The repaving of Jericho Turnpike is in a holding pattern, but the village board is close to retaining a contractor to begin construction on the Bruce Terrace flood relief project
Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss reported that the resurfacing of Jericho, originally slated to begin in September and rescheduled for this month, has been delayed again and the state Department of Transportation has not indicated a starting date.
“The issue seems to be the contractor is backlogged on another project,” Strauss said at the Wednesday night meeting.
Strauss said he had met with state Sen. Jack Martins and consulted with the state DOT, but has not received an answer on when the project will get underway. Jericho is to be resurfaced from the intersection at Herricks Road east to Glen Cove Road. Martins played a key role in asking the DOT to extend a resurfacing project it already had scheduled to resurface Jericho from the Queens County line through New Hyde Park to Herricks Road.
Strauss said he would provide residents updates on the project as he receives them.
Thomas Rini, superintendent of the village Department of Public Works, said the DOT contractor, Tully Construction, was planning to resurface Jericho from Herricks to Glen Cove Road in three segments, progressively milling – grinding down the road surface – on the south side eastbound lanes of the road and repaving it and then repeating the process on the westbound lanes.
Tully had completed preliminary work on repairs needed along Jericho.
“I don’t know what their status is at this point,” Rini said, adding that the company’s contract for the work extends through 2013.
Strauss said village engineers are currently vetting bids received from contractors for the work on the $1.7 million Bruce Terrace remediation project. He said he anticipates the board would make a decision on the bid on November 1.
“We’re looking to start the project as soon as possible after that,” he said.
Rini said he is currently reviewing the qualifications of the low bidder on the Bruce Terrace flood remediation project, noting that it’s a slow process.
The Town of North Hempstead recently awarded the bid for its $1.1 million part of the project to Tri-State Paving.
Nassau County is also involved in the intermunicipal project to alleviate recurrent flooding during rainstorms on the border of Mineola and Carle Place.
•The village board approved a contract for Wire to Water as the low bidder on a project to install a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system to manage the village’s water works. Wire to Water’s $226,435 bid on the project to computerize control will save the village an estimated $350,000 from what is was expected to cost, Rini said. That’s partly due to substitution of wireless technology instead of antennae at some water tank sites, he said.
Rini said Wire to Water has been installing similar systems for Exxon Mobil. While he acknowledged that did not involve water-delivery systems, he said the work was comparable to the work required for the village project. He said the system will be a “hybrid” of radio and Internet-based controls. It will likely be installed in a three-month period starting in December.
• The village board authorized contracts to three contractors for emergency replacement of three collapsing catch basins to: Valente Contracting for $26,000; GGG Construction for $27,500 and Pratt Brothers for $30,835.
“They definitely need replacing. They’ve become a safety issue,” said village Trustee George Durham.
Rini said the DPW is currently in the process of cleaning 150 catch basins throughout the village.
• The village board granted a six-month extension for permits on Polimeni International’s Winston and Churchill apartment complex projects. The extension is intended to keep the board’s conditional approval of the project current while the developer awaits site-plan clearances from the county Planning Commission.
• The village board awarded a contract to plant 75 to 150 Chanticleer pear trees and hedge maple trees to Louis Barbato Landscaping.
