NEWBURGH – A new report
from Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress finds that the way infrastructure
needs have been addressed for decades must be changed. That is necessitated,
in large part, due to tight budgets and the need to spend a small fortune
to modernize aging roads, bridges, water and wastewater systems.
The report – “Rebuilding Our Infrastructure: Got a Spare Billion?” – recommends 63 solutions to the issue of decaying infrastructure.
Pattern President Jonathan Drapkin notes there is not one approach for all communities – each has its different needs; therefore the solutions are different.
“What is consistent is that there is simply not enough dollars to meet the needs that exist today, and therefore, we are going to have to be smarter and we are going to have to work together – which means shared services, and we are going to have to figure out are there ways to integrate technology, is there long-term planning, even if we don’t reach the goal,” he said.
Drapkin pointed to the City of Middletown, with its strong leadership, as a good example of shared services including the city’s sharing of its water resources with neighboring communities and economic development projects.
