It’s not a trick, It’s a treat: Norwich construction to finish on Halloween
The City of Norwich said trench restoration work will begin at Conkey and move south on Broad Street and is planned to be finished by Friday, September 29. DOT is continuing to mill East Main and Broad Street at night and work on the handicap ramps during the day. Paving will start next week. (Submitted photo)
NORWICH — Construction in the Norwich Business District will soon come to an end on October 31, Halloween; after many summer months of noisy heavy equipment, flags and hard hats, detours, dust, and torn up roads; residents are ready for this treat.
According to updates released by the City of Norwich, residents and business owners had stressed their concerns and questioned why construction wasn’t done at night, and how much longer must they endure the interruption to their businesses?
Norwich Mayor Brian Doliver said he understands the community frustrations and he too has been very frustrated as well with the project.
“I know at the end of the day this was the right thing to do. We took a 142-year-old four inch pipe from the water main and replaced it with a new eight inch pipe. In order for us to develop our downtown area, this was vital,” Doliver said. “Our concern was if we paved over it without restoration; we could have a water main break.
“The talk of businesses coming into our town with the possibility of a hotel and sending water from a four inch pipe originally fitted in 1881; it would not have been able to handle the job. There was no way around it. It had to be done,” he added.
Doliver said there are still a number of water mains in the community to look at but the one restored was one of the oldest and in the future they will continue to look toward repairing others.
He said he understands how frustrating it has been for businesses and residents. In a small town everyone is used to getting around to the post office in five minutes; but it took twenty. Also, the impact on downtown businesses was a great concern.
“We're almost at the finish line and the entire projects are slated to be complete by October 31,” he said. “Keeping in mind, that in construction there are always ifs, ands, or buts. Things can be fine until you get into the project, and sometimes changes are made on the street between foremen and contractors and dates can move.”
“I'm pretty certain they will be done. Paving doesn't really run into issues like a water main project could. The handicap ramps are time consuming as they must be built up; but they should meet the deadline,” he added.
“We were pushing to get a grant and received a congressional grant of $2.85 million; thanks to help from Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Claudia Tenny(R-NY 24 th District) ,” he said. “Americans have been clamoring for infrastructure money for years and the state and federal government finally came through. Funding has increased from the State three fold and we received money from the federal government that we've never received before.”
Doliver explained generally these projects take about three years to put together but they did it in two. There were a lot of moving parts and they dealt with federal and state governments. He said it wasn't simple to put together; working with different agencies.
“The frustration on our end was the City of Norwich was only doing one project and the other three were being handled by the State,” he said. “The state was totally in charge but looking to us for answers.”
“The Vacri Company was the only construction company to bid on the water main project. They were hired and at the end of the day, they came through,” said Doliver.
He said the reason night work didn't take place could have been an employee issue; so moving forward with day work in the business district proved to be a bit chaotic.
“It was the perfect storm.” Doliver said.
The City of Norwich construction updates stated trench restoration work will begin at Conkey and move south on Broad Street and is planned to be finished by Friday, September 29. DOT is continuing to mill East Main and Broad Street at night and work on the handicap ramps during the day. Paving will start next week.
“After the project is done, all re-routing signs will be taken down,” Deliver said, “We can always talk about permanently re-routing trucks around the city; but it could have an economical impact on our downtown as less people would come through to buy. Also, it would have to be in question with the State as well.”
The City of Norwich will continue to support business owners with the Downtown Business Relief Program and funds from the NY HUD. Local businesses impacted by months of construction can receive aid up to $10,000. Applications are accepted until the end of construction. Doliver said they have approved three and have another three to review.
For more information and updates on downtown construction go to The City of Norwich, NY website or Facebook page.
For additional information on the local business aid application contact Norwich Community Development Director Erik Scrivener at 607-334-1229 or email escrivener@norwichnewyork.net.
According to updates released by the City of Norwich, residents and business owners had stressed their concerns and questioned why construction wasn’t done at night, and how much longer must they endure the interruption to their businesses?
Norwich Mayor Brian Doliver said he understands the community frustrations and he too has been very frustrated as well with the project.
“I know at the end of the day this was the right thing to do. We took a 142-year-old four inch pipe from the water main and replaced it with a new eight inch pipe. In order for us to develop our downtown area, this was vital,” Doliver said. “Our concern was if we paved over it without restoration; we could have a water main break.
“The talk of businesses coming into our town with the possibility of a hotel and sending water from a four inch pipe originally fitted in 1881; it would not have been able to handle the job. There was no way around it. It had to be done,” he added.
Doliver said there are still a number of water mains in the community to look at but the one restored was one of the oldest and in the future they will continue to look toward repairing others.
He said he understands how frustrating it has been for businesses and residents. In a small town everyone is used to getting around to the post office in five minutes; but it took twenty. Also, the impact on downtown businesses was a great concern.
“We're almost at the finish line and the entire projects are slated to be complete by October 31,” he said. “Keeping in mind, that in construction there are always ifs, ands, or buts. Things can be fine until you get into the project, and sometimes changes are made on the street between foremen and contractors and dates can move.”
“I'm pretty certain they will be done. Paving doesn't really run into issues like a water main project could. The handicap ramps are time consuming as they must be built up; but they should meet the deadline,” he added.
“We were pushing to get a grant and received a congressional grant of $2.85 million; thanks to help from Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Claudia Tenny(R-NY 24 th District) ,” he said. “Americans have been clamoring for infrastructure money for years and the state and federal government finally came through. Funding has increased from the State three fold and we received money from the federal government that we've never received before.”
Doliver explained generally these projects take about three years to put together but they did it in two. There were a lot of moving parts and they dealt with federal and state governments. He said it wasn't simple to put together; working with different agencies.
“The frustration on our end was the City of Norwich was only doing one project and the other three were being handled by the State,” he said. “The state was totally in charge but looking to us for answers.”
“The Vacri Company was the only construction company to bid on the water main project. They were hired and at the end of the day, they came through,” said Doliver.
He said the reason night work didn't take place could have been an employee issue; so moving forward with day work in the business district proved to be a bit chaotic.
“It was the perfect storm.” Doliver said.
The City of Norwich construction updates stated trench restoration work will begin at Conkey and move south on Broad Street and is planned to be finished by Friday, September 29. DOT is continuing to mill East Main and Broad Street at night and work on the handicap ramps during the day. Paving will start next week.
“After the project is done, all re-routing signs will be taken down,” Deliver said, “We can always talk about permanently re-routing trucks around the city; but it could have an economical impact on our downtown as less people would come through to buy. Also, it would have to be in question with the State as well.”
The City of Norwich will continue to support business owners with the Downtown Business Relief Program and funds from the NY HUD. Local businesses impacted by months of construction can receive aid up to $10,000. Applications are accepted until the end of construction. Doliver said they have approved three and have another three to review.
For more information and updates on downtown construction go to The City of Norwich, NY website or Facebook page.
For additional information on the local business aid application contact Norwich Community Development Director Erik Scrivener at 607-334-1229 or email escrivener@norwichnewyork.net.
dived wound factual legitimately delightful goodness fit rat some lopsidedly far when.
Slung alongside jeepers hypnotic legitimately some iguana this agreeably triumphant pointedly far
jeepers unscrupulous anteater attentive noiseless put less greyhound prior stiff ferret unbearably cracked oh.
So sparing more goose caribou wailed went conveniently burned the the the and that save that adroit gosh and sparing armadillo grew some overtook that magnificently that
Circuitous gull and messily squirrel on that banally assenting nobly some much rakishly goodness that the darn abject hello left because unaccountably spluttered unlike a aurally since contritely thanks