There is an artcile in today's paper, although I can not find on-line? Friday night the first floor apartment, as well as the parking lot flooded again. I feel bad for the renters, but am surprised that steps were not taken to somehow alleviate this problem since it obvious that this line must be a shared water/drain line. Anytime that it rains hard there is going to be a problem.
46 apartments .. This got me thinking there is about 100 bedrooms and the bedroom fee right now is 1320 per bedroom so that is $132,000 in fees, wonder if that was paid or if it was waived for low to mod income housing. Now take a look at the brand new sidewalk, wonder who paid for that.
More importantly who is going to pay for whatever changes that are going to need to be done to repair this problem? Imagine if this projected was done by a private developer---our elected officials would be picketing in front demanding that this be fixed.
Same Time Next Year
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It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
4 months ago
30 comments:
Worcester Common Water
This is what happens when these non profits are allowed to densely develop a small parcel.....every availbale sq inch is used to squeeze teh most dollars out of the project.....AND THESE ARE NON PROFIT DEVELOPERS!!!!!!!!
I agree if anyone else besides a non profit dev'er was involved the likes of Kate Toomey and Phil Palmieri would be all over everyone like a cheap suit. You wont hear squat about it b/c the City Council is basically on Lower County Rd. at Clancy's in Dennisport for the next 7 weeks ....teachers & firefighters sclepinging back & forth to West Dennis Beach and Old Wharf Rd Beach with their Murray & Spellane bumper stickers (talk about ruining my vacation with that kinda visual pollution).
The basement level units s/b condemmed for now and with all teh empty new units there, they should have immediately moved these cellars dwellers to higher common ground for the time being. I also am curious if back flow preventers are MANDATED in this situation. If Archie was still with us, Pualie could call him up and ask him.
Will I as Worc. taxpayer be paying damages to these tenants b/c the city failed to take actions such as condemming the places 3 weeks ago and/or not allowing tenants to return until a backflow stopper is installed and/or failing to properly inspect it if a backflow preventer was mandated. I have seen a few issues years ago re water line hook ups be intentionally overlooked and there was at least one forced "retirement" maybe 2 or 3 after all the dust settled.
Maybe Worc Common Sewerage can dispose of the waste water over on Mason St site.......all that nitrogen in the waste will make for 10 ft high super grass and ragweed at the Old Institutional Linens site. Wonder if any local yokels in that hood got some reefer growing in there amongst all the over growth.
Well LAdy Luck was with me this afternoon...as I made it from Occonners funeral home on Park Ave all the way to St Gobain before I hit a redlight..........a feat I have acconplished very few times over the years....no fire trucks jaking braking it either..........(It looked nice aand cool as I whizzed by Park Ave Fire Station....place was deader than O'Conners )
As I passed by Charlotte St however my blood began to rise exponentially. All the nice new concrete sidewalks and re-set curbing making for a nice "driveway" right up to Clark University campus and "conviently" done whilst the campus is in the summer dodrums....I tell you thsi reeeks of an inside job......I wonder if Comm. Dev'ment Grant Block money is involved here...........the street wasnt that bad to begin with...at least by Worc St standards.........i can name a dozen sts. in my area that in absolutely horrendous shape and have been for years. A
ANd exactly how much do we get from Clark Univ annually in PILOT payments?......MMMMMMM........where is Phil (Snowshovel) Palmieri re Clarks Pilot payment...and dont anyone tell me all about all the money clark re-invests in their immediate hood........
Also I want a complete anaylsis of this sewer bank account where all teh money thta developes pay into at $1320 per bedroom. My gut tells me we may some questionable outlays from thsi acct that aint exactly sewr realted............wonder when the last time was that city auditor scoped out thsi bank acct?
BTW it s/b interesting if a councilor(s) takes up the issue of sewerage back up on Baltic St where a privately owned home was inundated thsi past week........and the same councilor(s) remain mute re: this May St sewerage fiasco
Thie whole low mod income housing is a huge issue and non of the Mayoral candidates will touch it.
Instead they will discuss important issues like the street vendors and the shopping cart ordinance, while all endorsing the lowest possible residential tax rate and how badly we need to expand the commercial tax base.
Bill
If I was a city councilor, about now I would be on the phone to the city permit issuing authorities to inquire about teh status of Berkelys demolition permit for City Sq?
I might ask has it been submitted and if so how far along is it in the approval process is it.
My recollection is that we had a Sept. start date moved from a former start date of March, 2006????
May be my memory is falling me.
And kudos to the Union Station cafe folks.....looks like they will open in Sept per the T&G this morning (7-20). Original open date was slated for June. They claim the wet weather has set them back 3 months....................which kinda begs teh question..how so??.........but anyway maybe the Garage Mahal will soon be put to good use.
BTW I still say new buildings are not going to cure what ails Worcester....
be it a mall in 1969.....
be it an outlet mall in 1994
be it Medical City in 2001(?)
be it NOLO housing over the last 15 years
be it 3 Worc Common makeovers in 3 decades
be it Gateway Park in 2007
be it new Fire Stations or
be it many new schools
People make or break a locale.......nothing more.....nothing less....
hard to argue with you Senor Jahn...
Jahn,
Which is the entire reasoning behind CitySquare. People actually living downtown. The Mayo Group gets it and Berkley gets it.
A downtown neighborhood should have been established long ago. Cities that have vibrant urban cores have folks actually living there. A downtown college and medical presence helps, too. We already have those 2 ingredients with the Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and St. Vincent Hospital.
When CitySquare finally reconnects our east/west corridor with a commercial, retail and most importantly housing component in the mix, the dots will be connected. There will be actual synergy between Shrewsbury Street, the Canal district and CitySquare.
And I should add a transportation hub at the center of it all.
David....... what kinda peeps going to be living downtown.......we need quality not Quantity...
You havent noticed the newsest downtown housing sporting a sign that says "Housing vounchers encouraged".........at least thats what Bill says that he saw and I believe it was the Hadley at Main & Madison or am I mistaken and was it the May St Worc Common Grd Downtone Blackstone Sewerage Treatment Plant where bill saw that sign??....and if it wasnt the Hadley BBuilding I can assure you it aint going to be too long before that Place is all NOLO or Low to meduim income housing. David, if you're middle income with a significant oterh and mybe a kid or two.............would live a the corner of Main and Madison.........I doubt it............sirens all day.......GIQ imbibers on the opposite corner.......former PIP peeps everywhere....the list of human debris that frequents that area is endless
"A downtown College and Medical presence also helps"....David my fine feathered freind....surely you jest.....!!!!!!.....teh pharmacy school has been here how long (10yrs) and downtown continues to sport an abundance of vacant storefronts....cant even support a MCD's or a BK???...and as far as Med city...that's been there 8 years or so.......and merely another concrete bunker just as Worc Center Mall was .......people go there and then go home......after going to see my erectile dysfunction doctor at Med city...........i head home.....dittos for all the other patrons of Med city......place is magnificent...but wheres the downtown life it was supposed to foster.........sleeping on the Common benches....????
How is City Sq going to connect Shrewsbuury St and teh currently non existent Canal District....I guess i dont understand that geography...other then going back 40 yrs and re connecting Main St with Washington Sq with a new Front St???
Also my question was...... where is Berkley with the demo permitting process??.....I dont know nor do i expect you to know..........just a question as South Yarmouth doldrums hover over Worc for the next 7 weeks
Zoback should drop a dime to 25 Meade St.......the answer s/b an easy 1/2 page article that wont take more than an hours work??????
Dave, ever checked out the transporation hub that exists in Front of City Hall (or used to exist??) or ever check out teh transporation hub that used to be Trailways termonal on madison St..........
not exactly the kinda environs I'd want to frequent....short of a craving for 2 Coney Islands barkers......or a need to stop in the clerks office at city hall and protest my fines for my unlicensed canine
Jahn,
I wish you had attended NOLA Fest. I would love to debate you about the good things going on in Worcester!
Is it perfect, of course not, but it isn't nearly as dire as you expound in most if not all of your posts.
BTW, the new (old) Front Street will go directly through to Washington Sq. opposite Shrewsbury St.
Union Station with great new ventures like Luciano's and hopefully increased commuting options will be the center of a reconstructed downtown. The east/west traffic flow that was choked off by the former mall will be restored and the emerging Canal District will be just south of the station.
You really need to get out more often and not to just check on what Worcester’s firefighters are doing at the Park Avenue station. LOL!
Dude seriously does need to get out more.
And you may want to read this story about MCPHS and what their presence means to our urban core.
http://www.wbjournal.com/news43747.html
David Main St is connected to washington Sq now......you just have to dog leg around right around Notre Dame Church....( or a strong tee shot over the parking garage).....does anyone really think making the Main St to Washington Sq connector a straight line as opposed to an end run around Notre dame is really going to make a differnece? Kinda like the city council that makes streets one way in an attempt to reduce crime, drug dealing, and other social ills.....RIGHT.....criminals always heed traffic signs and the like
David havent you said that the airport doesnt need a direct connector road to be successful and that peopel can find it now and have found it in the past w/o a direct connector road..........same Idea applies downtown....people can get to Washingotn Sq from Main St......making it a straight line isnt going to change anything.
David, I am reasonable & i dont expect perfection.....nor will I quietly continue to tolerate all teh failures that I listed above in an earlier post.......all of which were going make Worc the Paris of 80's....everyone tends to think that the next new building in the pipeline will solve downtowns woes........reminds me of the 98lb, 72 yr old, wrinkled up, chain smoking old woman at Foxwods who has 3 slot machines staddled thinking the next pull of the lever will the big one.
I'll be headed passsed Park Ave Barn shortly......but i can tell whats going on right now in there......AC & General Hospital...both on full blast......on my electricity dime...........meanwhile no 1st responders are responding the unsafe condition of 4Rilla's weed infested sidewalks and when Grannie trips and falls on weed they'll have to turn off General Hospital and turn on a General alarm...lazy lazy lazy.....big calendar boy biceps and not one of em can handle a sno shovel or a weed whacker....even Litte Phil can handle a snow shovel when he's outted on You Tube.......
Gabe you s/b able to tell from my posts that I do get out around town....not as much as Wormie though......
Unreal word verification. "GOTPILL"
Gabriel;
you really need to read Senor Jahn...most times he is blogging about structural problems that this city has had for decades...no different than painting a house and putting in new windows but the foundation is no good - house will look good for the sale but the next guy gets the real lemon..I do not agree with everything Senor Jahn blogs but he does make sense most times...and it's hard to argue in my opinion on many of his most recent posts...exclusion being the fire fighter issue that I do not generally agree with..I'm okay with rested Fire Fighters as long as when we need em' they are ready and in most cases they are...I am in agreement that we have to many on injury or getting out on questionable injuries but overall it is a job I would not want nor would most:>) I have had fires associated with real estate owned:>)
I'd say from his posts that Senor Jahn gets out and about more than most in this city...I wish some of our Pols spent as much time in my hood as Senor Jahn seems to:>) When was the last time anyone saw State Reps Binienda or Spellane in D4 for any extended period of time...
Gabe i did drive passed Park Ave barn this afternoon and I was wrong...........overhead doors were wide open........i figured they'd be closed to keep it quieter and cooler.........I was wrong......
Paulie, these firefighting is not dangerous jobs........depending on whose figures you read they are somewhere between number 16 to 20 on the dangerous list.
Once again commercial fisherman, timber harvesters, pizza delivery boys, trucking & warehousing, and construction are generally in the top most dangerous jobs...........firemen(and cops) nowhere near as dangerous..........it's all media hysteria, publicity stunts, political posturing, & chest thumping that serves to convince the general public that FF'ers have a really dangerous job....now years ago it was a bit different b/c structures fires were much more common.........but doing Huckleberry Hound Dawg and TV Land in the fire barn for 95% of the time just doesnt get these guys into teh same number off dangerous situations as days gone by....my source is people who compile job related insurance indusrty statistics.........now I know that PO's some folks.......but the #'s do not lie.......
If these guys would get up off their duffs when they are not on an emergency call and go out and work around the city..........I would sing a much differnt song.....bring the fire truck with ya........if ya get a call drop what youre doing and respond to it.......also do away with emeergency medical calls.......24 ton ambulances are a perscription for an unneeded motor vehicle accident on crowded city thoroughfares and Jake Brakes are noise pollution.....no need to jake it when you're only going 20 mph.......I know b/c I used drive equipment heavier than any fire truck and i got the hemmorhoid scars to prove it........hopefully no on is from Missouri...
Paulie I got to go Cambridge Hos- pital area now.......can I use yo name if I git a parking ticket..................did you know cop who last name begins with "R" who was (or still is) in charge of traffic in Somerv.??
I was born at Cambridge Hospital..used to be called the "baby hopsital"...I know the Lt in traffic for Somerville..good guy..I deal with him often for my events
Paulie is his first inital "J"...guy I am talking about might be retired now....and maybe moved out to one of the "ingtons" suburbs
Pualie.......now I have been told that Cambridge hosp has or had a nut house on the grounds years ago.............[g]...............I think Harvard owns/runs Cambr Hospital now???
Jahn said "David havent you said that the airport doesnt need a direct connector road to be successful and that peopel can find it now and have found it in the past w/o a direct connector road"
Actually I don't recall that I said that but it has been successful without an access road. If memory serves me correct, there were 4 or 5 airlines at one point with 250,000 passengers in one year.
On the other hand, we wouldn't even be having any discussion about the airport if it was still located in North Grafton. But then I wouldn't have met so many great people through this blog.
Speaking of that, I'm still looking forward to meeting you so we can debate the pros & cons of Worcester face to face.
Sorry david, I can bring alot more issues out in cyber debates and will keep it that way. I know what I say about the fire dept may get under your skin...but let me tell you....many other folks feel the same way ...the operational model in the fire dept is the same as it was 100 yrs ago......chill & wait........when highly compensated indivduals spend most of their time doing nothing and could be put to productive use around town......I heard on the radio the other day that FF'er in Worc have a higher starting pay than FF'er in NYC where the cost of living is double what it is here in WOOtown. IF firefighting was truly dangerous job you would not see FF'ers doing all they could to bring their relatives on board and/or recommend they they even take the test. NO way in hell would most parents want to see their son on an Alaskan King Crab fishing expedtion
Sorry David, but talk about an airport in Grafton is a non starter.
You know there is another sterotypical middle income residentail downtown housing project that I forgot about....namely the White Pinnacle over at Main St and Madison that was buiilt as middle income condo's and opened back in about 1990 or so. Went bust w/in a few years and the scuttle butt has it its now rentals loaded with Students and NOLO's and low to Mod's rentals. There were also gov't loans or money involved in that as I recollect
City has a poor to non existent track record bringing middle income housing to the central business district. Please keep in mind that 20 years ago the demographics were much more conducive to Middle income folks living in downtown............Main St was more active with middle income folks and fewer store fronts were vacated and Mall was about to have new life breathed into it............fast forward.....so now 20 yrs later with even more human debris populating the cental business district we're going to try it again....i truly hope it works.....but I have my doubts.
BTW what kinda demographic do we have in the old Bancroft Hotel?
Did I say in a previous post that councilor(s) would go to over the sewer backup site on Baltic Ave b/c it was private homeowoner and try to get some mileage out of it & did Bill say we'd proably not see or read or hear much about the new Main South Sewerage Treatment Plant on May st? Well todays T&G says Germaine was rumored to be over on Baltic Ave......geesh this guy needs to get on a payroll 40 hours a week...but no stories about the pols at the new May St plant???
on a positive note let me say this however........Worc is no where near as bad a Spfld or a Lynn or a Holyoke but if we dont close the barn door on thsi NOLO housing we're in deep dodo..........much deeper than what can be found on May St...there is nothing more expensive to Worc taxpayers then low income housing.
Jahn,
Apparently you missed my sarcasm, I was simply pointing out that Worcester's airport was once located in North Grafton. Worcester's politicians did not want an airport located outside the city limits so hence the present airport was built where it presently sits.
As for the firefighters, I still think you're way off base with your criticism. Have you ever worked as a firefighter? I have (in a past life) and you don’t just chill and wait. Is there some down time? Sure, but there is with every job.
Training (both physical and on new firefighting technology) is a constant activity to keep sharp and on your toes when a fire call comes in. This training includes regular medical certification so you can maintain your first responder status. Hence when you perceive to see a firefighter just “chillin”, he/she may be studying for an exam or on the latest safety techniques.
I can’t argue with what you say about the pay levels for Worcester vs. NYC because I have no first hand knowledge but I can assure you they earn every single dollar they make. You’ll be thrilled when they’re pulling up in front of your house if you have a medical emergency or a fire.
It’s easy to blog and hide behind a pseudonym but instead of pontificating in cyberspace why don’t you take your issues to City Hall or start a group in Worcester like "Springfield Forward”.
Yes, I did miscontrue your comment as sarcasm....sorry.....and I did not know Worc pols were opposed to a North Grafton airport or maybe I did know and forgot????......anyway...good to learn a piece of Worc' history only to end up with an airport that is in fact barely in Worc..
FWIW...did you know that HC didnt want to have to relocate Fitton Field and as result we have one of the most dangerous highway curves in the area.....
I never worked as a FF'er....work being a term I'll use loosely in the above context........and I do realize there is downtime on every job......frankly most 8 hr work days for those who are lucky enough to have them end up being probably 7.5 hours of work between the coffee pot, sneaking longer coffee breaks, the water cooler chat, trips to the head, etc.
Dave now this is where you FF'ers go way off the track....most jobs that require either physical work and/or technical knowledge require that the employee keep up to snuff.
Now in mnay cases there may not be formalized requirements, but in the private sector you stay current or you're canned. So I guess I am not so sure where FF'ers get off touting that they have to do this or they have to that to keep current, etc ....we all have to stay in mental and/or physical shape to earn our keep. The FFer's mentality somehow thinks this is something above and beyond the call of duty in normal employment situations.....
BTW Dave you say "to keep sharp and on your toes when a fire call comes in". MAy I ask how sharp a FF'er is who has been sleeping all night when a fire call comes and how much is on his toes unless he's Mr Ed and sleeps standing up?
Dave, it is also telling that FF'ers are allowed to study on the job....once again another reason I think some are so removed from the reality of the private sector workplace. (Gee and all this time I thought those FF'er I saw reading outside Park ave station were scoping out Mr Flynts lastest monthly offerings...just kidding...!!) Try telling your private sector boss that you have to study a new computer programming language for 5 hours tommorow on his dime in order to pass a test for re-certification
I have to tell you i see quite a few good sized bellies on the fire dept so I guess I am not as convinced as you are that physical training is having the intended effect. Not so sure what good training is if there are no standards to be adhered to....e.g. a BMI in excess of 27 and you're off the force....physical training without verifiable standards to be attained AND MAINTAINED really proves nothing........ever see the size of that cop over at a local east side funeral home??.. .....sorry I should stick to FF'ers..........just a littel sacastic humor here.
You Know Dave i heard that about NYC FF'er pay the other day vs worc FF'er starting pay and frankly I was surprised.......so I offer that as radio heresay until it can be verified....regardless men dont bring their brothers & their sons to crappy paying jobs or to truly dangerous ones.
And Dave sorry.... here's where you and yuor brotherhood go off the track again....(& raise my blood pressure, too....you trying to kill me....LOL). I wont be thrilled when FF'ers pull up in front of my burning house......sorry you really got to get a life on this kinda of approach.........this is your job(s)......you going to be thrilled when when Domino's pulls up in front of your house two Large pepperoni's.............no b/c that's their GOD damn job...!!!!!!!........SORRY....but this fire dept approach really drives me over edge.
Dave taking any issue like thsi to cityhall is a losing game. WOrc exists primarily to serve as a life line and an umbilical cord to city labor and this will never end until the money runs out......city labor has the local political establlishment in their back pockets.......ya cant beat em.......short of worc going into receivership
Dave Z....the one gripe I have with Senor Jahn...lot of talk that we hear..no knowledge of anything to change what he speaks of..if he is involved I would be thrilled to know only because he makes a lot of sense many times and I enjoy reading his opinion
Sorry Pualie but attempting to change the things that I think s/b changed is an impossible task. City labor is the 800 lb elephant in the room and when I pick my battles in life I like to pick ones that I think I have a chance of winning.
As I have said many times before when the money runs out, we'll have change.
Hope & change ....!!!....like maybe privitization of many city services. Springfield gets it...supposedly they have private school custodaisn staffs. Leominster gets it .....they have privatized scholl cafeteria workers. Arizona gets it... they have privitized fire depts.
When will Worc get it re: privitzation......which s/b a question for any mayoral candidates.
Does anyone really think Kate Toomey is going to lobby to privatize the delivery of any school dept servives???? Dittos for Rosen, another school committeeman
Jahn said, "Dave, it is also telling that FF'ers are allowed to study on the job....once again another reason I think some are so removed from the reality of the private sector workplace."
Jahn I am allowed to study on the job as are all of my counterparts. My private sector employer, who is one of the largest employers in Massachusetts, believes that a well trained work force is the backbone of our dynamic business.
Ok point taken..... I have seen it once in the private sector but it was the owners son who was studying......so i considered that extenuating circumstances.
Dave, Any chance you work for a regulated utility??
Jahn,
I work for EMC which has been mentioned many times before by Bill on this blog.
Thanks dave........the only mention I recall of EMC was Bill asking you when his stock was going back up or something to thatt effect.
I got impression he was under water [g]......maybe b/c too many empolyees reading on company time.....j/k.
I had a very small holding of EMC....truly chump change .....and thats the only reason I sold it i.e. just to clean up my port. a littel bit...... and by virtue of 100% pure luck i bailed in the high 90's....... I think it was back in 2000 or 1999
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