By Adam Swift
The city council scheduled a public hearing for its Monday, Feb. 23 meeting on an ordinance revision submitted by Councillor-at-Large Joanne McKenna at last week’s council meeting.
McKenna’s motion would amend the city ordinance relative to construction procedures for street and sidewalk openings.
“I would really like to create an ordinance for National Grid and all the utility companies,” said McKenna. “National Grid comes into our city, cuts our streets, then patches it when they finish. With inclement weather and time, eventually their patches corrode into sinkholes and divots leaving drivers and pedestrians vulnerable.”
McKenna pointed out Wave Avenue in Beachmont as an example of the issues created by the utility companies.
“Four years ago, as a part of putting in new pipes around the neighborhood, National Grid committed to repaving this road; they never did,” she said. “Multiple calls have been the city engineer and myself, but National Grid keeps on pushing back the starting time. This ordinance will create (for) National Grid or any other utility companies applying for permits to pave curb to curb instead of doing patch jobs that don’t work.”
Ward 2 asked if the ordinance would apply to contractors or developers of private buildings.
“I just want to make sure that we hit all the construction people and that public works oversees these and makes sure that the work is done appropriately,” said Novoselsky.
Ward 4 Councillor Paul Argenzio said he thinks the ordinance is a good idea, but that there are a few issues that need to be addressed.
“I don’t know if a city ordinance has jurisdiction over a utility, so I think maybe some advice from the city solicitor,” said Argenzio. “This ordinance is trying to cure a problem, but I don’t know if our ordinance overrides a utility.”
Argenzio said he was also concerned about costs being passed onto homeowners if they hired a company to put in a new sewer line.
“There’s a gentleman on Suffolk Avenue, we had just paved Suffolk Avenue, and he wanted to convert to gas, and the city denied him because we had just paved,” said Argenzio. “Then the city did acquiesce and said if you do do this, we need a 10 foot wide swath curb to curb, and the homeowner had to pay an extra $3,000 to National Grid to do this. And then, maybe two months later, the city came by and they had a water break and they had a little patch, and then on the other side of him there was a gas leak and there was a little patch, and he felt he was really raked over the coals for this $3,000 and he was really upset.
“So I agree with the motion, but I think we have to have some information or maybe some relief for homeowners that are converting to gas or putting in a sewer line so that we don’t price them right out of the job.”
Ward 2 Ira Novoselsky noted that a number of years ago, the council passed a rule that once a street is paved, no one can cut it open, unless it is an emergency, for five years.
“As far as I know, that’s still in effect, so DPW and site plan review should be overseeing that and watching it, making sure things like that are taken care of,” he said.
