Saturday, March 27, 2010
Water Shut-Off Issues at 2501 4th St N
Post and video by the Hawthorne Hawkman
The day after I attended a community meeting demonstrating the effectiveness of 311, several residents told me of an ongoing issue that hasn't been resolved yet. Water has been coming from the stop box at 2501 4th St N.
Normally I'd give the city a fair shot at resolving the issue before putting up a post on JNS. This was different, however, because...
...multiple Hawthorne residents said the issue had been unresolved for several months in spite of their calls to 311. Furthermore, I shot this video and then went immediately to call 311. Other than promising to get someone out to the property "sometime next week," the operator did not give me a time frame for when specific action would be taken. Even more frustrating, I asked for a reference number and was not given one. Instead, the 311 operator simply told me to call back and ask to be transferred to the water department, where I would then ask about the specific address.
I always thought the whole POINT of 311 was to open those tickets so that residents would have one point of contact for concerns exactly like this one. Overall, 311 is a terrific system. But in this instance, I am very dissatisfied. I encourage NoMi residents to call 311 on a regular basis until this is resolved. If anyone does get a reference number, please post it in the comments section.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
So what's up with your good bud Evannor "El Diablo" Haymon's water at one of his two places?
Dyna notes:
You know, maybe we shouldn't call 311 about water leaks. Instead, think of these leaks as our future community gardens irrigation system... Or if I installed an unauthorized speed bump on 4th Street I could have a creek running through the back of my property!
Dyna,
You're not going to help NoMi by ignoring water problems or interfering with the maintenance of the streets.
Thank you for providing this blog JNS. It is very informative.
@ Anon 10:52, I'll check on that for sure.
I thought Dyna was being a bit sarcastic, and chuckled some. If she was being serious, well then I'd agree more with Patrick.
Dyna replies: I was just joking. But seriously, if the city can waste water like this, there's no justification for increases in our water bills.
How does the fact the city is wasting water amount to savings that should be passed on in the water bill?
Presumably the logic behind Dyna's comment is something like:
The city sets water rates in such a way that the sum total of collections will at least cover all use by all houses, even if some properties don't pay for teh water consumed (such as foreclosed properties where tenants have not yet been evicted).
But, the more properties that use water but don't pay for it, the more water to each paying property must cost in order to pay for the water consumed at properties where no one is paying for it.
Therefore, if the city is knowingly allowing a large water leak to persist for months, the city is contributing to conditions which result in an increase in water costs to properties that pay for their water.
John, I think anon 9:52 was saying that the city doesn't deserve to increase our water bills if they can't take care of something as basic as this first.
Dyna updates:
There's a contractor over there fixing the leak today. Score another one for the JNS blog!
The blog is truly a collective effort, and readers who comment or help pass on the information are a big part of that.
Also, a thanks to some of our new blog contributors! The Walking Drum, Eco Village Emily (our new Hawthorne "golden child") and acclaimed Lao author Brian Thao Worra.
Thank you John for creating this blog. I love it!
Water, water, everywhere....
The amount of water the city has at its disposal is immense and I doubt a water leak like this increases anybody's bills. It is literally a drop in the bucket, no mater how it seems like a lot of water to us.
Should they fix it? Absolutely, yes. But I do get sick of certain anti-city negativity which comes in a very predictable way from a very predictable direction.
And besides...maybe they are trying to put out the devil's fire and brimstone. That would take A LOT of water.
Dyna,
It's hard to run a city like Minneapolis. I don't think you should be so snippy when there's a minor maintenance problem in an enourmous system.
If you really think about it, it is amazing that the City can get treated, flouridated water to us whenever we need it. The City should be praised not criticized.
Anti-Minneapolis negativity is one of the problems we have in the community. We should be proud of the community instead of tearing it down.
Post a Comment