Allen Street Area Activists Share Message on Taxpayer Flooding Mitigation Reimbursements
To: Our Neighborhood Flooding, Sanitary Back-Up and Break Victims
Concerned Taxpayers and Residents
City, State, and Federal Officials
As Mayor Sanchez recently noted, “Our administration has been clear from the beginning: Taxpayers should not be forced to bear the financial consequences of the actions of former public officials.” Former Mayor Stewart failed to prioritize, fully fund, and build the Allen St. Project. We pleaded for Stewart’s assistance for 8 years and through 13 floods.
Stewart wrote countless memos regarding the Allen St. Problem, including these words: “The Allen St. Project is critical to resolving chronic issues, including flooding due to storm-sewer failures, sanitary back-ups and breaks due to insufficient capacity and the system’s age. The Allen St. Problem is a definite hazard, and the Allen St. Project is our most pressing need.” However…During Stewart’s 12 years in office, she failed the flooding victims in Ward 4 and the taxpayers in the City of New Britain.
As we have noted countless times to all of you, we cannot let the Allen St. Project be lost to the bureaucratic, fiscal, and political shuffle that has delayed it for 30+ years. All of our taxpayers are penalized by these delays due to the increased costs (millions of dollars) that are passed on to the City of New Britain from the Mattabasset Treatment Plant. These costs include additional pumping and treatment fees due to the excessive water entering the system from infiltration, inflows, overflows, and cross-connections in the compromised Allen St. Storm-Sewer System.”
Stewart’s inaction forced many of us to construct Flood Risk Mitigation Systems in our properties and structures, hoping to avoid future catastrophic damage claims. The overall goal of Flood Risk Mitigation is to reduce or eliminate potential flood damage. Research from the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) indicates that every $1 invested in flood mitigation saves an average of $6 in future damage costs. Smart Residential Mitigation Strategies lower the financial burden on local governments and on our property owners.
We have presented a reasonable Allen St. Mitigation Reimbursement Cost-Sharing Plan to Mayor Sanchez and Majority Leader McNamara for their review: a verifiable, itemized receipt, a 50/50 split with a $25K cap per property. As responsible flood victims and taxpayers, we demand accountability and action from our City Officials and timely reimbursements for our mitigation efforts because Stewart failed to protect all of us. Stewart’s dereliction of duty, gross negligence, and mismanagement violated our rights as taxpayers; this constitutes a violation of the public trust.
Thank you.
F&S Chase
Flooding Victims and Taxpayers
Independent Voices Matter
Humanity Over Blind Obedience
These links will help you better understand our circumstances resulting from Stewart’s reckless behavior while in office, which has negatively impacted our neighborhood, properties, and structures. Mayor Sanchez’s successful efforts to secure full funding for the Allen St. Project have also been noted.
