Community Watchdog: Flooded street needs clear drains

We have a terrible problem with flooding every time it rains for more than a short time. This has been going on since we moved here 10 years ago. It's not just an inch or two of water. We get a heavy accumulation that comes over the sidewalks, up the lawn, up the driveways, and it's like driving through a pond. I've taken pictures to show Town of Hempstead workers who come here after I call and still nothing has been done to help us. We need more drains on our street because there are five streets that slope downward toward our street, and none of them have storm drains. So all the rainwater from those roads empties into our street, which has only two drains. My daughter and I are constantly cleaning the leaves and other debris from the drain by our house to keep it clear, but even that hasn't helped. We pay more than $10,000 a year in taxes. I'm not asking for much. I'm just asking for everything to be normal like it is on everybody else's street.

Anne Nicolosi, Wantagh

The Town of Hempstead took action right after we visited spokesman Michael Deery at his office to show him the pictures and diagrams Mrs. Nicolosi gave us that documented her problem.

The highway department "jetted" out the drains twice - once with its regular trucks and then again with a larger, more powerful piece of equipment that became available at no charge to the town, Deery said. Workers went back during a storm to check for flooding and found the drains had worked properly, he said.

After a long day of rain on Thursday, we called Mrs. Nicolosi to see how her road was doing. She told us the drains seem to be working much better now, but after living with floods for 10 years, she's not optimistic the drains will stay cleared and her road flood-free.

We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Dangers at 3-way intersection

We live on a corner where the school is across the street and there's a three-way T-intersection with three stop signs. But the roads are so worn that the crosswalks have faded to nothing and cars roll through the stop signs. We nearly got hit recently. There's also a storm drain in front of our house and when the school bus for preschool comes every morning and rolls over the grate, it pops up because the road is all corroded. I'm afraid children will get hurt if things aren't fixed. We need signs that remind drivers there are children crossing the streets, the road needs to be repaved and the storm drain grate needs to be fixed.

Eileen Smith, Hicksville

The Town of Oyster Bay is taking immediate action to address some of your concerns, Mrs. Smith, but the road paving will have to wait until next year, according to town spokeswoman Marta Kane.

Your street is part of a bigger road repair project in Hicksville that began this year and crews will be heading your way in 2011. "At this point, we're out of season to do road reconstruction, so we start again in the spring," she said. The storm drain grate will be leveled off then, too.

Meanwhile, crews will be going out to patch where necessary and re-stripe the crosswalks, maybe as early as this week. Kane said if a town inspector says the signs you want are warranted, they should be installed this week, also.

Box on utility pole needs attention

I called Verizon about a box that is hanging from the utility pole in front of my property and was told it would be fixed within 24 hours. That didn't happen, so I called again and was told they don't fix those problems within 24 hours. Instead, it would be fixed when a worker is in my area. This is a dangerous situation.

Lisa Bitran, Port Jefferson Station

Abracadabra, it's gone!

Our readers have seen this problem here before, so it isn't uncommon. "As is sometimes the case, the new pole is placed a couple of feet away from where the previous pole was located," Verizon spokesman John Bonomo said. "That's not a problem when there's a continuous line of cable. But in this case, the terminal box just did not reach the new pole."

However, he said, there was no need to fret. Verizon removed the box because of our call, but it wasn't dangerous. Bonomo noted, "It was still in place even after the hurricane winds" in September.

Anyone with concerns about Verizon can call 1-800-VERIZON.

- Michael R. Ebert