Construction Continues Without A City Mandated Community Monitoring Committee on Pelham Parkway

 

The so-called Community Board 11 Pelham Parkway Task Force which was to oversee the Capitol Project of the Water/sewer improvement to install a much larger water and sewer line along the entire length of Pelham Parkway for future increased development in Community Boards 10 and 11 was an illegal committee according to the City Charter. Said committee was chaired by the District Manager of CB 11 and not a board member as is stated in the City Charter. Also all Community Board meetings are open to the public, unless the members vote to go into Executive Session to discuss very limited topics as prescribed by the Open Meeting law. Said meetings were closed to the public.

This Task Force was created by then Councilman Jimmy Vacca with the Department of Design and Construction for the reconstruction of the South Side of the Pelham Parkway main roadway. When the South roadway work was completed said task force should have been disbanded, but it continued to include the new contract for the reconstruction of the North Pelham Parkway Road. The water and sewer work on the North Service Road is a completely different contract which was incorporated into the role of the Pelham Parkway Task Force. 

I became a member of the Pelham Parkway Task force shortly after moving one block away from Pelham Parkway almost two years ago. One of the members of the task force complained that since I was a member of the media I do not belong on the task force, and I was told by the DDC liaison that I could not be a member. I called her supervisor whom I had worked with before when I was a member of Community Board 8, Ms. Maria Centeno who at the next meeting placed me back on the task force. That same member who at times especially when the tree replanting (by the Parks Department) was being done called the Parks Department and CB 11 incompetent, also called for the district manager to be fired. That member was removed by the CB 11 Executive Board which at their following meeting announced that the task force was being disbanded without any reason. 

The Community Board 11 community has gone for three months without an official meeting of a City Charter mandated Community Advisory Committee when a capital project is done such as is going on with the DEP/Parks Departments Water and Sewer work that is being done. I have gotten no answers from CB11 or the DDC as work continues that was not on the original plan. Work is now being done across the parkway Islands from the North Service Road to the South Service Road that will rip up the newly reconstructed North Main Parkway roadbed, and previously reconstructed South Main roadway, as well as the greenery on both Islands which can be seen in the photos below. Two lanes of the North main roadway at Bronxwood Avenue are closed, and the bus stop there has also been closed during this construction. The only solution to why the task force was set up illegally by then Councilman  Vacca, and disbanded by Community Board 11 so the community has no representation on a major Capital Project that is causing major disruptions and hardships to residents, while work that was not on the original plans is being done may have to be found out by the Department of Investigation.  

You can see two lanes of the newly reconstructed North Main road are closed as work will be done across the parkway for a very large water main. You can see the metal plates on the roadway

Here you can clearly see the metal plates covering the new construction on the new main roadway, and how this work goes completely across the main north island. 

You can see what the construction has done to this current sewer in the roadway.

You can see how heavy equipment is left unprotected, as children play on the rocks as they usually do.

Other heavy equipment is left in the street unprotected as there is an outing right next to it.

You can see how large and unprotected the pipe connectors are when compared to the rail and large plastic trash cans are left on the street on Bronxwood avenue directly across the street from the Pelham Parkway houses. A perfect area for children to climb through. 

These photos were taken Sunday June 13th, and there is a lot more than this that needs to be addressed to the community. Where is the Community Advisory Committee on this Major Capital Project, DDC, Community Board 11?