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The storm drains on Park Avenue were recently paved over as the city prepared for rainfall as part of a repaving project.
Bhalla called it unacceptable and said the county executive's office has been ignoring him. Guy accused Bhalla of being dishonest and said staff had been in constant contact with city officials.
The mayor hit back in a letter to Guy, laying out the major deficiencies in the project.
"This is extremely concerning to me given the severe weather we are continuing to expect this week, and the potential for homes on Park Avenue to flood due to these deficiencies," Bhalla said.
Bhalla said he has been airing his concerns over the last five days and found the county's response "insufficient," claiming the Hudson County engineer has been ignoring calls and texts.
"While I certainly appreciate that mistakes can happen, if your staff does not have the appropriate inspection protocols in place to spot major errors before they are repeated, I respectfully ask you to rectify that on this project immediately, and on all projects going forward in Hoboken; and frankly – throughout the county," Bhalla said.
Bhalla is calling for an independent inspection team to go in and provide an analysis of how to rectify the situation in Hoboken.
Guy said Hudson County staff met with Hoboken officials on seven different occasions over two months to go over details of the project, which was two years in the making.
"We accommodated the city by waiting to start the project until after a water main project was completed along Park Avenue," Guy said. "City officials had two years to raise concerns and have been invited to every discussion along the way.
The county executive said they fixed all the clogged storm drains within days and again called Bhalla "dishonest."
“Today, I visited the site and spoke with residents who were impacted by this project," Guy said. "They were thankful for the county’s immediate response and efforts to address their concerns.
Mayor Bhalla’s assertion that our county staff does not have appropriate inspection protocols in place is again unfounded and dishonest. Should the mayor wish to see all the communications and meetings regarding this project, we will be happy to share this information with him."
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