Public Owed Explanation for Failure to Complete Carmel’s Fair St. Project
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
I am a 39-year resident of the hamlet of Carmel. About 35 years ago, I along with many residents, began to reach out to county government asking that the dangerous conditions existing on the section of Fair Street (a county road) in the Carmel hamlet be corrected.
There is no disagreement that the roadway presents a danger not only to the thousands of drivers and pedestrians who use it daily but also to students from around the region while on school buses traveling to and from Carmel High School and George Fisher Middle School. Decades ago, funding was secured from the federal government to pay for 90 percent of the project cost with additional funding from the state. The funding remains in place today.
In view of the ongoing danger to residents and the decades-old availability of funding to fix the problem, this historic failure can no longer be attributed simply to government incompetence. There have been hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, already spent on project studies over the years but with no substantive results. How is this possible, who is accountable and where did the money go?
But I hope it’s a new morning in Putnam County with new County Executive Kevin Byrne, new Deputy Commissioner for Highway & Facilities Thomas Feighery and new Legislator Greg Ellner representing the hamlet of Carmel taking hold of this project. The primary objective is to complete the work. I think residents are also owed a forensic review of the who, what and how much since the first file was opened on the reconstruction project.
John J. Butler
Carmel
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