GREENBURGHTOWNSUPERVISOR PAUL FEINER’S TEMPORARY WORK ASSIGNMENT: CURB RESTORATION

On Wednesday, June 15^th I spent part of the morning working with 5 members of the public works department restoring curbs. What a difficult job!  It’s also a very slow process ---in one day only about 70 feet of curb restoration is completed.

First, we had to dig up the ground—about 2 feet. And, remove the stones. The crew members had to lay pins in the trenches and run a string line across the trench – to make sure that the curbs are six inches on top of the road.

My job: placing the stones on the curb. Looked easy. But, it wasn’t. Each stone weighs between 75-100+ pounds. I was asked to place a few stones in the ground ---and almost broke my back!  I almost broke my foot too –because the stones could easily fall on one’s foot during the process. Two of the members of the crew that I was assigned to work with had back surgeries. Rob Errico has had 2 back surgeries. He could have taken disability pay but didn’t want to take advantage of the system. He’s working hard for the town. Alex Reid, another member of the crew, had surgery on his back once.

We put cement in the ground—taking advantage of the cement mixer.
The work is very difficult. And, after each curb stone is placed in the ground one has to make sure that the curbs are even. The crew members that I worked with are hard working and very dedicated employees. And, the residents who live near the restored curbs had smiling faces.

NEXT STOP: THE GYM---so that I won’t huff and puff when moving 100 pound stones in the ground next year.  I’m also wondering how long I’ll last when I’m on the highway truck picking up papers for recycling.

PAUL FEINER