Niles council seeks hydrant funding

By Jordan Cohen

news@vindy.com

NILES

To fix 90 broken fire hydrants throughout the city, council needs a considerable amount of money and manpower. For the time being, it has neither.

“We have a total of 30 that have to be replaced, and the rest need [to be] repaired,” said James DePasquale, safety director during a meeting Tuesday of council’s finance committee.

He estimated that replacement would cost the city $4,000 per hydrant and nearly $400 per repair. He said the latter cost could be higher if the repairs turn out to be extensive.

One obstacle is financial, as the water department is still running a deficit. Due to the city’s fiscal emergency status, state-appointed financial supervisors must approve appropriating the money.

“The money just isn’t there,” said Giovanne Merlo, city auditor.

The other issue is a manpower shortage. The department repair staff is down to four, and vacancies have not been filled over a period of several years. Why did that happen?

“Ask the previous administration,” said Bob Ward, vice president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union representing the employees.

The union also warned any attempt to outsource repairs would violate collective-bargaining agreements.

“The costs would be substantially lower if city employees did the work,” said Councilman Barry Steffey, D-4th, finance chairman.

Help could be coming from two sources, however.

DePasquale said he hopes to get a block grant totaling $300,000, some of which could be used for hydrant replacement if the grant is approved. Another source, according to Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia, may be a $1 million rebate from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District the city could receive by July – an amount he has yet to confirm.

Scarnecchia said, however, recalling laid-off safety forces is a more important for him than fixing or replacing hydrants.

“What good is having a hydrant if we don’t have a fireman?” he said.

“We can do more than one thing at a time,” responded council President Robert Marino, who repeated his ongoing call for the mayor and DePasquale to develop a strategic plan for hydrant repairs and water-meter installation. So far, no plan has been presented.

DePasquale said the city does not have the assemblies necessary to replace the 30 hydrants that are beyond repair. The city has also experienced 30 water-main breaks this year, he said, leaving the short-staffed department little or no time to fix the hydrants.

One possible solution under consideration is to train other city employees to repair the hydrants and to work Saturdays for overtime pay. DePasquale said such a plan would be less costly. Union members indicated they were not opposed to the idea.

“This could take up to 18 months,” the service director said.

The administration is expected to discuss the water-funding issues with the financial supervisors who would have to approve the allocation.