WPCNR WHITE PLAINS STREET. By John F. Bailey. September 5, 2003: George Gretsas, the Mayor's Executive Officer, clarified his comments Thursday afternoon on the life expectancy of the Main Street Sewer Line by telephoning WPCNR to point out that WPCNR had erred in saying Mr. Gretsas said the pipeline might have to be replaced when it went one and a half times its present effluent flow or over 50% of its 5,210 gallons per minute "capacity,"

He said Thursday it might have to be replaced after the Cappelli Bland Hotel-Office complex under review by the Common Council, came online. "It's more of a judgment call.  It's not so much the City Center. It's what's next. After 221 goes on line, the sewer pipe would need to be replaced."

Gretsas reported the estimates of how many gallons per minute, the City Center Retail, and three residential buildings will add to the average gallons per minute flowing through the Pipeline. (Figures given verbally by Gretsas will be reposted in detail, because WPCNR wants to recheck our math) He took the opportunity to call WPCNR's source who alleged Mayoral conflict with Joseph Nicoletti a liar.

"Your Source is a Liar."

Gretsas challenged WPCNR's source who reported a commissioner quoting the Mayor angrily criticising Public Works Commissioner, Joseph Nicoletti, for wasting the taxpayer's money by purchasing the machine and doubting Cappelli's consultants. 

Gretsas bristled at the allegation that the Department of Public Works had suggested the idea of getting the city's machine. Gretsas said it was his idea to purchase the effluent measuring machine (Gretsas's) to settle a dispute between Mr. Nicolletti who Gretsas said, supported the stick measurements taken by the Water Department findings that found the pipe to be carrying 80% of its capacity. (See previous story)

Gretsas said Thursday afternoon that Nicoletti disputed Cappelli's consulting firm accuracy on the effluent measurements.  Gretsas named the Cappelli Enterprises consultant as New England Pipe Cleaning Company, of Watertown, Connecticut.

 "I purchased the machine," Gretsas said. "The Mayor never said that. He was not at the meeting. We deny that. We deny that he yelled at Commissioner Nicoletti. Your source is a liar."

Gretsas said the time he ordered the machine was sometime in the summer of 2002. He could not recall when the meeting took place where he suggested the effluents measuring machine purchase, but did recall the Mayor was not present.

Informant Scared Off.

The informant who passed this allegation on to WPCNR's source, when told of Gretsas' reaction, urged through our source to drop this inquiry. He was reported as saying it is "too hot" to go any farther that I, WPCNR, might be being set up by the city. Asked what this meant, no details were given by my source.

The intermediary said to the WPCNR source  the situation is "too hot" and refuses to name other commissioners present at the meeting who reported or could confirm this alleged disagreement to him, apparently a year ago, not just last week as he originally told our source. 

Our source whose judgment WPCNR trusted, took the report and its timeliness on good faith as on honest report. To date no other commissioners present during the stick versus computer discussions have come forward to corroborate or support Mr. Nicoletti or the Mayor's side of this.

No one has stepped forward to explain exactly what the mystery surrounding the sewer pipe was one week ago either, if any, when City Center workers were seriously discussing what was wrong with pipe, so much so that it was noticed by a news-oriented bystander, a photographer on the site.

But that little mystery has been relegated to irrelevant status by the city's report yesterday from Commissioner Mike Gismondi that the sanitary and storm connections have been "tested and approved" and fit for issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy.

Main Street Sewer Line Inspected by Camera in Year 2000.

Gretsas' assistant Rick Ammirato, added detail on  the Main Street Sewer Line camera inspection. He said the inspection by camera was conducted along the entire length of pipe in 2000. This is a year before the City Center project was approved in September, 2001. There has not been an inspection of the pipe of this sort since that time. Ammirato said the inspection found it to be "in perfect condition." He also said the pipe had been cleaned at that time, too.

Paul Wood, City Economic Director, also on the conference phone said, "It was George's idea. Nicoletti had nothing to do with it. He liked the stick."