Quoted Text

Rotterdam plagued with sinkholes, other infrastructure issues
BY HEATHER KOVAR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10TH 2016


ROTTERDAM--Crews in the Town of Rotterdam are dealing with the second sinkhole in three days.

Officials got the call as CBS 6 News was touring the Highway Department facility, which the superintendent says is outdated, and that equipment is outdated.


This sinkhole on Deforest St. is one Town of Rotterdam Highway Superintendent Larry LaMora says is one they filled before.

One, a child living nearby first noticed, according to mom Melissa Pannitti.

"He goes, mom look there's a hole! And he was maybe an inch away from it , from falling in," said Pannitti.

The hole is in front of Susann Najafipour's home.

"The cones that the city had actually put in place had fallen in the sinkhole. I made a phone call and within minutes the town was here to resolve the matter," said Najafipour.

LaMora says they'll have to dig to determine the problem, and that this hole is right along the path of old pipes put in during development in the 1930's.

He shows CBS 6 News a newspaper clipping from 1952 on the drainage problems on this line.

He speaks on how he would like to make pipe repairs.

"If I had the money I would start at one end of town and try to work my way through instead of jumping around."

However, he says he also needs money to replace equipment. He shows CBS 6 News a blacktop roller they use daily to patch streets, as well as a 20-year old jet vac truck that he says are worn out. He also says many of his plow trucks are 20-years old and need replacing.

He does say the town is working with him, and passed some bonding money for some of this equipment. He adds it's never enough to and hopes to get some grants from the state for the actual infrastructure repair.

"It's just hard to get so much done with so little you have to work with," said LaMora.

He adds street maintenance for the residents is his priority.

One solution LaMora is looking into is getting an engineering firm to look into whether they could line some of the old pipes with plastic.

http://cbs6albany.com/news/local/rotterdam-plagued-with-sinkholes