SCHUYLER COUNTY, Aug. 22, 2016 -- Most of us were raised to take care of our property and possessions. We change the oil and check the tire pressure of our cars and trucks. People on wells monitor water levels and pump out septic systems every three or five years. We watch for wet basements and install sump pumps when or if necessary. When something is broken, we fix it because that’s common sense, and it’s what we teach our children.

Without routine maintenance and repairs, small problems quickly become big expensive ones.
It’s the same for infrastructure here in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes. Our flood channels and water reservoirs need regular dredging to be effective. Roads, bridges, culverts and sewer systems have to be regularly inspected, repaired, and upgraded. As we all know too well, we need to change pipes and fix the water systems in our children’s schools so they’re not drinking lead or other contaminants

But our public infrastructure is falling apart after years of neglect, and it’s going to cost a lot more to fix than routine maintenance. Earlier this month, Watkins Glen residents had to boil their water when a combination of shifting ground conditions and old age caused a brittle cast iron water main to break. Residents of Ithaca live alongside a flood channel that has not been dredged in decades; they’re one major weather event from serious flooding. Schools throughout our region have tested positive for lead in water.

Potholes remain unfilled on our town, city, and rural roads. Two years ago, Senator Chuck Schumer issued a report pointing out 412 Southern Tier and Finger Lakes bridges that are structurally or functionally obsolete, yet we’re still crossing those bridges every day. The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) tells us that many of our wastewater plants are on borrowed time, with one out of every four facilities operating beyond its life expectancy or using outmoded technology or equipment.

We need 21st century improvements to the Southern Tier’s 20th century infrastructure, but instead we’re asked to settle for half-baked fixes. Albany is sending targeted grants for water infrastructure projects to Dix in Schuyler County, Dresden in Yates, and Arkport and Hornell in Steuben, but these grants don’t even come close to covering the costs of the proposed projects. Extreme weather now causes our aging infrastructure to disintegrate even faster, says the DEC. But targeted grants are often one-shot affairs, distributed in election years and causing subsequent shortfalls in the off-years.

Budget numbers released last week indicate that New York State is suddenly expected to have an unanticipated budget shortfall of $3.2 billion after this election year. Political-year stopgap infrastructure funding is like a teenager shoving all the dirty clothes on the floor under the bed, just before mom walks in to scold about a messy room. It doesn’t solve the problem, and it makes more work later.

As citizens, we must demand that Albany recognize the danger of our decrepit bridges and lead-filled water systems. Our property taxes are through the roof, yet more of that money goes to Albany’s unfunded mandates than to our culverts and pipes. Another pot of tax money -- the Bridge and Highway Trust Fund -- was promised to go to our roads, but every year our state representatives reroute billions out of it to downstate projects instead.

It’s the responsible and thrifty thing to do to maintain our infrastructure every year -- not just during elections. We’ve been waiting a long time, and it shouldn’t take until another election cycle to call attention to this problem. Let’s get to work.

Leslie Danks Burke is running for New York State Senate in the 58th district against incumbent Senator Tom O’Mara. The district includes the counties of Schuyler, Chemung, Steuben, Yates, and part of Tompkins.

Photo in text: Leslie Danks Burke