Crews take care of damaged utility pole

There's a utility pole along our driveway, owned by LIPA. Verizon and Cablevision also use this pole to service three homes. Last year, LIPA determined the pole was rotten and in danger of falling. In February, LIPA installed a new pole next to the old one and moved its wires to the new pole. Shortly after, Verizon transferred its wires to the new pole. I called Cablevision many times and twice someone arrived and promised action. Three months ago Cablevision installed a new service line on the new pole but left the old lines on the defective pole. LIPA cannot remove the old pole with Cablevision lines on it. We need Cablevision to take down the old lines so the pole can be removed.-- Richard D. Longworth, Oyster Bay

This problem was fixed before we had time to blink.

We called Jim Maiella, spokesman for Cablevision (which owns Newsday), on a Friday. On Monday, crews took down the company's lines from the damaged pole so it could be removed. Verizon spokesman John Bonomo said workers removed the pole on a Wednesday.

Utility poles on Long Island, in general, are owned by either the Long Island Power Authority or Verizon. Cablevision rents space on the pole, but it has no authority to remove them. And no one touches anyone else's wires, which is why it sometimes takes time to get all three companies to synchronize their work when a pole needs to be removed or replaced.

For Cablevision customer service, call these numbers: Long Island-East (Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton, Islip, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Smithtown, Southold, Southampton) 631-267-6900 or 631-727-6300. Long Island-West (Hempstead, Huntington, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay) 516-364-8400.

There are missing street signs at the corner of Peninsula Boulevard and Yale Avenue in Woodmere. The post and signs were knocked down during the snowstorms last winter. I have contacted the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County, but the problem remains uncorrected.--Roselle Elfenbein, Woodmere

Town officials didn't quibble about the missing signs and replaced them within a day after we called. Spokesman Mike Deery said the old signs were likely knocked down as the result of a car crash and that the town had no record of being notified they were gone.

In fact, town records show the signs were in place as of late last year, when traffic control workers paid a visit to the site on an unrelated call. Deery said, "The sign was intact at that time."

Hempstead residents with street sign concerns on town roads should call 516-378-2260.

-- MICHAEL R. EBERTColonial Springs Road in Melville, between Little East Neck and Pinelawn roads, needs to be repaired and the drainage fixed. The road is a mess. Someone posted a sign at the corner of Colonial Springs and Little East Neck calling for it to be repaved, so I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

-- Monica Klein, Deer Park

Indeed, this is not the first complaint we've received about Colonial Springs Road, one of several streets that are involved in a conflict between Suffolk County and the Town of Huntington.

In an email last week, county spokesman Dan Aug wrote that a 1,500-foot section of the road, just east of Wellwood Avenue, will get an asphalt overlay "within the next four weeks." We hope that happens given how long the maintenance of this road has been in dispute.

For the past few years, the town and the county have been battling in court over who is responsible for repairing, reconstructing and maintaining Colonial Springs Road, as well as several other county roads within the town's borders.

In its original lawsuit, the town argued it had maintained the county roads in question for decades, but in 2003, when the town asked the county to take responsibility for them again, the county refused. A personal injury case involving one of the county roads brought the issue to light, town spokesman A.J. Carter said.

In 2009, the State Supreme Court ruled in the town's favor, declaring the county is responsible for its own roads. A state appellate court ruling upheld that decision last fall. The county then sought reversal at the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, which, in June, declined to hear the case, Carter said.

"As the court decisions made clear," he said, "these are county roads and the county has responsibility to maintain them."

However, Aug said the county will continue to evaluate the state highway law to determine future maintenance responsibility. Asked whether the county disputes the court decision, Aug would only reiterate its position on evaluating the state highway law.

Carter said the town now is in the process of hiring an accounting firm to calculate how much the town has spent maintaining the county roads since 2003, to seek reimbursement. If any money is recovered, it'll be disbursed to the various departments that expended the funds for years of repairs, he said.

-- MICHAEL R. EBERT