DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997                 TAG: 9704040168

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH 

SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan 

                                            LENGTH:   64 lines

CITY SHOULDN'T PAY FOR SUBDIVISION GATES

For all the citizen watchdogs who have been talking about the brick gates at Woodbine on Garland Drive: The contractor finally got them right on the third try last Saturday.

The gates were damaged some time ago by a moving vehicle, City Engineer Richard Hartman said, and the city had problems getting bids for the repair work because the job was small - only about $6,000. Finally, a contractor agreed to take the job and get the work done on Saturdays.

The first time the gates were ``finished'' last fall, they didn't match. The right side was right. The left side was wrong. City didn't pay.

Workers came back and tried again. They failed to match the two gates again. The city refused to pay again.

``We couldn't believe they'd done it wrong a second time,'' Hartman said.

By this time, the contractor had exhausted his supply of matching bricks. The job sat still while a brick factory made more to match.

Last week the bricks came, and the workers were back for another try on Saturday of Easter weekend.

Hartman and his staff decided to oversee the work.

``It's a good thing we did,'' Hartman said. ``They were about to do it wrong again, but we caught it.''

Now, at long last, the gates match. And the contractor probably wishes he'd never heard of the job.

City Manager Ron Massie probably wishes likewise. After the gates were damaged, Massie moved from Norfolk to Garland Drive.

``I've stayed out of it,'' Massie said. But he admitted it was hard to understand how the contractor could make the same mistakes so many times.

Hartman said the $6,000 Woodbine job is only one of many similar repair jobs the city has done all over town. Many subdivisions have gates and fences at their front entrances, and many of them get knocked down by vehicles that stray off the road.

Some, including the Woodbine entrance, are particularly susceptible because of their locations on busy streets.

So, for the watchdogs, that's what the score is at the Garland Drive entrance at Woodbine. Hartman says the city paid only once - and then only after the contractor got it right on the third try.

But, there is a larger picture here.

Why does the city have the responsibility for these entrance ornaments? It's a question to be asked when you multiply a $6,000 price tag by the number of subdivision entrances in town.

Hartman said he has no idea how many of the entrances the city has had to repair or replace. At the moment, the city is getting ready to seek bids on the Cradock entrance on Afton Parkway.

Generally, the entrances are built by developers. Then the developer goes away. Civic leagues often landscape such entrances but few actually replace them when they're knocked over. They leave that to the city.

I can understand the city wanting to do repairs or replacements just to make the street look better. But I really wonder why tax money should go for this purpose.

If the city required the entrance, that would be a different matter. Or if a city vehicle knocked it down, I could understand. But, otherwise, why are we spending all this money?

The city should have codes that apply to the entrances, and if the gates or signs are broken, faded or otherwise unattractive, the city should enforce the codes - not by doing the work but by forcing residents to take care of their own neighborhoods.

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