Critical Neighborhood Flooding Update: City Council Meeting 2-28-24

Get Involved. Stay Informed. Attend the City City Council Meetings and the Board of Finance and Taxation Meetings…OUR VOICES MUST BE HEARD!

This updated record is being shared regarding the status of our neighborhood’s storm-sewer systems and State-City responses. Our concerns need to be given the highest priority. Our quality of life is suffering and our property values have declined by 15%. When the flooding recedes, we are forgotten by our city officials. Even though our critical neighborhood is not in a flood zone…the flooding continues. 6x in 2023.

To: All Elected and Appointed City Officials and Our Long Suffering Property Owners and Residents

From: Frank and Sharon Chase

***496 Allen St. had a broken sewer main line lateral. This was repaired on January 25, 2024. The city is culpable for this damage because city officials have ignored, neglected and mismanaged the required Allen St. upgrades for decades. The new owner at 496 Allen St. has owned the property for the past 18 months, through the severe flooding of 2023. This broken sewer main lateral is further evidence that the storm-sewer system in Allen St. is compromised because of aging, undersized, deteriorating clay pipes.

The severe flooding caused by this compromised storm-sewer system with the resulting soil erosion, settling and shifting is contributing to the sewer main line lateral pipe breaks which our residents are obligated to pay for. This is wrong! This 100+ years old system must be upgraded asap. The city has known about this specific flawed system for over 30 years. Thus far, we have heard lots of talk but no real action from our elected officials and appointed city officials other than 10 year old engineering plan revisions and updates which are due to be completed shortly. The funding shell game continues, meanwhile, our innocent property owners are penalized for this neglect and mismanagement. DERELICTION of DUTY! SCANDALOUS and SHAMEFUL!***

See the attached documentation and a photo of the required construction at 496 Allen St. which the owner must pay for. We will have more flooding and pipe breaks on Allen St. and in the surrounding neighborhoods until the Allen St. Project 2 Oak St. to Beacon St. is upgraded per the engineer’s specifications. Please continue reading for more important facts…

As we have been told, the Cardinal Engineering efforts are moving along, we remain skeptical. The record of delay, deny, distract, distort, deceitful tactics speaks loudly:

1) The flaws in the Allen St. Basin and in the Hampton-Eton Sub-Basin were first identified in 1994 by city engineers.

2) The undersized, outdated storm-sewer systems with deteriorating clay mains must be upgraded asap to prevent further damage to our properties and structures. All of our engineers (Carilli, Moriarty, City, Cardinal, Weston-Sampson, Taddonio) agree, that the Allen St. Project must be listed as a high priority project. Real action plans are needed to complete the required upgrades with definitive time lines. The state of the infrastructure is at a crisis level.

As noted in the Weston-Sampson narrative: “The city of New Britain does not have a Resilience Improvement Plan; however, the project is identified in the Capital Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) 2019-2024 Capitol Region Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. The Allen St. Project is listed as a high priority project with the goal of minimizing the impact of natural hazards on physical buildings and infrastructure”.

As we know, the CRCOG Plan did not accurately identify the impact of the localized flooding water from the outdated, undersized Allen St. Basin System. The plan noted that only a few homes on Allen St. were effected. The reality is… 25+ properties in our critical neighborhood are being compromised by the storm-sewer water infiltration and soil saturation creating hydrostatic pressure, threatening our foundations and structures. Factor in the resulting soil erosion, settling and shifting; our underground infrastructure storm-sewer systems including CNG equipment, roadways, sidewalks, etc. are all in harms way. As you will see, the Mayor did recognize the effects of the compromised Allen St. Basin but has delayed the required upgrades for years prioritizing other higher profile projects.

3) Here are the comments I received from the Mayor in December 2023: “So to answer the question that you only care about, which is what is going to happen in your neighborhood, while the engineering process has begun, I would estimate that it would take at least a year, if not two to start any kind of construction and lock in proper financing. Again, those who have no idea how municipal financing works or how detailed and time consuming it is to execute a project of this magnitude will not understand why these things just don’t happen quickly. Good news is it will happen, bad news probably not on your time frame”.

My reply, it’s been 30+ years (10+ years on Erin’s watch) since we learned about this compromised storm-sewer system, meanwhile, city officials have allowed the system to deteriorate further. As you all know, we have been campaigning for all of our effected neighborhoods. And of course, I am concerned about my property and structures. We know that the construction for the Allen St. upgrades will take 2 years to complete. Based on the Mayor’s time line with construction, it appears the Allen St. Project will take 4 additional years to complete. Meanwhile, our critical neighborhoods will continue to flood.

4) Now let us focus in on our favorite topic: Funding! Where is the money?

Mayor Stewart’s Legislative Priorities: 2014-2022. You all have hard copies and e-mail versions of the Mayor’s Legislative Priorities Memos with highlighted sections describing the Allen St. Project and the Overlook-McKinley Project. Over these 9 years, the Mayor and previous councils have failed to prioritize money received from the State for the required Allen St. Project upgrades.

Over the years, within these memos, the Mayor has detailed for us the most pressing need…The storm-sewer upgrades on Allen St. For example; February 7, 2015, “The Allen St. Project is critical to resolving chronic issues including flooding due to storm-sewer failures, sanitary sewer back-ups and breaks due to insufficient capacity and the system’s age, and the general disrepair of the roadway and sidewalks themselves”. As we all know, these failures cause severe, unhealthy storm-sewer water flooding conditions on Allen St. and in our surrounding neighborhoods.

The $56M from the ARPA Funds were allocated for many worthy, important projects. None of the $56M was allocated for the most pressing need, the storm-sewer upgrades for the Allen St. Project. Once again, the Allen St. Project was ignored, neglected and mismanaged. Please refer to the last page of your handouts. You may say, $13M was allocated for the NB FLUSH Program. Once again, the Allen St. Project is a stand alone project never included in the NB FLUSH Program.

The Mayor had $56M to use, she could have easily allocated the money for the required Allen St. Project upgrades. She failed to do this, not one dollar. Erin had 56 million chances to improve upon the “most pressing need”. She chose not to. Unacceptable!

Nearly $14M in grant applications were submitted to FEMA and DOT over the past 2 years. State Officials report that there are no scheduled distributions from the FEMA-DOT grant programs at this time.

The Mayor has executed budget relief tactics limiting our bonding options for the Allen St. Project. Curiously, $20M of bonding was found for the new Public Works Operations Center. Over the past 7 fiscal years, the Mayor and previous councils have kicked the Allen St. Project down the road within the Capital Improvement Program with the note, Needs Funding-TBD.

In 2023, former Alderperson Luz Luna identified $4M in the General Fund which should be used for the Allen St. Project. Refer to resolution #36236. Because of Luna’s efforts, the City Council voted unanimously with Mayor Stewart’s signature to transfer $4M from the General Fund to the Public Works Account for the Allen St. Project. What is the status of this money?

In 2023, per former Alderperson Luz Luna, Director Moriarty identified an additional $3M in the Public Works Account that can be used for the Allen St. Project. What is the status of this money?

From Legislative Priorities to ARPA Funds, from Budget Relief Tactics to the Capital Improvement Project, from General Fund money and unexplained surplus money in the Public Works Account to Grants… All of this screams out for more fiscal oversight. Where is the money? Or, should we say… Follow the money! Meanwhile, our critical neighborhoods continue to flood.

As we have detailed for you, the evidence and facts are revealing. Our skepticism is justified based on Mayor Stewart’s failed efforts thus far. Bottomline… The funding continues to be the obstacle in our path. The reality is simple; The city has funding and funding sources to complete the Allen St. Project. Unfortunately, city officials have failed to obtain new funding and have prioritized available funds for other higher profile projects. After 30+ years, the funding shell game continues while our quality of life suffers and our properties are at risk.

We pay our taxes for the benefit of ALL residents. When we ask for our fair share to upgrade our vital Allen St. infrastructure systems, we are ignored by our city officials. We are demanding our fair share of State-City-Bonding-ARPA money which must be allocated for the long overdue Allen St. upgrades. Surprise us with a successful bonding effort as you did with the new $20M Public Works Operations Center. Meanwhile, the flooding continues in our critical neighborhoods.

The Mayor reports, Climate change is here, Be prepared! We ARE prepared… The City is NOT! We have proven that the present mayor has known about the compromised Allen St. infrastructure for 10+ years with no real, completely funded plan in place. This is SCANDALOUS and SHAMEFUL!

What is your plan with credible, expedited, specific time lines for the Allen St. Phase 2 Project Oak St. to Beacon St? We want to see and review your detailed plan with time lines including milestones by April 10th, 2024 at the scheduled City Council Meeting. Our city officials are forcing us to live with an imminent and an undeniable threat each day.

THE CAUSE IS UNDENIABLE…
THE EFFECTS WILL BE CATASTROPHIC IF THE FLOODING IS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE!

Thank you.

F&S Chase