BROCTON - Respond-ing to a question from the community, Portland Town Supervisor Dan Schrantz updated his council recently during a special budget hearing on the current status of the highway garage floor.
The floor, which has been the source of much deliberation for the council since it was first laid, undertook a lengthy attempt at repair from E & M Engineering and H & K. Despite recommendations from Urban Engineering, a third-party consulting party for the town, the two firms have attempted to bust up the bad spots of the concrete floor as an attempt to resolve the problems and seal the floor to prevent further issues.
"At this point, I feel they have taken a quarter of the floor down, and an eighth of it was taken down previously. There are still numerous hollow spots," Schrantz stated. "We can't put an overlay or sealant on until there are no hollow spots at all. I believe the best solution to this point is to rip up this floor.
This is a waste of time and money and we have given these firms every opportunity to do this right."
Councilman Rick Manzella agreed.
"I think we've been very accommodating to them in trying to resolve this," he said
"Maybe too much," replied Town Legal Counsel Charles Loveland.
Loveland recommended to the councilmen that it would be an appropriate time to obtain an estimate of what it would cost to tear up and redo the floor entirely.
Schrantz added, in response to the question submitted by a community member, that $390,000 remains to be paid on the highway garage and that no retainer has been held out for contingency as the payment is now in long term financing.
Council members also encouraged town residents to take an active role in the future of the town by completing the comprehensive plan surveys that have been mailed out.
Residents who received a survey have the opportunity to complete the longhand form that was sent to them, or they may check the town's website for a link to complete the survey online. The benefit to completing the survey online will be all figures will be auto-filled to a spreadsheet once the survey is finished.
"This is incredibly important because this is a preview of the long-range plan for the Town of Portland. We're really encouraging people to get involved and offer their input on this survey," Schrantz said. "It will ask the resident what types of things they wish to see for our town within a 10- to 20-year scope.
"Our Planning Board has worked very hard at developing this survey and has narrowed the questions down to what is most beneficial to our township."
Comments on this story may be sent to editorial@observertoday.com
