I enjoyed reading your Editorial. One missing historical fact: The initial Tea Parties were launched around Ron Paul's campaign for President. Now, the Tea Party folks do not even talk to him because he is in favor of pulling our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Glenn Gidaly
Ellenville

Back from a recent trip, I noticed the house water pressure was incredibly low, lower even than the usual low pressure I was used to. The shower, for example, was barely a trickle. Further, there was a whooshing noise audible anywhere in the house near plumbing. I called the Water Dept., and the supervisor and an assistant came and checked the Village's shutoff valve, about two feet into my lawn from the street. They detected a leak somewhere in the system but it took an outside contractor to do a sonic test to determine the leak was in the Village main.

As soon as they could schedule it, Street and Water crews came and dug up the street, and quickly patched the two leaks in the main with a rubber/aluminum sleeve. But in prepping the standpipe valve to accept a new stub from the main (the old stub was busted too) it turned out that all the connections to my line were corroded, and my own galvanized pipe was corroded and filled with blockage.

Although this was now going to involve digging up my lawn to the house, and replacing the line into the house with all new copper to replace the galvanized pipe, I had little choice, as the old line would eventually need replacing anyway, even if they could rework the fittings now. The Village already had the equipment and personnel there, and there was no point in closing the already-dug work until all was finished. So, with my approval, they sought and got permission from Village Hall to do the rest of the work (minus the actual hookup inside, which needed a licensed plumber; I contacted Thornton, who were able to set me up with a plumber within the hour to complete the work).

Although they don't do it regularly (and it wasn't because I was someone special or anything) the Village DPW crew can do this when it makes sense or is an emergency, as they were already there, and there was no guarantee I'd be able to get someone else to even come that day, or the next, and we would have no water until then.

So, they did an excellent job of digging the trench, removing the old pipe and plumbing up to the meter, and installing a new standpipe, valve, fittings and copper pipe up to the meter. Fortunately, Thornton was able to get a plumber over within the hour, so I had a complete hookup and running water by 4 PM.

So where this could have been a real hardship, I was only without water from about 9 AM to 4 PM, and the final cost was likely less than if I had to find an outside digger and supplier, not even considering the time factor of finding one available to work sooner rather than later. I don't mind paying the Village for all the necessary work beyond their work on the main, therefore, because it had to be done and they did it fast and well.

The next day, the Street Dept. came back to fill in the street and lawn (taking out a stump at no extra charge) and replace a busted stone slab on the walk due to the backhoe's weight on it; they will eventually asphalt the street, level the lawn and reseed. They also reinforced the house's foundation stones with cement where they had loosened it with the digging.

These guys did a great job, and now I have decent water pressure for the first time since moving in in 1981!

When anyone questions why we need to have our own water department or street department under our own Village government, I can't imagine getting this level of service and cooperation any other way. I'm glad to be paying to have this service on hand, particularly now that our old infrastructure is breaking down all over the village at an accelerated pace. These guys EARN their pay!

Steven Krulick
Ellenville