2009

Posted by Bob on July 24, 2009 under Daily Blogs | Be the First to Comment

Much of our time this week has been devoted to finding a solution to prevent further damage to residents in the Nettleton Avenue area effected by recent flooding. Recent weather has produced consistent and sometimes torrid rain storms which have further strained our waste water drainage system in certain neighborhoods. During the most severe storms which produce multiple inches of rain in less than an hour’s time, certain areas of our infrastructure have the potential to be compromised.

Water damage after a particular storm was significant to certain residents along Nettleton Avenue. After further reviewing the situation, it has become apparent that there are several problem areas that need to be addressed in a comprehensive manner. Our office has undertaken efforts to efforts to solve the short term and long term challenges to our waste water infrastructure.

Nettleton Avenue Area Waste Water Drainage System

On Wednesday, Borough Engineer James Stewart oversaw the flushing of the line that goes under the properties of certain Nettleton Avenue residents. Water flowed through the pipe, giving us an initial indication that there is probably not any significant blockage. Unless some other deviation is discovered when the pipe is viewed electronically next Wednesday, it is likely that the problems are being caused due to capacity rather than blockage.

Proposals to address the Nettleton Avenue issue should be ready for an engineering study by next Friday, with hopes that completion of the engineering work required can be done within the next forty five (45) days. Attempting to reconstruct pipes and/or redirect water without proper engineering could result in failure to properly address the problem at best, or greater damage to property at worst. This issue has apparently been ignored for many years. While it is not a new problem, our administration will not allow it to continue to be an old one. The Borough is currently investigating several funding sources from grant money to remaining bonding capacity from previous projects.

We would like to thank our state and federal legislative delegations, Borough officials, and Borough employees for their timely response to this issue. Their continued commitment to our community is much appreciated.

Solving the problem at Nettleton Avenue, however, is only the beginning. Naugatuck, like many older communities with high population densities, has old, small water pipes never designed to handle the development that has occurred around them. Many of the homes in certain neighborhoods would never be allowed to be built given modern concepts of planning, zoning and engineering. There are several areas of concern around the Borough which must be addressed.

Our administration has requested that the engineering department conduct an analysis of all potentially problematic areas in the Borough which have had capacity issues and/or caused flooding over the years. This will allow us to develop an improvement plan to address problems strategically rather than react to issues after they have negatively impacted citizen’s lives and property. While fixing the Nettleton Avenue situation quickly is the immediate concern, we must not simply hope that such problems do not occur in the future to other neighborhoods.