[nabs-l] Stolen grates draining city funds

[Joe]

I thought I'd pass this article along from USA Today, not for the municipal
budget drains, but for the safety concern. Be careful out there. Don't fall
in.--Joe

 

Stolen grates draining city funds By Larry Copeland, @ByLarryCopeland, USA
TODAY This is heavy theft. Thieves in communities around the USA are
stealing metal storm drain grates, costing local governments thousands of
dollars and imperiling the safety of motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
The steel or iron grates, which weigh 200-300 pounds apiece, cover storm
drains that are sometimes 4 to 5 feet wide with a drop of 10 feet or more,
Mark McKinnon of the Georgia Department of Transportation says. Authorities
here and elsewhere worry that motorists pulling over could damage their
vehicles by driving into an uncovered storm drain. Or that someone stopping
alongside a highway and getting out of a car, especially at night, could
tumble into one. We can't let this go or put it off, the way we can with
something like litter pickup," McKinnon says. This is a safety issue. When
these things turn up missing, we've got to replace them. It's happening in
other places, too: In recent weeks, thieves have stolen storm grates from
several communities in the Philadelphia area. In New Garden Township, police
are investigating the theft of 16 grates, says interim township manager
Spencer Andress. It's a real safety hazard," he says. There are three other
neighboring communities that have experienced this. Factoring in
transportation, installation and labor costs, replacing each grate costs
$700-$800, he says. One morning in February, the people of Perry Village,
N.Y., about 50 miles east of Buffalo, found seven storm drain grates
missing, village administrator Terry Murphy says. The village offered a
$1,000 reward, but there were no takers. My fear is it was somebody not in
the immediate area," he says. If it was a local, somebody would've ratted
them out. It's going to cost about $3,500 to replace the grates, he says.
Thieves in Gresham, Ore., stole 18 storm grates in the past few weeks that
will cost an estimated $7,500 to replace, Watershed Division manager
Jennifer Belknap Williamson told KOIN Local 6 television. In Atlanta, about
600 storm drain grates have been stolen over the past few months across the
metro area, mostly along expressways. Investigators are checking junkyards
but the grates, which fetch only $15-$20 when sold for scrap, have not
turned up, McKinnon says. With such a small return on investment as scrap
and with a two- or three-man crew required to steal each grate, McKinnon
says officials speculate that the grates are being sold out-of-state to
developers who are unaware that they're stolen. If somebody comes to a
developer or developers and says, 'We can get you these for $200 instead of
$350 or $400,' they would see that as a good deal, not realizing they're
stolen," McKinnon says. McKinnon says investigators are probing the
possibility that the Atlanta thieves are posing as utility workers or road
department personnel while doing their heavy lifting.