Author Topic: Road Cave-in on Anderson St  (Read 69522 times)

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #30 on: September 09, 2009, 07:45:23 PM »
Is there running water for the apartments located in that area?

Yes. The problem is with a sewer pipe - not a water pipe.



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Offline BLeafe

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #31 on: October 09, 2009, 05:00:14 PM »
It's been exactly one month since I last posted about this. What's happened in the interim? I'll show you.





This is a combination of 2 images: (l-r), one taken on September 9 and the other taken today, October 9.

On September 9, I labeled the first picture "Nada". I'm not sure what to call today's......."Mas nada"? "Nada ounce of improvement"?  "Nada worker in sight"? Other suggestions welcome.

What's even sadder than the loss of a vital Hackensack thoroughfare is the lack of information provided by the city to Hackensack residents - especially those in the affected neighborhood. You KNOW something's not right when people are asking ME what's going on. Is it really a good idea to leave us with nothing but rumor, speculation, and third-hand knowledge? Would it really kill someone in the know to post once in a while and keep us informed?

And I'm not referring to this site's Editor - I'm referring to people with knowledge who are directly involved in whatever's going on............assuming something IS going on.

Until then, here's what we have (and have had):





As for rumors/speculation, I've heard two scenarios:

1. The block will be closed off and made into a pedestrian mall. The three non-residential entities most affected by all this - you know who they are - will combine to create a new product found nowhere else: religious medical moving vans.

2. The block will become a tourist destination: Steelhenge!






And as for that third-hand knowledge? This is a really wild one that bears watching:

The city received bids for the work that were to be opened on September 29. If one was found to be acceptable, work would commence on October 15...........AND BE COMPLETED IN THREE DAYS!

Anyone care to confirm or deny? Kindly shed some light on what's going on in our neighborhood.



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« Last Edit: November 12, 2009, 04:52:50 PM by BLeafe »
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Offline Homer Jones

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #32 on: October 09, 2009, 05:47:37 PM »
If the guy smoking a cigar in the back room of the candy store offers you an over/ under bet on 3 days to repair the sewer, take the "over" and bet the ranch.

Offline Editor

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #33 on: October 10, 2009, 08:40:39 AM »
Actually, the City distributed 250 fliers to local residents and businesses on Wednesday.  As I understand it, this needs to be bid a second time due to higher than anticipated proposals and irregularities with the bid.  Bidding takes at least 10 days (state law). The damage to the underline pipes is extensive.   

Offline itsme

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #34 on: October 10, 2009, 09:32:23 AM »
I appreciate the fact the City distributed 250 fliers to local residents.  However, since this is a major thoroughfare, the City could have made some type of public address, press release or notification to all of the citizens of Hackensack regarding the repair status.  Open communication eliminates the dissemination of false information.

Offline Homer Jones

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #35 on: October 10, 2009, 09:58:59 AM »
I hear that the guy down the corner just upped the anty to 10 days and the over.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #36 on: October 10, 2009, 10:08:38 AM »
Actually, the City distributed 250 fliers to local residents and businesses on Wednesday.

Interesting. I spoke to one of those major businesses twice since Wednesday and they had no knowledge whatsoever of any new information.



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Offline Editor

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #37 on: October 10, 2009, 05:20:36 PM »
This was also posted on September 17:

http://www.hackensack.org/controls/eventview.aspx?MODE=SINGLE&ID=467

The County Seat also ran a story about it.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2009, 05:22:20 PM by Editor »

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #38 on: October 10, 2009, 06:53:59 PM »



Neither of those is the least bit informative about what's going on or why the delay. Telling us on September 17 that the road is closed for 4-5 weeks "due to continued repairs" is disingenuous at best, since actual repair work ceased 2 weeks prior to September 17 and has not resumed.

That would be..........uh, let's see........add the 2, carry the 1...........5 weeks of continued non-repair!

Just give us honest facts and periodic updates - even if it's not good news.

We can take it.



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Offline Editor

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #39 on: October 11, 2009, 09:39:04 AM »
This was also discussed at length at the last three open, public City Council meetings which the press attended.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2009, 09:42:18 AM by Editor »

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #40 on: October 11, 2009, 10:39:59 AM »
And were the three main affected businesses notified in advance that such discussion would take place?

What press were there and where are the resultant, fully-informative articles?

Expecting the businesses and entire neighborhood to show up at every council meeting on the off-chance that such a discussion might take place is hardly an efficient method of information dissemination.



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Offline Editor

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #41 on: October 11, 2009, 03:03:14 PM »
The notice was ALSO placed on Channel 77, Cablevision and Channel 42, Verizon.  

For anyone who is counting, that's: newspaper, internet, hand-delivered fliers, television, public meetings.  

The public meeting schedule is published more than a year in advance in several places including newspaper, official calendars and the website.

There are plenty of people who attend these meetings to discuss issues that are genuinely important to them.  So- I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people to show up at meetings, because they do.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2009, 03:10:10 PM by Editor »

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #42 on: October 11, 2009, 04:39:00 PM »
<< For anyone who is counting, that's: newspaper, internet, hand-delivered fliers, television, public meetings. >>


And yet no one seems to have any specific information about what's going on.

Why would that be?

Newspaper, Internet, Television: no informative or up-to-date information - we all know the street is closed

Fliers: email from one of the 3 businesses yesterday - "no flier here"

Public Meetings: no advance notice about specific discussion regarding this topic. The fact that meetings are scheduled a year in advance has nothing to do with the issue at hand.


It's clear that dissemination of information needs an upgrade over the current scavenger hunt model. Why not offer to collect email addresses of interested parties and simply send out a FACTUAL weekly update? Wouldn't that be a lot more efficient?



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Offline Editor

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #43 on: October 11, 2009, 05:12:19 PM »
The city used to do weekly email blasts to a subscriber-base of about 1,100 residents. One major problem with email blasts: Despite the fact that people SUBSCRIBE to them, many often forget this and register complaints with their ISP that our email is SPAM (any unsolicited email). Then, the ISP BANS the hackensack.org domain so, for example, we can no longer send emails to any AOL subscribers. This caused huge problems with information dissemination via email.  In response to this, the city started using RSS feeds which lets ANYONE automatically pull down (as opposed to the city pushing) information from our site. Anyone who subscribed to our feeds would have received the notification about Anderson St.

I understand your point, but I think the city has made considerable efforts in keeping affected residents informed.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2009, 05:18:23 PM by Editor »

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Road Cave-in on Anderson St
« Reply #44 on: October 11, 2009, 06:31:35 PM »
How about this: instead of blasting a thousand or more people about everything that goes on all the time, why not set up separate, short-term "incident" blasts?

For instance, set up an email list for the Anderson St problem. It would be a small list and temporary - the businesses, me, and any other neighborhood resident - or any Hackensack resident - who would like weekly updates regarding this problem. If people call City Hall or the DPW about it, offer to add them to the email list so that people don't keep calling and wasting city employees' time. Provide real information in those updates and toss the list when the street is fixed.

If something else happens in another part of town, do the same there for the affected people in that area until the problem is resolved.

Pulling information from hackensack.org about this problem is useless - all that's on the site at the moment is the same September 17 notice posted above. The information is incorrect and even if it wasn't, it's never been updated.

This solution is simple and efficient - it's area-specific, targeting the people who need the information and it's short-term.



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