City Howl Help Desk: City Howl follows up on the potholes reported by Philadelphia citizens

City Howl is a Web site that lets citizens post their raves or rants about city services (thecityhowl.com). On Wednesday, we publish highlights of our investigations into some of these problems.

We told you last week about a Southwest Philadelphia park that's fallen on hard times. Since our column, the city has cleaned up branches in Eastwick Park that resident James Taylor said came down during the winter. And a trash can that hadn't been emptied in months finally was picked up.

Meanwhile, he and another neighborhood resident have become interested in taking a more active role in maintaining and advocating for the park. (Maybe they'll form a friends group!)

There are plenty of resources out there for them: The Parks Alliance and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society help neighborhoods organize around parks.

- Anthony Campisi

In June, Help Desk reported on how the Streets Department manages pothole repairs.

Steve Buckley, deputy transportation commissioner, stressed how important it is for city residents to call 3-1-1 if they spot a pothole or other road defect.

We invited readers to give us a call if they were having trouble reporting a defect or getting one repaired. A number of you took us up on our offer. Here's what we found out for you.

10915 Ellicott Road: A caller from the Northeast reported a large defect that had gone unrepaired for months. The Streets Department had originally received the request on May 10, but though the area received new concrete, new blacktop wasn't put on. Buckley offered a mea culpa on the part of the department - and a new repair will be scheduled.

19 and 34 S. 54th St.: A West Philly resident called us about two defects on a stretch of 54th Street just south of Market. She was concerned because they'd been getting worse over the last two months, and drivers were swerving to avoid damaging their cars.

She'd called 3-1-1, but the two problems got lumped together in the Streets system, which slowed down the repair process.

The first cave-in, at 19 S. 54th, was examined by the Water Department, which found that it wasn't a result of subsurface issues. It was referred to Streets, and a permanent repair should be done within the week.

The other depression is more complicated, involving a defective underground pipe connecting a property to the sewer line at the house next door. The property owner has been contacted several times, but the defect hasn't been fixed.

Streets has made the road safe for the time being, but "ultimately, whoever owns that property needs to get it repaired," Buckley said. A homeowner has up to 90 days to make the repair before the city takes him to court. (The Water Department offers financial help through the Homeowner's Emergency Loan Program, or HELP.)

808 N. 12th St.: A caller reported a "large dip" between the trolley tracks in front of this address in North Philadelphia. He called 3-1-1 to report it.

Areas between trolley tracks are SEPTA's responsibility. In late June, Streets forwarded this report onto SEPTA - the Water Department now needs to perform a sewer and lateral residential pipe test to determine whether there are underground issues as well. Depending on the outcome, either the homeowner will have to fix this one, or SEPTA can do the job.

500-600 block of North 22nd Street: A Fairmount resident reported a series of pesky defects that, despite repairs, keep reappearing. Streets investigated, and it turns out the excavations were made by a utility company. Streets referred the problem to the responsible party in April but has now followed up and hopes to have them permanently repaired in a few weeks.

Street repairs don't always happen immediately, especially if there's a subsurface issue or another party, like SEPTA, is involved. But, according to Buckley, the Streets Department has hired additional inspectors in the last year to better manage the work done by others on its 2,200 miles of city roads.

And it's exploring ways to better monitor how effectively these parties respond once defects are reported.

"We'd like to encourage folks to be our eyes on the street," Buckley emphasized again.

And, here at City Howl, we'd like to be your eyes (and ears), so don't hesitate to contact us if you're having difficulty getting problems solved or questions answered.

- Kirstin Lindermayer

City workers from the district attorney's office and Licenses and Inspection's clean-and-seal program joined forces to deal with a property in the Northeast that had started to smell after being padlocked by law-enforcement.

After being alerted to the problem by City Howl, a team entered the restaurant and cleaned out three refrigerators filled with rotting meat. There have been no further complaints.

- Ben Waxman

Lindermayer, Campisi and Waxman report for It's Our Money.

Have a problem getting services from a city department, or an idea for a more effective way to get things done? Let us know about it at www.thecityhowl.com or by calling 215-854-5855.