Comments on Advance Indiana™: IFD Will Do Veolia's Job

Veolia, Veolia, Veolia. How could you let so many...

2010-01-11T05:33:42.125-05:00

Veolia, Veolia, Veolia. How could you let so many fire hydrants freeze, resulting in frantic fear and substantial damage to unsuspecting neighborhoods. Shame on you, and shame on us for not better monitoring you.

Going forward from here is great. But what about t...

2010-01-08T07:07:13.766-05:00

Going forward from here is great. But what about the sevearl buildings and homes that have burned down because they coudlnt get water? I'd think about getting a law suit against who ever was supposed to make sure those hydrants were tested.

This is all just crazy. IFD is not "inspectin...

2010-01-07T21:22:39.199-05:00

This is all just crazy. IFD is not "inspecting" hydrants. They're doing the old drive-by. "Yep, that's a fire hydrant."

The last thing anybody wants is IFD opening up any more fire hydrants (and risk breaking them as they've done so far this winter).

By early February 2003, there were 179 frozen fire hydrants reported. There are four this year. Not so bad I'd say.

Paul, thanks for filling us in on the conveniences...

2010-01-07T19:50:23.690-05:00

Paul, thanks for filling us in on the conveniences that Veolia enjoys with the Ballard administration courtesy of B&T.

By the way, Veolia's attorney is Barnes & ...

2010-01-07T17:01:34.059-05:00

By the way, Veolia's attorney is Barnes & Thornburg. So I'm pretty sure the company has "safeguards" in place in the administration and on the council to make sure they are never fined for not complying with their contracts.

As Paul suggested (I just read through the comment...

2010-01-07T16:03:56.455-05:00

As Paul suggested (I just read through the comments before clicking submit on this) ...

I would question if any opportunity to have Veolia pay for the inspections or otherwise reimburse IFD were passed up?

If it is, contractually, Veolia's job and IFD is doing the contract work they should not be doing it for free.

One would also question, if there is some inspection interval or other reasonable expectation that wasn't fulfilled, if Veolia is liable in any way for the increased damages caused by the inability of IFD to find properly functioning hydrants?

Southsider, As a retired IFD firefighter we take a...

2010-01-07T14:47:02.791-05:00

Southsider,
As a retired IFD firefighter we take an oath to protect lives and property. Our goal is to save lives of citizens along with fellow firefighters. We will do anything necessary even if it means checking hydrants. Our local union which is safety driven is on board with this issue.

"go out and check hydrants for a private comp...

2010-01-07T14:02:26.333-05:00

"go out and check hydrants for a private company?".......Of course this is covered under the current Firefighters contract?

Do you suppose there's a penalty clause for fa...

2010-01-07T13:08:24.132-05:00

Do you suppose there's a penalty clause for failure to perform? Nah, probably not.

This is yet another example of public officials no...

2010-01-07T11:18:59.543-05:00

This is yet another example of public officials not enforcing privatization contracts. Undoubtedly there is a provision in the contract saying Veolia is susposed to check these fire hydrants. Now is the administration going to bill Veolia for having firefighers, who are city employees, go out and check hydrants for a private company?

They should mark the hydrants with the inspection ...

2010-01-07T10:21:21.629-05:00

They should mark the hydrants with the inspection date and perhaps even put a dab of paint across the valve to reveal whether the hydrant was opened since it was last inspected.