the last three years that the surface looks as bad now as it did before the town contracted to get it repaved.
“Shouldn’t the utility be required to put it back the way it was before?” Kickey asked.
Elwell said the town attempted to pass an ordinance several years ago that required utilities to repave curb to curb after digging in the street. But the state nixed the proposed ordinance.
“The utilities are protected by state regulations,” Elwell said.
Iacono, however, said the town might be able to require a different kind of patching called “strip patching” rather than the square variety currently used to reseal a hole dug for utility work.
Councilman John Bueckner, also of the 2nd Ward, said one patch done on Eighth Street was done so badly that it now had grass growing out of the cracks.
Iacono said he would contact the utilities to arrange for a meeting in Town Hall.
Repave bids rejected
In related action, the Town Council voted to reject bids received to do repaving and other work on Flanagan Way, Fourth Street and Lincoln Avenue, saying they came in too high.
Iacono said the three streets had been put out to bid as a package, thinking the town would get lower costs.
“If we had done them separately, we could have awarded Fourth Street and Lincoln Avenue,” he said, noting that proposed work to a traffic island on Flanagan Way had helped elevate the cost of the overall project.
The town has $160,000 left in its roadway improvement funds and the lowest bid exceeded that.
Iacono said the town would seek a quick turnaround on bids – sending them out separately in order to get them back within 10 days to take advantage of the fall paving season. He said if Flanagan Way still came in at too high a cost, this could be put off, while the other streets could still be paved before winter.
Bueckner asked whether or not the cost of repaving Front Street had contributed to the lack of money for paving other streets. The town has been undergoing a beautification program for the Plaza section, which includes a new kind of flag stone sidewalk in front of businesses.
Elwell said this new sidewalk elevated the cost of the Front Street work. But he said this addition was part of a promise the town made to local business owners to upgrade the sidewalks throughout that business district.
Last year, the town reconstructed part of the Plaza near Marra’s Drug store to provide more parking. Part of the project included the addition of this new type of sidewalk.
“We promised to treat all the business owners fairly,” Elwell said. “Since we installed that kind of sidewalk near Marra’s, we agreed to install it in front of the other businesses. And it is the sidewalk that brought up the cost.”
Castle Road making headway
Iacono reported on work being done along Castle Road in the south side of Secaucus, saying the project is about half done. The Town Council later in the evening passed an ordinance to condemn small portions of land along that street in order to straighten the roadway out. Last year the town worked out an agreement with the property owners to reconstruct the nightmare road. Because the road was privately owned and badly maintained, it fell into severe disrepair. The town bonded to reconstruct the road, and property owners agreed to pay the town back for the cost. Once fully rebuilt, the town is supposed to take over maintenance.
But Elwell said some property owners were less cooperative in giving up small pieces of property in order to remake a zigzag roadway.
“That’s why we had to pass this ordinance to condemn the property,” he said.
Elwell said that, however, this proceeding had nothing to do with any redevelopment plans that might later condemn some property in the area.
“All we’re doing here is getting pieces of property to make that roadway straight,” he said.