Let's hit the bricks
by M. Stewart
The heat East Liverpool Councilman Brian Kerr has been taking from city employees is translating into handshakes and pats on the back from the public. A couple days ago I watched as people congratulated Kerr for going after the street department over the pothole issue on his blog.
The pothole controversy is an annual event everywhere in the snow belt. No town’s streets escape the ravages of ice, and every street department gets blamed for not addressing the problem well enough.
Still, this year’s crop of potholes seems worse than ever. I don’t know what’s going on in other towns, but in East Liverpool, there’s not much evidence that the street department is doing anything at all about the problem.
Let’s face it, our downtown and residential streets are in such poor condition normally that a few thousand more craters shouldn’t matter much. I do think, however, that conditions are so bad in some areas that streets should be closed to traffic. At the very least, orange barrels should be put out to alert drivers about potholes that could damage their vehicles.
The problem of potholes will never go away as long as we continue to use asphalt to pave our streets. The answer to the problem is to return to brick streets, which do not develop potholes.
If you take the time to look down into one of our craters, you’ll see that in many cases the old brick street is still there, buried by layers of crumbling blacktop. The exposed brick streets that haven’t been paved over—parts of Lincoln Ave. and Fourth Street, for example—are in such bad condition because the street was not properly replaced after countless utility openings.
If you’re going to have brick streets, you have to have a street department that knows how to maintain them. Obviously, we don’t, but people can learn, can’t they? Or is it that maintenance of brick streets require actual labor, and no one wants to perform physical work anymore?
Next time you’re driving through Midland, Pa., turn off Rt. 68 and drive through the residential areas. You’ll find beautiful, well-maintained brick streets. What you won’t find is a pothole.
The heat East Liverpool Councilman Brian Kerr has been taking from city employees is translating into handshakes and pats on the back from the public. A couple days ago I watched as people congratulated Kerr for going after the street department over the pothole issue on his blog.
The pothole controversy is an annual event everywhere in the snow belt. No town’s streets escape the ravages of ice, and every street department gets blamed for not addressing the problem well enough.
Still, this year’s crop of potholes seems worse than ever. I don’t know what’s going on in other towns, but in East Liverpool, there’s not much evidence that the street department is doing anything at all about the problem.
Let’s face it, our downtown and residential streets are in such poor condition normally that a few thousand more craters shouldn’t matter much. I do think, however, that conditions are so bad in some areas that streets should be closed to traffic. At the very least, orange barrels should be put out to alert drivers about potholes that could damage their vehicles.
The problem of potholes will never go away as long as we continue to use asphalt to pave our streets. The answer to the problem is to return to brick streets, which do not develop potholes.
If you take the time to look down into one of our craters, you’ll see that in many cases the old brick street is still there, buried by layers of crumbling blacktop. The exposed brick streets that haven’t been paved over—parts of Lincoln Ave. and Fourth Street, for example—are in such bad condition because the street was not properly replaced after countless utility openings.
If you’re going to have brick streets, you have to have a street department that knows how to maintain them. Obviously, we don’t, but people can learn, can’t they? Or is it that maintenance of brick streets require actual labor, and no one wants to perform physical work anymore?
Next time you’re driving through Midland, Pa., turn off Rt. 68 and drive through the residential areas. You’ll find beautiful, well-maintained brick streets. What you won’t find is a pothole.
posted by M. | 9:25 AM
11 Comments:
Recently I bent my tire rim hitting a pothole in Wellsville, and now have a flat as a result of the bent rim. I'll have to have both the flat and the rim repaired. Can Wellsville be held repsonsible and expected to pay for tire and rim repair? I know in some other towns, this is the case. Anyone know the answer?
I think you had the last chance to avoid the pothole, not the other way around. Maybe the village should sue you for tearing up their streets.
I have always loved the brick streets and think it was the most unwise decision made to blacktop over them. I know in some cases, such as St. George St. in the East End, the state forced the city to pave over the bricks bc they were going to use that as a main road while Rt. 11 was being constructed. What a stupid mistake that was!
As for today's potholes, I don't know how anyone can blame the street dept. for them. It is a problem plaguing every city, large and small. I'm grateful that the guys have been out so diligently with their plows to keep the streets as clear as possible. It's a big task and often a thankless one. As for Mr. Kerr, I think his biggest mistake was taking aim at these hard working men on his blog and putting them down. How did he think they would or should react to his criticism? Mr. Kerr is new to council and I hope he learns how to get along better with the city's employees, otherwise, he's going to be in for a very rough few years. There is a way to be diplomatic without pointing the finger or name-calling. I hope he learns that.
Hey Wellsville Tiger -- I am great and could be responsible for many things, but snow and rain and sleet and salt on the roads are out of my control. All I can say to your response is FIGURES!
Let’s set the record straight! I did go after the Streets department; not personally, but for others that contacted me. I did this through my blog, nothing like Matt’s, but one day I hope it will come close. By doing this the guys from the streets department attacked me. I hoped that they would , these are good guys that work hard. It uncovered many, many problems with the city’s budget. Everyone says we need jobs for more taxes, well what if we raised the taxes by a half of percent. I thought about it, it will not work, not because the tax payers would vote it down. Because raising the tax to 2% would not work. I figured it out to be around 2.5% (instead of the current of 1.5%) to make a real difference. I would not vote for a 1% increase. If you pay attention to the world news, gas is going up around 20 to 30 cents in the next couple of weeks. With us loosing tax base and cost of living not only going up it is through the roof. The Iraq war costs us so much! Men and women are dieing for our country and freedom to Iraq. The war cost the U.S 12 BILLION DOLLARS A WEEK. So until we get a democrat in oval office things will not change.
Sorry it is 12 Billion a Month not a week, as last stated. Also, the reason behind my prior statement is that the cost of living keeps going up, the low paying jobs in this area seem to make it hard for families to pay for everyday (GAS,ELECTRIC,HEATING BILLS)things. So the tax base is shrinking, due to the foreclosure rate in this area. So the money to provide BASIC services is also shrinking. It is hard to maintain the city’s workforce with the current tax base. So to avoid laying off people, we have to shrink the spending of each department. This is why there is a lack of all general services in all city departments. This includes fixing equipment, buying new equipment, buying material to fill potholes and other services. So I feel that this is the worst it will get and that the city is on the upturn towards economic development and future growth.
To Mr. Kerr,
Your reply is confusing to me. You 'went after the street guys' bc you hoped they would attack you to reveal problems with the city budget? Is that really what you're saying??? Isn't that something like killing the messenger bc you don't like the message? Did you ever bother to check out their work by going to the Car Barn and seeing for yourself or did you simply take someone else's word for it? I question you bc you represent me on council and I'm curious. I have often found it better to use honey before vinegar; meaning if you would compliment these hard working men BEFORE you insult them or question their work ethics, you might get further. If you have a problem with the budget, shouldn't you take that up with the auditor and mayor? And speaking of the new auditor, I'm more than willing to give her some extra time bc I know she's had a lot to clean up and fix since taking over office. When the previous auditor showed up to work so rarely, things couldn't have been in good shape. If you doubt me, check with anyone working in city hall. They know who did what while Mz. Woomer was there and who did nothing.
I hope you are right that this is the worst things could get for our city, but I'm not as optimistic as you seem to be. There are so many wonderful possibilities out there, but many changes will have to come first, something many people in this area seem to fear. Let's hope for the best.
To Maddy,
Where's the car barn? Thank you for your opinion regarding my remarks. I knew of the problems before running for office. I can tell you that it is hard to get things done when you are a citizen; it seems harder to get things done as an elected official. I see a lot of problems with how this city is being run. There is a lot of broken equipment at the car barn, the problem is most of it is not going to be used again. So sell it! In order to survive these tough times we need to sell any and all old equipment from ALL departments. Put the money into the capital improvement. This will help relieve some of the stress off the budget. If you live in my ward, you drive past the car barn often. Look over at it and see all the old equipment that is rusting away. So once again thank you for you opinion. I am not a councilman so I can collect a check. I never knew it was a paid position till the auditor’s office contacted me to fill out paperwork so I can get my pay check. So I ran for this position to make a difference, to stand for what I believe in. Yes I will admit if I was wrong. In this case I was not. Could I have approached it differently? I could of, but that would not be me. I am not going to follow the norm of previous councils. I wear a suit to every council meeting. One person said after the first month that the show was over and the suit can come off. No it cannot. I represent the people (YOU) in the 1st ward. Would you want me to wear blue jeans? I think not. So once again thank you for what you said.
Councilman Kerr
[Quote: And speaking of the new auditor, I'm more than willing to give her some extra time bc I know she's had a lot to clean up and fix since taking over office. When the previous auditor showed up to work so rarely, things couldn't have been in good shape.]
I'd like to know just WHAT the new auditor had to "clean up and fix" since she took over??? There was never any problem with anything in that office when Kim Woomer left. And instead of asking "anyone in city hall," why not ask the women who worked there and the treasurer?
And, also, it's ironic that you complain to Mr. Kerr for blasting the street dept. before he took time to go see how the dept. actually works yet don't say a thing about your friend the new auditor blasting EVERYONE IN TOWN before she took time to see who is doing what.
Hmmmm.
Matt, as always, I appreciate your good sense when editing original comments. I know I get upset sometimes at comments that come in response to my own, and I sometimes say WAY too much. Even now, when I read the "Wellsville Tiger" response to my meer question about asking Wellsville to pay for my blown rim, I laugh, but also get angry. If I take WT's response to heart, I guess I have to assume that we drivers are not to travel on Wellsville streets, as we may contribute to the demise of their condition? Saturday before last, the roads were super icey, conditions were horrible, and I drove slowly through the 'Ville. There was NO WAY to avoid potholes in the town as they're all over the place! Yeah, I contribute to the crappy conditions of the streets! What a dunce! Too funny!
Listen, blacktop + salt, snow, ice= potholes. period.... Get over it. Everywhere has them, they'll get fixed.
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