Downtown Water Leak

[iwasthere]

like i said before if we the residents of ytown want to be taken seriously as a city that has their business together 24/7 in the eyes of the subs. yes we must be prepared to take action to correct the problem which it did not happen when lynds called the water dept from her cell phone. as for the issuedgovernment gps system it was a joke so chill out to whom it cause distressed. i tried to talk to the water commissioner after the council meeting last night but he was talking to the the fire chief maybe about the fire hydrant' s leak. rr when you talk about going through the proper channel can you suggest how one should go about when it happens on a weekend for city services? so i will know next time to follow your perfect proper procedure methods to correct a city's dilemma. that is the problem with this country "ITS NOT MY JOB" attitude. I am glad that i do not have those words in my vocabulary when teaching as a sub when a student ask me for my assistance. it is a sad day in this country when "ITS NOT MY JOB" IS THE COMMON EXPRESSION TO USE TO HELP SOMEONE IN NEED. rr with your attitude how long did you last as CSX engineer?

[Lynds]

Thanks RR. iwasthere, what do you mean government issued gps systems?? I use my PERSONAL cell for Downtown business I do not have a City issued cell phone.
As far as the leak, I was on my personal cell leaving a message about it while Jay was taking the picture, I knew where the picture was going and I jokingly asked if he could take another picture with me posing next to the hydrant. After several phone calls and reaching several voicmails (keep in mind this is 915am on a Sunday) I gave my phone a rest a continued setting up for the race/oktoberfest.

RR I believe what you said about a leak in the pressure valve is correct. The company that I have been employing for Downtown events (Including Italian Fest / Lucky Penny...)had no problemduring last events an we had no problem while doing the set up the day before, we used water from the hydrant to fill the barrels that held the tents down from the wind. After Oktoberfest once everything was torn down and the valve was disconnected the leak stopped. The water department now knows about the connection problem and I will not be using that water hook up until it is fixed.

[Rick Rowlands]

The bottom line here is that there are certain channels to follow to report problems and you did not follow the proper procedure.  A water leak should be reported either to the water department or perhaps YPD who could tell the water dept.  Even the YFD since it is a fire hydrant.   Safety forces are set up to handle such calls, a CDA director is not.   This would be akin to someone telling me when I was a CSX engineer that the gates were down at a certain crossing.  I would tell the person to go back to the crossing and call the 1-800 number to report the problem.  Thats not my department and I am not in a position to become the CSX call center.  You should not assume that an off duty city official or employee is going to want to use his free time in the service of the city.   Not everyone has the level of devotion that you hope they would have.

"yes i had the downtown residents keeping an eye on both lynds' and bill's every move that entire day and my spies reported back their  government issued gps systems worked 85% of the time on that day."  This is quite odd.  You had informants watching these two people but still didn't have the ability, means or desire to call the YPD or water dept. to report the leak?  Now come on!!!

Was this hydrant being used to supply water for the festival?  If so, and the water was leaking when it was supplying water tells me that there is a leak or crack in the part of the hydrant downstream from the valve.  Since the hydrant was not leaking the following day that reinforces my supposition.  Hydrants are infrequently used devices and if there is no leak when the valve is shut then the water department may consider this to be a low priority on the repair list.  With their sparse resources I would make the same decision. 

Now, instead of penning a reply to me that disregards all use of punctuation and capitalization, instead use that time to program into your cell phone the number to report water emergencies and prepare yourself to jump into action the next time you notice water spewing forth from deep beneath a city street.

[iwasthere]

rusty river if bill or Lyndsey contacted the water dept the water leak would have been taken care of that moment. as for disruptting the festival i would settle for some minor inconvenience so a water problem can be fixed thus not costing the city's loss of water. rustyriver are saying you would rather have the city lose water due to a leak and not have it fixed until Monday morning? yes i had the downtown residents keeping an eye on both lynds' and bill's every move that entire day and my spies reported back their  government issued gps systems worked 85% of the time on that day. i checked the fire hydrant the next morning the water was not coming up from the ground underneath the fire hydrant. my question why was it coming up from the ground the entire day during the festival? this problem was not present when the Italian festival was there this summer. why this time. iwasthere at the peace race and the Oktoberfest festival at different given times so what i reported was not hearsay or gossip. i never said the CDA director was a plumber but as city public servant i thought he should know about this problem so he can contact the right person as a courtesy to the city's residents and the festival patrons to have it fixed. rusty river do have a problem with public officials that go beyond the call of duty to assure the safety of  its residents whether its in their own ward or not? i do not have a problem with any public officials that goes out their way to help out anyone rather its in their own ward or not. is not the 2010 plan address that such issue that everyone should treat ytown as their entire neighborhood instead of individuals territory?

[iwasthere]

rusty river if i had a phone i would have called the water dept myself but i thought bill d'aligon(spelling?) the cda director who is ALWAYS going around telling the city residents to take pride in their city which I did by informing Bill when i saw him at the Lemon Grove around 530pm that evening about the problem. the lemon grove was busy at that time so i did not bother the owner or the employees to use the restaurant phone assuming the CDA director would make the proper call. RR for your information Lyndsey Hughes, the plaza director was told by other citizen about this problem earlier in the day about the problem apparently she ignored it too. RR before you tell other people how to walk, talk and breath ask for all the facts before you go off half cocked with your accusations. i do not have any personal grievances against the CDA but other people who knows him that dealings with him wishes he was fired or replaced because they find him useless as a city employee. i would like to know why the city police officers that worked that day did not report the water leak too. my council rep pulls enough power in the city hall and the street dept.any seventh ward residents that are in need of any city services only need to call him and help is on the way.

[iwasthere]

city workers that are at these city events when they see a problem they should take it upon themselves to contact the right people to have the problem fixed that is the right thing to do to make the city look good in front of the city residents and the rest of the valley.  as a city resident i try to make the city shine 24/7 that is the reason why i told cda, who is a city employee about the problem hoping he would assist with this problem apparently he did not care how the city looks in the public eyes.

[Rick Rowlands]

Hey iwasthere, you need to call the WATER DEPARTMENT not the Community Development Agency about a water leak! 

[jay]

The water was squirting up through the cement next to the hydrant.  I think the leak was worse by the time I left the Oktoberfest.   My concern is that the leak doesn't saturate the ground next to the bank building and thus cause water damage to the basement.

[rusty river]

Judging by the picture, I'm assuming that those hoses are connected to the hydrant, and that the hydrant must have been turned on to supply one of the festival vendors with water. I've never noticed it leaking before. So someone with a reasonable thought process could deduce that something is loose inside the hydrant and when it is turned on, it leaks. Same thing happens when i turn the spigot on at my house.

iwasthere, since bill d'avignon is the cda director, he must also be a plumber and carry around a monkey wrench at all times, right?

And as for the leak costing city taxpayers a chunk of change, don't worry about it! As I believe that I've explained to you before on this forum, the water dept. operates separately from the general fund. Any extra expenses incurred by this leak will be paid in triplicate via surcharges to your friendly suburban neighbors to the south and west's water bills...    

[iwasthere]

i too notice the water leak and i reported it to bill d'avigon the cda director about the leak. he shrugged off as if it wasn't not his job or concern. it will be his concern when i call the talk radio show program on Monday morning and report how several city officials knew about this problem that these individuals did not do anything to stop the leak and save the city coffers monies. i left the Oktoberfest at 6pm and the water leak was still gushing water up from under  the sidewalk thus costing the city taxpayers a chuck of change out of their pockets. A thumbs up for the city officials that knew about this problem and they looked the other way. i will call the mayors' office and mayor "J" will know who were the appointed officials that looked the other way.

[jay]

While attending the Oktoberfest, I noticed this water leak next to a hydrant at the corner of West Federal and Market.  A city employee already knew about the leak.