KINGSTON >> The alderman in whose ward the Washington Avenue sinkhole sits says he voted against moving ahead with a design plan for an underground archway at the site because he’s uncertain it’s the best way to go.
Brad Will, D-Ward 3, said in a posting on his Facebook page that he doesn’t have confidence in the plan.
“I voted ‘no’ on the recommended option A (the archway plan) because I was not confident that the best and most cost-effective alternative was put forward,” Will wrote.
The Common Council’s Finance/Economic Development Committee voted 4-1 on Monday, with Will dissenting, to recommend moving forward with the archway design.
Among other things, Will said lawmakers didn’t see a consultant’s final recommendation until last week, leaving insufficient time to study it.
“We had the weekend to review the 37-page document and prepare for tonight’s (Monday’s) meeting and vote on a recommended design,” Will said in his Facebook posting. “Reviewing technical documents in this short a period of time is challenging, at best. I could not approve, almost point blank, the most expensive recommended plan. I view that as imprudent and not in the taxpayers’ interest.
“The repair of the sinkhole must be achieved with the best, most cost-efficien, and intelligent methodology and execution,” Will added.
Mayor Shayne Gallo and City Engineer Ralph Swenson support the plan endorsed by the Finance/Economic Development Committee. It calls for constructing an archway – 175 feet long, 50 feet high and weighing 10,000 tons – to stabilize soil around a 100-year-old underground stormwater tunnel. Leaks in that tunnel have been blamed for causing the sinkhole, which opened in the spring of 2011 near Washington Avenue’s intersection with Linderman Avenue. Several blocks of Washington Avenue have been closed to traffic ever since.
It is likely the council will have to authorize borrowing $2 million if the archway is to be built. That’s on top of $4 million in borrowing already authorized for sinkhole work.
Gallo said that the city is taking decisive action to solve the sinkhole problem and that Will should support the archway project to make life better for residents of the Third Ward.
“It is baffling and beyond vexing,” Gallo said of Will’s Facebook posting. “Last week, Mr. Will was publicly quoted as saying that the city was not going fast enough nor far enough to resolve the Washington Avenue sinkhole problem. A week later, he is now stating publicly that the city is going too fast and too far. He is demonstrating a pattern of inconsistency and waffling on a very important issue that affects the constituents of his ward.”
Will also said in his posting that there’s a good chance homes near the sinkhole have been damaged and that repairing them could inflate the project’s cost.
The archway was recommended by Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers of New York City. Another firm, Brierley Associates of Syracuse, recommended encasing part of a stormwater tunnel with a cement-like material, closing off a shaft atop the tunnel, building another tunnel alongside it and closing off voids in the soil.
