Brockport officials give Smith Street bridge update

Brockport officials give Smith Street bridge update

Steps are being made toward a decision on the fate of the Smith Street Bridge in the Village of Brockport.

Trustees Carrie Maziarz and Hanny Heyen visited Village of Medina officials to see how they fared under the same circumstances Brockport now faces. The Department of Transportation offered Medina the option of having its high bridge removed or have the DOT rehab it and turn ownership of the bridge over to Medina. Village officials in Medina opted to have the bridge rehabilitated and take ownership, perform spot maintenance and use it for as long as it lasts.

"Medina took ownership of its bridge about 13 years ago," Carrie Maziarz said. "The DOT fixed it - it took them three years to do it - then turned it over."

Maziarz said it appears the Village of Medina has set no money aside in a reserve fund for future bridge maintenance and that annual updates are performed with out-of-pocket money. "One of the major differences between the bridges is that ours is a steel decked bridge and Medina's is a concrete deck. Steel will last longer than concrete," she said.

Heyen said it was "disheartening" to know that Medina hadn't set aside any reserve funds. "I don't think we should think of the bridge as only for 'today'. We need to look at it for future generations," she said. "It could potentially cost a lot of money if we go ahead with it."

Brockport officials have been told that maintenance such as blasting and painting the bridge could run as much as $130,000. Annual maintenance, however, would involve washing and spot painting, which could potentially be performed by DPW workers. In Medina, fire truck hoses are used to annually remove salt build up from the bridge deck.

"If we proceed with this project, I would like to see something in writing, a paper trail, of what the DOT will do, what our responsibilities are and what the costs would be. I'd like to see this before the village makes a decision on ownership," Heyen said.

Mayor Morton Wexler said the village still doesn't have a timeline on when the Smith Street bridge would be rehabbed. "They told us they would make a decision in 2009 or 2010 on whether they will even fix the bridge. We could get to 2009 or 2010 and the DOT might tell us, 'we don't want to do anything,' " Wexler said. "I do get a lot of calls from people on the north side of the bridge who want it open."

Trustee Connie Castaneda said she had been prepared to make a motion at the October 16 board meeting to allow the DOT to move forward and begin the rehabilitation of the bridge. She decided not to make a motion based on the information presented by other trustees and agreed the village needed more information before moving ahead. "I do think if we take ownership, we need to build a reserve fund for future repairs," she said. "Brockport is not like other communities in the fact that we share the bridge with the college and the Town of Sweden - maybe they could be approached to help share in the costs of the bridge's upkeep."

Maziarz said Brockport officials were waiting to hear back from Medina on whether there was a reserve fund set aside and what the upkeep costs had been since they assumed ownership.

In other matters the board:
•Announced there would be an auction for back taxes of $1.7 million on the Kleen Brite property. Maziarz said she and Heyen had toured the building with Assemblyman Bill Reilich and Senator George Maziarz to assess the condition of the building. "They were 'astounded' with its condition," Maziarz said. Village officials are seeking members from state and federal elected officials to form a task force to address the issues at the building.

Heyen said village officials were also looking into Brownfield funds for remediation of the property. Wexler added that he had spoken with Country Legislator Wayne Zyra for funds to erect a fence to enclose the property. "We don't want to get too involved with something we don't own and we don't want to accept liability for," he said.

•Approved the purchase of 17 handguns, holsters, accessories and ammunition for the police department. The department will be trading in 20 handguns as part of the purchase. More than $8,500 had been set aside for the purchase but Police Chief Dan Varrenti said the department had received a $6,500 grant from Assemblyman Reilich's office toward the purchase of the weapons and the department's $8,500 would likely remain unused.

•Trustee David Wagenhauser asked if anyone in the community had commercial space for lease, they should contact the village office in order to get that space listed on the village's website.

•Village officials agreed after much discussion to utilize Ken Pike's services to compile and complete an environmental report on the village's Welcome Center.

Pike submitted a bid for 60 hours work at $75 per hour to complete the report.

The motion to use Pike to complete the environmental certification was passed by a three to one margin. Castaneda was the opposing vote.