Allen St. Problem-Project #2 Oak St. to Beacon St: Flooding Updates City Council Meeting 5-8-24

To: -All Past and Present City Officials and All Present Department Directors
-All Long Suffering Flood Victims; Property Owners and Residents

This updated record is being shared regarding the status of our neighborhood’s storm-sewer system and Federal-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 contaminated, flooding water recedes, we are forgotten by our city officials. Even though our critical neighborhood is not in a flood zone, the flooding continues…6x’s in 2023.

For the benefit of all, let’s review the Allen St. Problem again with our updated Top Ten Listing. As the present mayor recently noted, the Allen St. Problem is a debacle:

1) We purchased 24 Roxbury Road in 1973 with a healthy, dry basement and a flood free property. Our property is not the same today…. Our neighborhood is not the same today.

2) Former Public Works Director Joe Carilli, in the mid-nineties wrote that the entire Allen St. Basin, including the Hampton-Eton Sub-Basin needs storm-sewer upgrades per our engineers.

3) As the years passed, development increased in the Allen St. area further stressing the compromised storm-sewer systems. Now climate change with the related severe weather events is magnifying the problem further. Over the years our city officials decided to kick the Allen St. Problem down the road, allowing the conditions to fester further. Now we have a crisis on our hands because of these delays. 35+ properties are effected; our taxpayers, property owners and residents are pleading for help… Meanwhile, the flooding continues.

4) The present mayor, in 2014 wrote in her memos that the Allen St. Project #2 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. This mayor continues in subsequent years, that the Allen St. Project #2 upgrades are the most pressing need in the city and the Allen St. Problem is a hazard we need to mitigate!

5) Public Works Director, Mark Moriarty, in 2023 confirmed for us that the storm-sewer system serving the Allen St. Basin is outdated and undersized with deteriorating clay mains and laterals.

6) Weston-Sampson engineers wrote in 2023 that the Allen St. Project must be a high priority because the infrastructure is at crisis levels. The present mayor noted in 2023, Climate change is here; Be Prepared…

We Are… The City is Not! Many of our neighbors including us have stepped up to install expensive water drainage systems and mitigation devices to help better manage the flooding water. One day we will be overwhelmed by this contaminated, flooding water.

7) The present mayor noted in 2024 that there may be numerous storm-sanitary cross connections on Allen St. Factor in these storm-sanitary cross connections, sanitary sewer back-ups and breaks due to insufficient capacity, deteriorating clay mains and laterals due to age, along with the resulting flooding due to storm-sewer failures… We have an urgent public health emergency that has been neglected and mismanaged for 30+ years!… This includes 10 years on the present mayor’s watch. The present mayor noted in 2024 that it is evident now more than ever that we need to see the Allen St. Project come to fruition.

8) Our property is positioned at the low point in our neighborhood, therefore, the bulk of the flooding water flows to us surrounding our property. 35+ property owners and residents on Allen St. and in the surrounding neighborhoods face many of the same issues as we do including; Water infiltration, as our water tables rise the resulting hydrostatic pressure increases around our foundations, soil saturation with the resulting erosion, settling and shifting… All threatening our properties and structures. Our engineers tell us the flooding water must be controlled.

9) The final Cardinal Engineering Plan will be completed soon. Funding ingenuity is required to finance the Allen St. Project #2 Oak St. to Beacon Street. State emergency bonding and other funding instruments will be required to complete this approximate $14M project. We may need as much as $4M to fulfill the city’s obligations for any possible bonding options. Over the years, millions of dollars have flowed to New Britain, allocated for other higher profile projects, not one dollar for the Allen St. Project. Our suggestion for the mayor is a simple one, Step Up and Fund the Allen St. Project!

10) Where is the money? All of this brings us to the infamous $4M transfer that was promised to us by the present mayor for the Allen St. Project, which was approved and confirmed by her just weeks before the election in 2023. Now it appears Resolution #36236 was never submitted to Finance Director Perugini for his review and follow-up. This looks like political theatre and/or unethical behavior just weeks before an election. Seven months later Perugini has clearly questioned the validity of the mayor’s actions. We are waiting for the mayor’s good faith explanations… See the attached supporting documentation:

For the past 30 years, city officials have underestimated and misjudged the hazardous conditions created by climate change and the resulting severe weather, while neglecting and mismanaging the required storm-sewer upgrades on Allen Street. Taxpayers vote for and ask our city officials to keep us safe and to insure our quality of life.

As we have detailed for you over the past 8 months, the evidence and the facts are revealing. The funding continues to be the obstacle in our path. The reality is simple; The city has the funding sources to complete the Allen St. Project. Thus far, 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.

Our neighborhood, block and property resembles that of a third world country during these flooding events because of an outdated, undersized, compromised storm-sewer system. All of our city officials; past and present are responsible for this ongoing infrastructure fiasco. Step up and do the right thing! See the attached Design Schedule for the Allen St. Project from NBPW, ALLEN STR. The clock is ticking, we need the funding ASAP.

The cause is undeniable… The effects will be catastrophic if the flooding is allowed to continue. There are many storm-sewer challenges in New Britain, however… None are greater than the Allen St Problem-Project #2!

Thank you.

Frank and Sharon Chase
Links in the message (1)