DEC Report to the DEP in 2009 on the Earthen Berm
DECDamSafety_to_DEPAug2009

Site of the 66 trees that have to be removed
Fort Independence Park Trees kadraft 070511

NYS DEC page concerning the rules on Earthen Berms Dam Safety near Reservoirs: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4991.html

Notes from the WM11 CWTP Monthly Report 79 from April 2011. Here is 14 pages excerpted and I have two full reports form April 2011 and August 2010.

• Comments WM11 CWTP Mo Rept 79 April 2011 comments
• Monthly Report (excerpted) - WM11 CWTP Monthly Report 79 April 2011 excpts
• 2004 Council MOU info - Updatedlistfor10m091304 from 09.13.04-BronxWaterFiltrationPlant
• 1999 Resolution:  Reso 933 of 1999
• 1999 List of funded projects:  Mosholu Mitigation Res 993 of 1999

Finally the report was provided in April, and discussion will follow in May at the FMC meeting on the 20th.  Report is on the CB 8 web page under the Croton Water Treatment Plant, Van Cortlandt Park, Pedestrian Bridge Feasibility Study
Van Cortlandt Park Pedestrian Bridge Feasibility Study Part 1
Van Cortlandt Park Pedestrian Bridge Feasibility Study Part 2

Letters of support are being sent to the Community Board 8.  Here are a few:

FIPNA Support Pedestrian Bridge 05182010

BCEQpedestrian_bridge_support05182010

Pedestrian Bridge Support Letter FVCP 051710

In 1999, the New York City Council passed the ULURP resolution approving the site selection to build a filter plant in Van Cortlandt Park.  The resolution promising certain things, including the Facility Monitoring Committee.

The pedestrian bridge is mentioned in the resolution and on the list of projects.    If the project is feasible, and for some reason, too expensive, then we should be given the opportunity to raise the money elsewhere.  Parks should do the report, then it has to go to the CITY COUNCIL.

HERE ARE THE DOCUMENTS:

• RESOLUTION: Reso 933 of 1999
  
• LIST OF MITIGATION PROJECTS:Mosholu Mitigation Res 993 of 1999

Among the many other items included is this one:

9.) DPR shall undertake a study and impact analysis (the study) to determine whether or not a pedestrian footbridge, crossing the Major Deegan Expressway linking the heretofore and connected east and west portions of Van Cortlandt Park is technically, legally and financially feasible. Said study shall be completed by September 2002 and the results of such study shall be filed with the Speaker of the City Council and the Director of the Land Use Division of the City Council within the ten (10) days of completion. In the event that said study determines that the construction of such a pedestrian footbridge is technically, legally and financially feasible, a Budget Modification, transferring from DEP to DPR funds sufficient to design and build it shall be introduced in the Council by the Mayor within sixty (60) days of the completion of the study;

The public is invited to attend this presentation. A representative of the New York City Comptroller’s office will present the September 1, 2009 Audit Reports listed below:

The audits can be found at the following links:
• DEP’s Oversight of Costs to Construct the CWTP, FR09-110A, 9/1/2009 – http://bit.ly/AI5Pr
• DEP’s Progress in Constructing the CWTP, FR08-121A, 9/1/2009 – http://bit.ly/1a4a3E

VLADECK HALL, Amalgamated Housing Co-op, 74 Van Cortlandt Park South, enter off of Hillman Avenue, Bronx, NY 10463.

Parking is limited, please use public transportation.

Bring a friend
Refreshments

—————-

Point of view: More investigation

needed at filtration plant

By Karen Argenti

City Comptroller William Thompson provided many of us with a fresh drink of water with his audits of the Croton Water Filtration Plant, which is one of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s biggest boondoggles and now confirmed as one of the biggest frauds in the city’s history.

Many following this scandal closely were not the least bit surprised at Mr. Thompson’s finding that the timing and planning have been bungled, nor did we blink an eye at unjustifiable cost overruns into the billions. We’ve known this and have said it repeatedly all along.

But there’s a missing piece in the comptroller’s report and that is to answer the fundamental questions of why? Why were the Department of Environmental Protection’s calculations so far off? Though DEP incompetence is legendary, former Commissioner Chris Ward’s misguided insistence that the plant should be put in the Bronx because it was the cheapest place to build by hundreds of millions of dollars cannot be ignored.

There was a fascinating — and largely overlooked — revelation in the report. That is the creation of a new Cost Estimating Division of the Bureau of Engineering and Construction that has one function: conduct regular meetings between the DEP, other city agencies and the project engineers and contractors.

The comptroller needs to go the next step and fully investigate the relationship between Mr. Bloomberg’s DEP and those who gained most from the experimental underground design in Van Cortlandt Park — the diggers and dirt haulers and the contractors, consultants and engineers who would not have been needed had the plant been built on top of the ground in Westchester.

Those of us who have been in this fight for years will recall that former General Contractors Association (GCA) Executive Director Frank McArdle made it clear that he participated in regular meetings with DEP leadership to offer guidance on the bids for this project. Well, now it’s time for the public to get full details on the nature of those meetings. What was discussed, what was the DEP advised and who had influence in the decision-making that landed the hideous plant in a Bronx park?

Further, what did former DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd mean when she stated at a meeting in Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s office in the summer of 2007 that “there’s a natural affinity between the DEP and its contractors?”

Also, it was hard not to notice DEP’s Mark Lanaghan’s discomfort at being asked about the relationship between his agency, their contractors and the bid process during an Croton Filtration Plant Monitoring Committee meeting earlier this year. His face got red and he said in no uncertain terms can the public know more about the DEP’s deliberations and relationships with contractors and engineers and how they negotiated the bids on the Croton filtration project.

There are many eye-opening discrepancies to find. For example, how is it that Schiavone Construction Company won the bid on the first contract even before the site was approved by the City Council?

Mr. Thompson’s report says construction delays were caused in part by the first contractor who left the project. What he failed to mention is that this contractor, Perini Construction, was under federal investigation into suspected fraud in the granting of contracts for minority-owned businesses. How was Perini able to qualify and why were there only two bids? Was there open bidding as required by law, or was this simply handed off as, you know, kind of an agreement between friends?

It’s obvious that these secret relationships between a city agency and contractors do not promote the public good. They open the door for processes that are not transparent and, as we now know, are not economical. In this case, the cost to the public is $2 billion and counting, not to mention the environmental devastation this project has caused.

With what is now confirmed, that the DEP based their decision on where to site the plant on false numbers, that former DEP Commissioner Ward bolted the DEP for a plum job with the GCA, that there have been extensive backroom relationships between the DEP and contractors, there is no doubt that Thompson needs to find the missing piece in his otherwise stellar reports.

Karen Argenti is a longtime activist on environmental issues.

Riverdale Press, September 17, 2009 – http://bit.ly/12LGKg

]]> http://www.waterblogged.org/riverdale-press-91719-keep-investigating-filter-plant-project/feed/ 0 http://www.waterblogged.org/rowdy-meetings-parks-and-health-care/ http://www.waterblogged.org/rowdy-meetings-parks-and-health-care/#comments Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:22:27 +0000 karen http://www.waterblogged.org/?p=226 Think republican’s invented the rowdy health care reform recess rallies filled with misinformation and fear to pursue their own agenda? Bronxites know better, having experienced these forums on at least two occasions in the past, starting with Clinton High School overlooking the Jerome Park Reservoir. Filling the room with non resident people who are told to disturb the peace and the meeting is the Mayor Bloomberg & Friends modus operandi.

As in the current national heath care reform mess, both the 2003 Croton Filtration and the 2005 Yankee Stadium Redevelopment meetings mangled an overlying issue with the project purpose — the taking of parkland (read: free land), when other alternatives existed to build said project. This mantra was encouraged by the so-called union-contractors and supported by union leadership and membership for selfish reasons – so contractors could make money; and union members higher pay and better benefits.

Just like some are confused about health care reform, few decision makers realized in 2004 and 2006 that alternative sites for each project would maintain union workers keeping their jobs and benefits, and would save the taxpayer billions of dollars.

Today, the message of health care reform is being purposely confused with “death trap for old people,” “increased in abortions,” or “socialistic medicine” for someone’s selfish agenda – like those $24 million per year health care insurance company CEOs, lobbyists tied to the health care industry, etc. Clearly, reform mean equal and better health care for all.

While those joint ventures of contractors and union leaders were initially successful, they ended with many corruption investigations, convictions and pleas, as well as with those same union workers left out in the picket line at the site of the Lehman College Science Building – across the street from the Jerome Park Reservoir!

Mayor Bloomberg & Friends are republicans; that explains the similarities to the national health care reform battle. Hopefully health care reform comes quicker than the long awaited park mitigation around the Jerome Park Reservoir and replacement parks around Yankee Stadium!

We need to learn from our mistakes; not make them over and over. The republican lobbyist spinners have selfish agendas. This is not a public relations campaign, this is our lives.  Health Insurance Reform is not complicated. The cost of inaction is immeasurable. President Obama’s program is clear:  he is not going to raise taxes, but cut the costs we all know exist.

I support the President’s Health Insurance Guarantees.

1. No Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions

2. No Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays

3. No Cost -Sharing for Preventive Care

4. No Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill

5. No Gender Discrimination

6. No Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage

7. Extended Coverage for Young Adults

8. Guaranteed Insurance Renewal

Join me. Take Action. Start the discussion.

JPR Numbers on the Fence – July 2009

Thank you.

Today we have the work we have all been awaiting for at least 25-30 years — clean the inside fence around the Jerome Park Reservoir of all the vines and weeds.  Whether the reason is that they finally woke up (doubtful), or if it has something to do with the permission to blast around the reservoir (possible), or if it is because of someone’s campaigning, one thing is certain.

It is a beautiful thing.

Thank you to my friend who took the photo’s to memorialize this time and effort.

So now, anyone have any ideas of what’s up?