Allen St. Problem-Project #2 Oak St. to Beacon St. Our 21st Presentation to New Britain Officials. July 10, 2024
To: Ward 4 Constituents, Taxpayers, Property Owners, Flooding Victims and New Britain Officials
This updated record is being shared regarding the status of our neighborhoods’ storm-sewer systems and the Federal-State-City responses. Our concerns must 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. As a reminder to all, the unhealthy contaminates in the flooding water includes bacteria, fecal matter, fats, motor oil, grease, etc.
Our recent Real Estate Tax Bill has risen to $8,834. per year. The Clean Water Fund Charges are added to our water-sewer bill each year totaling $75. along with our additional water-sewer charges. Per the current mayor, the Clean Water Fund money will be used to reduce pollution and soil erosion and to minimize flooding in vulnerable neighborhoods. Meanwhile, our neighborhood, block and property continues to flood.
My step son Dale lives in California. He is visiting with us this week. He was raised at 24 Roxbury Road. He is a proud graduate from the CCSU High Honors Program. He finds all of this flooding to be an unnecessary hardship for us. His mother suffers from familial hypercholesterolemia which prevents her from attending council meetings. She needs to stay calm. It’s difficult to stay calm while we monitor weather maps and while our property is flooding.
The saga continues:
1) Even though our critical neighborhood is not in a flood zone, the flooding continues… 6x’s in 2023. The tropical rainy season for 2024 is here. In fact, our neighborhood has flooded 6-22-24 and 6-30-24. 6-30-24 we received 3 inches of rain within approximately 90 minutes. The compromised Allen St. Storm-Sewer System failed us again.
In case you may have missed it, the Cardinal Engineering Final Plan for the Allen St. Project #2 should be completed shortly per the NBPW Design Schedule. (See attachment). We are now demanding an update regarding the status of this design schedule. Are we on schedule? Where is the money? When will the construction begin?
We are told the construction will take 18-24 months to complete once its started. If the Allen St. Project is funded and started by the spring of 2025 we must live through at least 2 more tropical rainy seasons and the resulting flooding before the Allen St. Project is completed. Obviously, a sense of urgency must be applied to this project by all city and state officials.
Our state legislators have noted their willingness to help us procure a state bond worth $10M for the nearly $15M Allen St. Project #2. There is some hope with this proposed funding. As we understand it, the City of New Britain is obligated to make up the difference, which seems to be close to $5M…or 30% of the total cost. The city’s portion remains unfunded at this time. As the current mayor notes in her 2024 Annual Message, “Recently both the Fitch Rating Agency and S&P upgraded our bond rating profiles”. Great news, so…Where is the bonding for the Allen St. Project #2?
The current mayor continues in her annual message, “Overseeing the City’s Budget is one of the most important responsibilities that comes along with being the mayor. I am proud to say that this year’s budget prioritizes the needs of our residents, funds all the city services we expect and fulfills all of our obligations in a financially responsible manner”. Prioritizes the needs of our residents? Really? The City of New Britain is over $325M in debt. We will be paying down this debt for years to come. The current mayor has known about the flooding issues in our neighborhoods since she took office in 2013. 35+ property owners and countless residents are effected by these flooding events because of the Allen St. problem. Our neighborhoods continue to flood on Mayor Stewart’s watch. Prioritize and Fund the upgrades for the Allen St. Project #2.
Ward 4 Aldermen McNamara, Conners, Smedley, Ward 5 Aldermen Santiago, Mayor Stewart and Director Moriarty, “What are you doing to help move the Allen St. Project along?”. We suspect the current mayor may be preoccupied with her gubernatorial campaign planning for 2026.
Over the past 10 months, we have provided all of you with our video interview, photos, narratives, articles and supporting documentation via e-mail and in hard copies. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions, constructive suggestions, etc. Remember, the current mayor wrote that she welcomes our criticism and questions regarding her fiscal spending habits and her decision making.
2) The current mayor’s description: “The Allen St. Project #2 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 hazard we need to mitigate. It is evident now more than ever, that we need to see this project come to fruition”. The current mayor also reports that there are storm-sanitary cross connections on Allen St. further contributing to this public health emergency.
Over the years, the current mayor wrote in her memos to our state legislators: “The Allen St. Project #2 is our most pressing need”. Why did the current mayor fail to prudently update the semi-final Cardinal Engineering Plan from 2013 and press for the proper funding years ago? Instead, over the years, she has allowed the Allen St. Storm-Sewer System to deteriorate, further threatening our neighborhoods and properties. Simply writing memos does not get the job done.
The current mayor noted in 2023 during an interview with NBC: Climate change is here; Be prepared…We are, the city is not!
Bottomline, the compromised Allen St. Storm-Sewer System has created an open air cesspool on Allen St. and in the surrounding neighborhoods. Our properties are the toilet bowl-catch basins where all of the contaminated flooding water gathers waiting for the rain events to end before receding. This is unacceptable and scandalous.
3) WHERE IS THE MONEY?
Our state legislators report that millions of dollars have flowed into the City of New Britain. Since 2013, the current mayor has prioritized and allocated this money for many higher profile projects…Not ONE DOLLAR for the Allen St. Project #2…Our most pressing infrastructure need!
We have discovered 60 million reasons for our ongoing disgust and distrust. Of the $60M in ARPA Infrastructure Funds that the City of New Britain has recently received from our federal and state partners, Not ONE DOLLAR has been allocated for Allen St…Our most pressing need!
We, along with the other taxpayers in our neighborhood, have diligently paid our taxes for decades. We are demanding our fair share of money from Federal-State-City governments to fund our most pressing need, the Allen St. Project #2.
The city has the funding sources to complete the Allen St. Project. Thus far, city officials have failed to obtain new funding from these sources and have prioritized available funds for other higher profile projects such as the Bee Hive Bridge, Stanley Events Pavilion, Public Works Operations Center, Downtown Luxury Housing and many others.
4) As a reminder, we purchased our home in 1973 with a healthy, dry basement and a flood free property. Our neighborhood and our property are not the same today. Our property is positioned at the low point in our block. Consequently, much of the flooding contaminated water flows to our property surrounding our structures.
Intense rainfall, such as the weather we received June 30, 2024, overwhelms our compromised storm-sewer systems. Our water tables rise and the flooding storm-sewer water infiltrates and saturates our land and structures. The resulting increased underground water pressure threatens our foundations and structures. Factor in the related soil erosion, settling and shifting our foundations and structures are further at risk.
5) The contaminated flooding water from the compromised Allen St. Storm-Sewer System continues to threaten us with each passing weather event. Obviously, our skepticism, cynicism and suspicions are justified based on the current mayor’s failed efforts to prioritize and fund the Allen St. Project #2. Yes, the current mayor has been disingenuous with all of us in Ward 4.
Our neighborhood and block, (over 35 properties) resembles that of a third world country during these flooding events. We have an urgent public health emergency that has been concealed from us, downplayed, neglected and mismanaged for the past 30 years, including 10 years on this current mayor’s watch…In legal terms, it’s called dereliction of duty, gross negligence, nonfeasance and abuse of power.
The cause is undeniable…The effects will be catastrophic if the flooding is allowed to continue. The compromised Allen St. Storm-Sewer System and the required upgrades are beyond our control. The resulting flooding and the related damage is beyond our control. There are many storm-sewer challenges in New Britain, however, none greater than the Allen St. Problem. Our engineers have verified all of this. For example, Weston-Sampson Engineers wrote in 2023 that the Allen St. Project #2 must be a high priority because the infrastructure is at CRISIS levels!
Prioritize and Fund the Allen St. Project #2 Oak St. to Beacon St!
Items 6 and 7 are self explanatory:
6) For those that may have missed it, here is the time line for the bogus, scandalous $4M transfer for the Allen St. Project #2:
9-27-23 Resolution 36236: The previous city council voted unanimously with no objections for this $4M transfer from the General Fund to the Public Works Account; signed by the current mayor, approving the transfer on 9-28-23 just weeks before the city wide election on 11-7-23. (See attachment).
10-11-23 Resolution 36259: This is a request for information regarding the status of the money in the General Fund.
10-25-23 Resolution 36259-1: Finance Director Perugini presented this response to the former city council and to the current mayor, clearly noting the status of the money in the General Fund… No money was available for this transfer as of 6-30-23. The General Fund had $6.6M assigned and earmarked for tax stabilization and BOE operating funds and $15.2M was mandated and unassigned for unanticipated expenditures… No money was available for this transfer. (See attachment).
10-25-23 Resolution 36258: This is a request to verify the $4M transfer.
10-27-23 Resolution 36258-1: This response drafted by the chief of staff, and signed by the current mayor confirming the $4M transfer just days before the city wide election on 11-7-23. The transfer never happened!
This resolution was signed by the current mayor 2 days after Perugini had informed the former city council and the current mayor about the status of the money in the General Fund. No money was available for this transfer. (See attachment).
At that time, the current mayor was in office for 10 years and her chief of staff had been in office since January 2020. As the mayor noted, when she promoted Justin Dorsey to Chief of Staff, he had been with her since 2013. She said, “No one knows the city better than he does. He is an expert on all things New Britain”.
We find it concerning that these seasoned political operatives and experienced administrators failed to follow proper transfer protocols. They drafted and signed resolution 36258-1 confirming this $4M transfer…This transfer never happened. The money was not available for this transfer. We suspect that they were misleading the voters in Ward 4 just days before a city wide election. Apparently, we were collectively deceived by the current mayor and her chief of staff.
4-20-24 Resolution 36453 and 36453-1: Six months after the current mayor signed off approving and confirming this $4M transfer, this resolution was filed asking for the status of the $4M. Perugini responded with his list of resolution deficiencies. Transfer protocols were NOT followed by the current mayor and her chief of staff. The transfer never happened because the money was unavailable. (See attachment).
7) For those that may have missed it:
We have learned that the State Mandated Audit Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023 is now available for our review. It was due December 31, 2023. The fiscal reporting delays continue which impacts our ability to fully understand the actual fiscal position the city is in.
We learned from the last audit which was 1 year late, that the city is in debt over $325M. The results from the previous audit indicate that the auditors found a, “Material Weakness in Internal Control over Financial Reporting,” because, “The City’s bank reconciliations were not completed for over a year after the end of the fiscal year.” More of the same with the recently released audit for FY 2023.
We demand timely fiscal transparency and accountability from our city officials. As we have learned through our due diligence process, all of our city officials and their documented behavior requires comprehensive oversight at all times with strict accountability standards.
Over the years, we have heard all of the excuses from city officials regarding the Allen St. Problem, including project costs and complexities, deferred responsibility, etc. No more deflections, misinformation, disinformation, delay tactics. Enough is Enough!
Meanwhile, the contaminated flooding water continues to threaten our neighborhoods. As a reminder to all, the unhealthy contaminates in the flooding water includes bacteria, fecal matter, fats, motor oil, grease, etc.
Thank you.
F&S Chase
