Shawangunk road woes persist

By RICK REMSNYDER
Posted 5/17/22

Two Town of Shawagunk residents complained that their roads were not up to snuff at the May 5 Town Board meeting.

Valiant Jones of 56 Pleasant Ave. told the Town Board that road flooding has …

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Shawangunk road woes persist

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Two Town of Shawagunk residents complained that their roads were not up to snuff at the May 5 Town Board meeting.

Valiant Jones of 56 Pleasant Ave. told the Town Board that road flooding has forced him to make over $6,000 worth of repairs to his home in the past four years.

Jones stated that he felt the town’s highway system “has done me and my family a disservice. My home constantly floods every time it rains since that road has been put in.”

Jones said he has been in constant contact with first-year Highway Superintendent Richard Blazeski about the flooding caused by the road being higher than his driveway.

“He’s been working hard trying to get a solution, but he has no solution for me because the people who built the road have no solution for him,” Jones said. “The drainage system over there is a disaster. It does not work. My garage floods which leads to my master bedroom. My living room floods every time there’s a downpour.”

Blazeski, who attended the meeting, said he has discussed two solutions to the flooding problem with Jones.

Jones wasn’t satisfied with that answer.
“Listen guys, I’m here because nothing is getting done,” Jones said. “I’m a taxpayer. I own the home. Me and my wife worked hard to purchase this home. Something has to give. I’m losing money constantly. It’s been four or five months now. Nothing is getting done.”

Supervisor John Valk said it was the first time he had heard there was an issue with the flooding of Jones’ residence. Valk said he had visited Pleasant Avenue recently to discuss putting in a street light.

“But nobody mentioned to me about a water problem,” Valk said.

Valk said the board would talk to Blazeski about possible remedies to the problem.

Once Jones sat down, Jeanmarie Zawojski took the floor to complain about road conditions on Brimstone Hill Road. She lives at 192 Brimstone Hill Road.

She said Brimstone Hill Road is in desperate need of repair. Zawojski gave the Town Board photos of the road, which she said needed to be repaved.

“There are many spots on Brimstone where it’s down to a one-lane road,” she said. “The sides are disintegrating. It’s starting to look like a road in Ukraine. What I don’t understand is how did this road get this bad? Why hasn’t this been addressed many years ago. At this point, the whole road needs to be dug up, reshaped and put back to a two-lane road.”

Blazeski said he had targeted three roads in the same area, including Brimstone Hill Road, for repair work next year.

Zawojski, who said she had complained to Valk about the road conditions last year, thought it was the Town Board’s job to deal with road conditions.

“You’re wrong,” Councilman Robert Miller said. “The Highway Supervisor is elected by the citizens of the town. He’s an elected official. He runs the highway department. The only thing the Town Board does is approve his budget. That’s all we do. We have no control over what roads he does.”

In other news, the board voted 5-0 to appoint Patricia Williams as the assistant camp director following the recommendation of Recreation Committee chairman and Councilman Adrian DeWitt.