Galloway Road, South Street sidewalk projects move forward

The village of Warwick continues to invest in the repairing and construction of sidewalks, as the Village Board of Trustees approved additional funding for the South Street Sidewalk Replacement Project.

During their meeting on October 2, the trustees approved an increase of $42,854.03 for the construction of curbs and sidewalk between Galloway Road and Lawrence Avenue, bringing the total cost of the project to $196,487. Trustee Barry Cheney noted that Mayor Michael Newhard had procured $180,000 in additional monies, which would reduce the financial burden on the village.

Addressing the public, Trustee Carly Foster said, “I just want to make sure that folks caught that and what that means. That means that we will have a sidewalk from Galloway Road down to Lawrence.”

Cheney explained that the dirt path that already exists in that space will become a sidewalk and should be completed within the next four to six weeks.

South Street sidewalks

The board also agreed to additional funding for work needed on the South Street Sidewalk Replacement Project that was beyond the intent of the village’s original contract with TAM Enterprises. The project cost would increase by $24,819.36 to a price of $153,633.54.

Trustee Thomas McKnight voiced his concerns over the funding request, citing prior requests by TAM Enterprises during previous projects. Cheney explained that unplanned circumstances including the removal of excess material and the need to construct a drainage system necessitated more work from the contractor.

Water data

Among the other motions approved at the meeting was a $150 meter download fee for accessing data related to water usage.

“We’ve been getting requests from customers, primarily multiple-dwelling owners, where there is one meter. This data download takes time on the part of our employees to go there with the data gathering device to pull it off and get it to the applicants. It doesn’t happen much, but it is happening more frequently.” said Cheney, who introduced the motion.

Cheney noted that the fee request came from the water department and that the download request can take a total of three hours to complete. He added that the completion of the new water tower as well as the availability of new smart meters will make it possible for customers to get this data on their own in the future.

Discussion amongst the trustees ensued over single-family residents wanting access to the data and being deterred from seeking out information that could help them solve potential issues.

“Seems to be an edge case that is primarily centered around larger commercial apartment buildings,” said McKnight, who voted against the motion. “That said, we have a lot of fees, and I think about a scenario with an individual dealing with a leak and isn’t able to find it. I could see occasions where people might need that data to prevent losing all that water. To charge another $150 on top of it, disincentivizing someone to check if that leak is fixed. Perhaps the solution is to apply it toward those commercial buildings.”

Cheney explained that with individual customers, the issues are much more straightforward, and the impact is not felt by the single-family homeowner with a single meter serving their property. He added that he didn’t believe there was ever a request for a data download from a single-family residence.

“Our water department gets on top of these issues for single-family residences. It works with them to try to figure out what the issues are,” said Mayor Newhard. “There are all sorts of remedies for a single-family unit. That’s very different than a multi-family.”