Public Works Committee Actions, City of Norwalk, Norwalk CT

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NOVEMBER 8, 2006

ATTENDANCE: Bill Krummel, Chairman; Doug Hempstead (7:40 p.m.)

STAFF: Hal Alvord, Director of Public Works; Lisa Bardon, Operations Manager; Richard Linnartz, Principal Engineer; Brian Sweeney,
Structural Engineer

OTHERS: Diane Cece; Jerry Curti; Jeannie Coppola; Ted Coppola;
Dimetrius Arnone; Donna Rostocki, Lisa Rivieccio; others

CALL TO ORDER

The Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. He stated that a quorum was not present. Mr. Hempstead arrived at 7:40 p.m.

PUBLIC INPUT

Residents of Olmstead Place re: flooding issues.

Ms. Diane Cece, 37 Olmstead Place, asked the Committee to suspend the rules and hear Item 8b (1) on the agenda at this time because there were two items on the DPW Project Review list, #12 Flood Consultant and # 14 Drainage Contract, that the public in attendance was interested in hearing about. The Chairman stated that they did not have a quorum present and therefore did not have to suspend the rules. The Chairman and Mr. Hempstead concurred to address Item 8(b) 1) of the agenda.

Pertaining to #12 Flood Consultant on the DPW Project Review List, Mr. Alvord reported that preliminary information from the flood consultant had been reviewed by he and Mr. Linnartz the previous day. He said that Tighe and Bond were going through eight locations and he and Mr. Linnartz were comfortable with the proposed solutions for two out of the eight areas. The other six locations there were questions on and he should expect a report on those in the near future. He reported that the two locations that they were moving forward with, and the study was complete, were Buckingham/Lockwood and Noah’s Lane. Ms. Cece asked if he could review their recommendations and Mr. Alvord replied that the recommendation was for bigger pipes for Buckingham and Lockwood but the question was how much bigger and what were the associated costs; for Noah’s Lane the recommendation is one of two piping configurations. Regarding the #14 Drainage Contract, Mr. Linnartz reported that it included Olmstead Place, going past the railroad tracks and then continuing south from Stanley down to Mill Pond to Fitch Pond. He stated that they were cleaning and redoing the videotaping, but he had to work with Metro North because they do not have the right to do any work within the Metro North right of way.
Ms. Jeannie Coppola, 35 Olmstead Place, stated that they knew about this ten years ago and no one did anything. Mr. Linnartz replied that it was done five years ago and they are doing it again. Mr. Dimetrius Arnone, 39 Olstead Place, questioned if the Metro North culvert was cleaned. Mr.Linnartz replied that all culverts were cleaned along Metro North five years ago. He said that the City can clean its pipes out but they need to have Metro North’s culvert cleaned out by Metro North. He said that they have $250,000 budgeted for cleaning and videotaping in this fiscal year. Mr. Arnone asked what the studies showed. Mr. Linnartz stated that after the 2002 flooding event at Olmstead Place, Buckingham and Olmstead were cleaned but it appears to be a bigger than that now and they have to address that and Metro North.

Ms. Donna Rostocki, 33 Olmstead Place, asked if anything was found at the other six locations. Mr. Alvord replied that there were other things that they wanted them to investigate. Mr. Arnone stated that he appreciated where the City was coming from but he sustained more flooding than anyone and asked what quality of life he had in the Town. Mr. Linnartz stated that this was the first drainage study done in ten years and Olmstead Place was at the top of the list for evaluation. Mr. Arnone asked how long and how much patience did they expect from him. He stated that he was a 44 year resident of Norwalk and he was tired of it. Mr. Linnartz replied that in the next couple of months they should find out what the problem is and the costs to solve it. He said there were no guarantees. Mr. Alvord reported that until this fiscal year they did not have the resources for this study. He said that now they have some resources and are trying to come up with a solution and they will do it in a phased approach so that the City could afford it.

Ms. Jeannie Coppola was upset that she could not put her car in the garage and stated that the floods were getting worse. She said that there have been 12 floods and she could not deal with it anymore. Mr. Ted Coppola said that East Norwalk was the oldest part of Norwalk and asked if that meant that the storm drains were the oldest. Mr. Linnartz replied that the entire Norwalk infrastructure was very old. Mr. Coppola said that adding new condominiums and homes just adds to the problem. He stated that something has to be done and they need relief and are tired.

Ms. Lisa Rivieccio, 33 Buckingham Place, asked if the problem had to do with the size of the pipes. Mr. Alvord replied that the consultant came in with a number of proposals based on the inches of rain and pipe sizes. He said he asked them to look at other alternatives to pipes, such as retention and detention, but the only viable solution is bigger pipes.

Mr. Jerry Curti, 37 Olmstead Place, said that the last recommendation for Buckingham and Lockwood on 9/18/02 after the flood was for $1.3 million to install piping. He asked if that was what they were proposing. Mr. Linnartz replied that this was for a total watershed improvement, not just one piece of pipe on Lockwood. Mr. Curti asked if the videotaping from Fitch to Mill Pond was complete. Mr. Linnartz replied that they did not go below the railroad because of the vault problem. Mr. Curti said when he met with Peter Romano he said there were only two streets done, Raymond and Myrtle and Fitch to the vault. Mr. Linnartz responded that Fitch Street North to Olmstead was done. Mr. Curti asked if it was done to Mill Pond and noted that Mayor Knopp took out money to do the entire system. Ms. Cece stated that four years ago they were told that Fitch Street could not be videotaped because it was severely clogged. Now they are being told that the scope of the video project never went beyond Fitch Street. Mr. Curti said the bottom line was that the credibility of the DPW and the City was not very good. Mr. Alvord replied that everyone involved four years ago was gone and that he can only tell them what they were going to do now with the resources they have. Ms. Cece stated that through this miscommunication they are still trying to understand why they flood and how do they fix it. She said that they can’t live like this anymore. She stated that on August 29th she told Mr. Alvord that the drains were clogged. He told her that Metro North would not be available until August 30th and he prepared her for potential flooding. She stated that the next day Metro North trucks showed up. Mr. Alvord replied that it was the City trucks that came out and cleaned what they could because Metro North trucks did not have the power for such heavy blockage. He said that Metro North was out there with the City vacuum trucks. Ms. Cece said that on October 25th she asked again what happened on August 27th and Mr. Alvord advised her that it was caused by 9 inches of rain and not maintenance disparity. She said that it was a misnomer because the rain accumulation was actually 4.73 inches.

Mr. Hempstead stated that the Committee and the Common Council understood their needs, however the process for approving money was time-consuming and was only done once a year on July 1st. He said that there was movement to address this but it was not going to happen immediately. The Chairman stated that by the homeowners showing up they were doing a good job. He said he hears that they are hurting very badly and he hears their frustration. He said it was incumbent on the Committee that the residents have information on what is going to be done. Ms. Cece stated that they understood the budget process now and asked to keep them informed. She asked that they again be on the agenda for December. Mr. Alvord stated that when he has a proposal to put in the capital budget he would be happy to meet with her. Mr. Curti stated that he appreciated everything they were doing. He asked for more help since they will not see progress until July 1st. He also asked Mr. Alvord to reinforce his group to do proper maintenance in cleaning the drains.

APPROVALS/AUTHORIZATIONS

1. Approve the Minutes from the Public Works Committee meeting of Tuesday, October 3, 2006.

The minutes were not approved due to there not being a quorum.

2. Authorize the Mayor, Richard A. Moccia, to execute an Agreement with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB, Inc.), to provide Pavement Engineering Inspection, Evaluation and Software Services, for a sum not to exceed $150,000.

Account No. 09 04 4021 5777 C0283