The Ross Cause

Mr. Mayor

 

As you can see below, the Holy Trinity Cemetery is blaming their recent rainwater runoff onto the Ross property on vandalism. At this point, the list of excuses from the Cemetery is never ending.

 

Mr. Lazaroski seems to be claiming that a vandal scaled the pond fence, swam to the manhole, climbed up the manhole, removed the steel cover, dropped into the manhole, “vandalized” the reducer, plugged the pond with the “vandalized” reducer, climbed out the manhole, politely put the steel cover back on, dove off the manhole, swam to the pond bank, and lastly scaled the fence to escape. I’ve heard of cemetery vandals tipping gravestones, but this was obviously a much more ambitious vandal.

 

Below, Mr. Lazaroski refers to filing a police report with the Whitestown PD regarding this “vandalism”. As of 1:00pm this afternoon, Chief Wolanin is unaware of any alleged vandalism at the Holy Trinity Cemetery.   

 

Remember, this is the same Mr. Lazaroski who told the Town in 2008 that the reducer had been installed prior to the 2001 completion of the Cemetery project. Apparently he forgot acknowledging to Village Engineer Zangrilli in 2004 that the reducer had “never been installed” and that he “agreed” to install it in 2004 (See attached letters as supporting documents). Mr. Lazaroski has no credibility; I hope you would agree based on his contradictory statements of the past.

 

We simply do not understand why the Town is so hesitant to force the Cemetery to complete the work shown on the Cemetery’s approved construction drawings. Our suspicion is that everybody is now afraid to implement repairs, because it will somehow be an admission that the Cemetery has been causing these problems for nearly a decade. I’m over the pointing fingers stage – we just want a long term solution – I believe we presented a more than reasonable solution below. Please note that neither the Town nor Cemetery debated that this work is shown on the approved drawings. However, it appears the Cemetery is calling all the shots and the Town will be taking no action.

 

The Village is the key to the solution. You provide the drainage system connection to the Cemetery. It seems as though the Village could very easily say to the Cemetery; since the work has not been completed per approved plans reviewed by the Village, the approval of this connection is being rescinded. When the property is brought into compliance, the connection will be re-established. Remember, in lieu of all this, all the Cemetery needs to do is fill the ditch and increase the height of the berm per approved drawings – and all this goes away.

 

Regardless of the cause, had the grading been completed per the design drawings, no rainwater runoff from the Cemetery would have ended up in the Ross yard. I’m not sure it can get any simpler than that…  

 

Mayor Pettruccione once referred to this as “hanging fire” as he tried to help resolve this decade long issue. We are hoping you are willing to take one more stab at negotiating a solution that will be acceptable to all by hosting a meeting. You will obviously decide who attends; but our list of preferred attendees would include you Mr. Mayor, as many Village Trustees as can be available, Village Engineer Zangrilli, Village Highway Supervisor Felitto, Town Supervisor Gibbs, Town Engineer Schrantz, and Cemetery Representative Lazaroski.

 

Thank you and please let me know if you will be entertaining our request for a meeting at your earliest possible convenience.

Bob

 

Bob Ross, PE

198 Thompson Street

Halifax, MA 02338

617-470-1407

 

From: Chuck Gibbs [mailto:townsupervisor@whitestown.net]
Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 5:39 PM
To: bross@foodtech.com
Cc: Finegan, Mary; Schrantz, Karl; Schmitt, Bill; Granato, Sal
Subject: Fw: Holy Trinity Cemetery - Ross Property

 

Mr. Ross- F.Y.I.- Chuck Gibbs

----- Original Message -----

To: townsupervisor@whitestown.net

Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 12:19 PM

Subject: FW: Holy Trinity Cemetery - Ross Property

 

Mr. Supervisor

 

I’m forwarding to you a response from the Diocese regarding my e-mail related to Bob Ross’s request for grading modifications along the common boundary between the cemetery and the Ross property.

 

Karl E. Schrantz, P.E.

Shumaker Consulting Engineering & Land Surveying, P.C.

Phone (315) 724-0100

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT:  This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please destroy any printed version and delete this email.

From: Mark Lazaroski [mailto:mrl@twcny.rr.com]
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 3:44 PM
To: Karl E. Schrantz
Subject: RE: Holy Trinity Cemetery - Ross Property

 

Karl,

Thank you for sharing the attached photos. The cemetery staff reacted immediately to the overflow of the retention basin by pumping down the water to an appropriate level. Upon inspection of the reducer in the catch basin it was apparent that the reducer had been vandalized as there was no foreign debris, wood, stones or other to suggest differently. I have instructed my staff to contact the Whitestown police to file a report as reference, should this occur again.

As a result of this finding I feel the retention pond is adequate as designed and built  to accommodate the drainage for the cemetery. There should be no additional drainage modifications required.

Thanks,

Mark Lazaroski

 

 

 

Mark

Here is text and attachments from an e-mail sent on Friday by Bob Ross, PE to the Town of Whitestown regarding his drainage concerns at the Holy Trinity Cemetery.  He has made some specific requests for work in the vicinity of the boundary between his parents’ property and the cemetery.  Please offer the town your thoughts after you have a chance to review this.

Thanks,

Karl

Karl E. Schrantz, P.E.

Shumaker Consulting Engineering & Land Surveying, P.C.

Phone (315) 724-0100

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT:  This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please destroy any printed version and delete this email.

-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Gibbs [mailto:townsupervisor@whitestown.net]
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2011 7:07 PM
To: Karl E. Schrantz; Bill Schmitt; Sal Granato
Subject: Fwd: Holy Trinity Cemetery - Ross Property

Charles R. Gibbs II

Supervisor-Town of Whitestown

8539 Clark Mills Rd.

Whitesboro, New York 13492

(315)736-4255

townsupervisor@whitestown.net

                Pictures #7 & #8.pdf (118.3 Kb) attached

Ditch Drawing_Phase 1.pdf (427.3 Kb) attached

Ditch Drawing_Master Plan.pdf (341.1 Kb) attached

                ----- Original Message -----

                From: "Bob Ross" bross@foodtech.com

                To: "'Chuck Gibbs'" townsupervisor@whitestown.net

                Sent: Fri 05/20/11  4:48 PM

                Subject: Fwd: Holy Trinity Cemetery - Ross Property

Pictures #7 & #8.pdf (118.3 Kb) attached Ditch Drawing_Phase 1.pdf

(427.3 Kb) attached Ditch Drawing_Master Plan.pdf (341.1 Kb) attached

                   

        Town Supervisor Gibbs,

        Thank you very much for the quick response and action, it is much

appreciated. We do have one additional request that we hope you will

find both agreeable and reasonable.

        There has been widespread opinion in the past that the ditch that

separates the Ross Property from the Cemetery assures that no runoff

from the Cemetery ever ends up on the Ross Property. After seeing

pictures #7 and #8 (attached), I hope you agree that these pictures

show otherwise. This ditch is actually more of a problem then a

solution. We have said this for years, but up until we produced these

pictures (and Mr. Fellitto did observe this condition on 4/28 with my

parents) nobody believed us.

        In pictures #7 and #8, what you are seeing is the result of the pipe

in Douglas   Ave not having the capacity to handle the runoff from the

Cemetery. This causes the Cemetery runoff to actually back-up into

this ditch (from both the 12" pipe that connects the ditch to the

catch basin on Douglas and from the wide swale on the Cemetery

property that is shown overflowing in the pictures). Since the low

side of the ditch faces the Ross Property, that is the easiest place

for the backed up water to escape.

        Our request is rather simple and straightforward. While you have the

Cemetery's attention, please direct them to (1) completely fill this

ditch as it is located on their property, (2) increase the height of

the berm that separates the Ross Property from the Cemetery by

approximately 1 foot, and (3) remove the 12" pipe that currently

connects this ditch (to be filled) to the catch basin on Douglas Ave.

        We believe you and the Village have the authority to direct the

Cemetery to complete this work since this is exactly what is shown on

the Phase 1 and Master Grading Plans approved by the Planning Board

(see attached). I hope you agree this is a reasonable request on our

part since we're only asking for the Cemetery to complete the work

that they committed to doing on their design drawings.

        The Town Engineer and I obviously have major differences of opinion,

but I would like to think we can find common ground in agreeing that

it is reasonable to ask the Cemetery to simply complete the work shown

on the plans approved by the Planning Board.

        Once upon a time, this ditch served a very useful function as it ran

from Douglas   Ave, behind all properties on Cross Street, all the way

up to Sheppard Drive. However, as the Cemetery has expanded, they have

filled this ditch (except behind the Ross Property) and created a

berm, in place of the ditch, to re-direct their stormwater runoff back

onto their own property.

        I am confident that if the Town of Whitestown, Town Engineer,

Village of Yorkville and Cemetery can work together to get this work

completed, we can put this long-standing problem behind us.

        Please let us know if this is an acceptable request. I am available

at any time to discuss.

 

        Regards,

        Robert W. Ross,  PE

        198 Thompson   Street

        Halifax, MA 02338

        617-470-1407

-------------------------

FROM: Chuck Gibbs [mailto:townsupervisor@whitestown.net]

 SENT: Thursday, May 19, 2011 2:38 PM

 TO: bross@foodtech.com

 CC: Barry, Kevin; Ciancaglini, Mike; Copperwheat, Bill; Sullivan,

Dan; Schrantz, Karl; Schmitt, Bill

 SUBJECT: Re: Holy Trinity Cemetery - Ross Property 

        The Town of Whitestown investigated the complaint about the overflow

condition at the detention basin at the Holy Trinity Cemetery.  We

found that the condition was caused by a severe blockage in the outlet

pipe from the detention basin which prevented the basin from draining

and causing the detention basin to back up and overflow.  The cemetery

was notified and they began working on the removal of the blockage

today.   

<<Pictures #7 & #8.pdf>> <<Ditch Drawing_Phase 1.pdf>> <<Ditch Drawing_Master Plan.pdf>>

To Whitestown Supervisor Gibbs & Town Councilmen:

In 2008, you passed a Resolution regarding the Holy Trinity Cemetery and the Ross Property. This Resolution formally accepted the findings presented in a report (Exhibit A) prepared by Shumaker Engineering. Despite the Ross’ providing overwhelming evidence to the contrary, this report concluded that the Cemetery was not responsible for ponding water on the Ross property.

 

Prior to passing this Resolution, I warned you that Shumaker’s report was fundamentally flawed. It contains numerous errors in calculations, resulting in completely unreliable results (junk in = junk out). Allow me to remind you, Mr. Peter Smart, developer of the calculation software used by Shumaker, agreed with me that data entered into the program by Shumaker was incorrect – see Exhibit B.

 

Please see the attached pictures - Exhibits C & D. These pictures were taken on 04-23-11 and 04-28-11; they indisputably disprove Shumaker’s findings.

 

Shumaker told you that Yorkville’s pipe on Douglas Ave had the capacity to handle all stormwater runoff from the Cemetery caused by all rainstorms of 3.8 inches or less. If so, why is this pipe backing-up water onto the Ross’ property after rainfalls of only 0.86 inches and 0.89 inches?

 

Shumaker told you the detention pond was large enough to hold all stormwater runoff from the Cemetery caused by all rainstorms of 5.4 inches or less. If so, why is the detention pond full and overflowing after rainfalls of only 0.86 inches and 0.89 inches? ...

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