The damages created by the recent storm, Sandy, were explained in detail. Alex Tergis, Commissioner of Public Works in New Rochelle, spoke of waterfront damage but felt the City did not have major problems. While 75% of the City, he said, was without power, other communities had greater problems. He felt the recent hiring of a Deputy Commissioner would be beneficial for his department. This fact was particularly mentioned when questions were raised about how the department monitors the workers in the field. Tergis said changes were recently made in how this supervision is accomplished.
A detailed explanation of how potholes are created was given and some new technologies being used to repair them were described. Of particular note were the 180 miles of road in New Rochelle and the fact that New Rochelle only has money to pave four miles per year. It would take 50 years at $900,000 per year to repair the city’s roads.
Robert McCaffrey felt Council members should ride around on the department’s trucks once a month. He added that the accountability issue was inportant and residents should have an anonymous way of reporting irregular incidents.
