If there isn’t an expression that refers to politicians, street repair work, and voters, there should be. Call it “pothole politics.”
By many accounts – from residents and from both the Democratic and Independent factions of the Secaucus Town Council – there are several streets and sidewalks in town that are in desperate need of repairs.
Among some of the worst streets are Franklin Street, Elizabeth Court, and Front Street, where sidewalks are severely pocked and people often trip.
For years, the Town Council has discussed how best to repair the problems and prioritize the work. These conversations have occasionally been tense in the past, and are likely to be more so as the 2009 political season heats up with a mayoral election in November.
In a town where home ownership is high, concerns like flood control and the condition of streets and sidewalks could be major campaign issues. It only follows, then, that candidates want to pour fresh concrete now and take credit for it later.
Current repairs on Front Street reignited long standing complaints at last week’s Town Council meeting from the Independent council members who say the Dennis Elwell Administration (allied with the Secaucus Democrats) fails to keep them informed.
Roots of the problem
The Independents were surprised recently when work began on Front Street in mid-April, they say, without their consent, a charge Elwell denies.
According to Elwell, the current problems on Franklin Street, Elizabeth Court, and Front Street date back to 2003 or 2004. Sidewalk renovations were delayed for several months and didn’t get under way until the fall, rather than the spring. The work began in October and wasn’t completed until a month later. When the area was hit with two early snowstorms, and streets and sidewalks had to be salted, the freshly-poured concrete on some blocks was ruined.
“We did repair work on several streets – Hagan Place, Allan Terrace, Pandolfi Avenue, Second, [Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth] streets – that was fine,” Elwell said last week. “But on Franklin, Elizabeth, and Front Street, we discovered that the top fourth of an inch of concrete was ruined by the salt.”
The town’s quick and inexpensive attempt to correct the problem, spraying an epoxy over the dried concrete, was ineffective. The conclusion was that bad sections of sidewalk would have to be re-poured with fresh concrete, a job that would total tens of thousands of dollars for the three streets.
According to the mayor, between 2,000 and 3,000 feet of sidewalk will be repaired.
Independents: Problem is communication
At the meeting, the three Independent councilmen – Michael Gonnelli, John Bueckner, and Gary Jeffas – acknowledged that Front Street is in bad shape and needs to be fixed. They contend the $28,000 job got underway without the knowledge or approval of the council.
“We were in here for a council meeting on [April 14], and work crews were out there two days later,” Bueckner said to Elwell. “When we met, you must have known this work was about to get started. Why was this not raised in the caucus?”
The Independents have in the past criticized the mayor for failing to keep them in the information loop. Elwell contends, however, that council members knew that work on Front Street was imminent.
“At the previous council meeting we talked about repairing sidewalks. I said to the councilmen – because John Bueckner has been asking about this for years – we’re going to get an estimate on how many feet of sidewalk on Front Street need to be replaced,” Elwell said.
“We had the engineer come in and break it into a two-year project, starting with the worst areas first,” he said. “We thought we would go to bid on it. That’s what I assumed was going to happen. When the contractor came back with a price, it was below the bid threshold [of $29,000]. Not only that, the average price [for this type of work] is $7 a foot. The contractor gave us a price of $6 a foot.”
The mayor said the contractor, Reggio Construction, also said it could begin right away since a previously scheduled job had been canceled. The Front Street project was then given immediate approval by Town Administrator David Drumeler and Town Engineer Gerald Perricone.
“I know I had people coming up to me asking about it,” Gonnelli added. “I admit, $6 a foot is a very good price. So, the town is getting a good rate. But this was a $28,000 expense that was never approved by the council. At a minimum, we should have been notified that the work was being done.”
Gonnelli also bristled at the fact that work on Front Street, located in the 3rd Ward, was fast-tracked by the Elwell Administration, while the residents of Franklin Street are still waiting for their repairs. Franklin Street is located in the 2nd Ward, which Gonnelli and Bueckner both represent.
Bueckner is running for re-election this year as an Independent against Frank Trombetta, who is running on Elwell’s Democratic slate. Meanwhile Gonnelli, who will likely oppose Elwell for mayor in November, has often inquired at Town Council meetings when work might begin on Franklin.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.