Carpenter StView to the south from 5th Av. towards Ocean Av.
Close-Up of Carpenter St. near 5th Av.
“Alligator” CrackingView of Guadalupe St. @ 7th Av.
ABSTRACT: At the City Council’s Budget Meeting on April 17, 2008, during the public comment period, Carmelite Carolyn Hardy spoke to her concerns about public works and street repairs. Hardy’s comments are transcribed. Information about Carpenter St. and Guadalupe St. from the City’s Pavement Management Program is reproduced. COMMENTS are made regarding City Council Member Ken Talmage’s remarks about the need to follow the Pavement Management Program’s recommendation of budgeting $660,000 annually to maintain an overall streets condition of PCI 70 (Pavement Condition Index Fair-Good Condition) and City Administrator Rich Guillen's performance as city administrator.
At the City Council’s Budget Meeting on April 17, 2008, during the public comment period, Carmelite Carolyn Hardy spoke to her concerns about public works and street repairs, as follows:
“You were looking for ideas for projects. I’d like to see Carpenter St. repaired, particularly between 4th & Ocean Av. I’ve lived here 22 years, I’ve never seen any repairs done to the street and it’s in terrible shape, other than maybe filing a few cracks with a little more tar or a band aid here, a band aid there. It’s really, really in bad condition. And it’s terribly jarring to vehicles to drive the street...I live up on the hill by the Forest Theatre, because of the water problems that come through the hill, there are streets that always go to that alligator cracking. I would like a little more emphasis placed on reviewing the conditions of the streets up there. Water’s always a problem on that hill so that’s why the streets get to be in such bad condition...so I’d like to see some emphasis on street repair in residential areas...I’d like to see a little more emphasis on our N.E., N.W. quadrants.”
Note: View Video/Audio of Carolyn Hardy's presentation (Beginning 33:28-37:00 Ending)
The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Final Pavement Management Program by Nichols Consulting Engineers cited a PCI of 64 (Fair Condition) for Carpenter St. between 3rd Av. & Ocean Av. and a PCI of 48 (Fair Condition) for Guadalupe St. between Ocean Av. & Mountain View Av., as follows:
CARPENTER ST.
Begin Location: 3rd Av.
End Location: Ocean Av.
PCI: 64 (Fair PCI 40-69)
Highest PCI: 69
Lowest PCI: 60
PCI Date: 8/27/2007
GUADALUPE ST.
Begin Location: OCEAN AV
End Location: MOUNTAIN VIEW AV.
PCI: 48 (Fair PCI 40-69)
Highest PCI: 48
Lowest PCI: 48
PCI Date: 8/28/2007
Source: City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Final Pavement Management Program, Executive Summary, Inventories and Budget Analysis Reports, Nichols Consulting Engineers, CHTD., December 2007.
Note: Of the total 201 pavement sections identified in the Pavement Management Study, GUADALUPE ST. between Ocean Av. & Mountain View Av. was listed as number 194 of 201 for 2008 Projected PCI. (Only seven other pavement sections had lower/worse 2008 Projected PCIs.)
COMMENTS:
• To his credit, City Council Member Ken Talmage cited the Pavement Management Study’s recommendation that the City must expend $660,000 annually to maintain Carmel’s streets at the current overall condition of a PCI of 70 (Fair-Good Condition). But then again, City Council Member Ken Talmage cited the City’s underfunding of the Carmel Fire Department by $400,000 as reported in the Fire Consolidation Feasibility Study only to later state that consolidation was not a viable option due to serious flaws in the Citygate Study’s financial analysis.
• Why is it that a resident has to inform the City Administrator of the poor condition of Carpenter Street? Rich Guillen has been city administrator for eight years, he has a college degree in engineering and he had worked previously in public works, yet he is oblivious to the City’s annual expenditures for streets, roads and avenues.
2 comments:
Next to Del Mar Avenue at the beach, Carpenter St. has to be the worst street in the city. I know Nichols surveyed all the streets, but I can't fathom how Nichols could have arrived at a Fair rating for Carpenter St. It has to be poor or very poor. Regardless, for the city administrator and public works people not to have repaved Carpenter St. by now, before a pavement study was done, is suspicious. Suspicious as in incompetent.
Ken Talmage is the quinessential flip flopper. He pretends to be earnest and serious, but he has too often said one thing and then later contradicted the first thing. The funny thin is Ken's first take is usually as independent thought, but his second and third and revised thoughts after that look like a complete turnaround. Eith he is not sincere or influence by someone.
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