David Zemens | Rochester City Council

About six weeks ago I received a telephone call from a resident whose property bordered the sewer construction project on Ferndale Street. The construction project on the street was extensive and involved the complete removal of the street surface and sanitary sewer system. It was a messy but necessary project and it was now nearing completion. The resident was not satisfied with the manner in which the green belt area adjacent to her property had been restored.

I went up and took a look at the project. The resident pointed out her concerns, which mainly had to do with some dead sod that had been layed on the greenbelt after the project was complete. The sod in question seemed to be dead in many places and was certainly not as attractive in appearance as the resident’s property, which was neat and tidy and looked terrific. I met with the resident and told her that I would make contact with the Director of Public Works and inquire about her concerns..

I left the resident’s house and drove up to Tienken Rd to attend to another issue. When I drove past her home about twenty minutes later I noticed that the Director of Public Works was already on the scene and talking to the resident. Whatever actions the superintendent was taking were not as a result of my inquiry as I had yet to make it! Later that evening I spoke with the Director of Public Works and he assured me that he was taking care of the problem and would work with the resident toward a satisfactory resolution.

In today’s mail I received a thank you card from the resident. She informed me that the problem had been resolved to her total satisfaction. Needless to say, I was pleased to receive the note of thanks and would like to take credit for the problem being solved, but I am afraid I cannot. The credit goes to Director of Public Works Bill Bohlen. Bill was on top of the problem and handled it in a customer service oriented fashion. Great work, Bill, and thanks for a job well done!