By Somerville/Medford News Weekly News Staff

Safety issues loom as the winter months approach. Upon investigative discovery,  many of the city fire plugs are in need of immediate repairing. As it currently stands to date, the count of sixteen plugs throughout the city have reached their functional life expectancy and two are out of use completely as the damages are beyond underground repair, and require replacement.

  This directly means that if a fire were to occur, those particular fire plugs will not release water of any pressure to assist Firemen in putting out fires. This creates an immediate safety issue for the lives of every citizen, renter, homeowner, and the brave Firemen who’s job it is to prevent and extinguish fires.
The problem isn’t the technology or labor, as the Somerville DPW workers have the tools and skills to correct these issues. The City also has had a contractoral agreement with outside vendors to perform the work for decades. The question remains as to why the streets have not had replacements, but repeatative, repairs only. The monies originally dedicated towards replacement of city water lines has been redirected and applied to other less prioritized projects.  The Fire Chief can be contacted as well as the DPW to submit your concerns regarding this problem.  It has been reported to the Mayors office, but has not been acted on. This isnt a meaningless project, it impacts real people, and, if a fire were to breakout in the wrong area , consequences can be devastating.  The weather has been unseasonably warm with favorable conditions to proceed but is stalled. General water feeds are also in need of major repair as 311 calls can verify when researched.  The only recommendations that can be made is to contact the Mayors office and demand a list of locations of these faulty plugs. Hopefully the suggestion for groups to pitch in for fire watches until such time as their function can be returned to proper working order is warranted. As a result of the constant work on the water system, everyone should also make the effort to test your water for a proper cholorine level as it may not be suitable for consumption unless boiled first.
The city appears to be double spending on useless projects that are obsolete and taken down as the examples of small roundabouts on side streets reverting backwards instead of supporting progress for a better future. Current leadership is failing the city and needs change