Mayor Stewart Comes Up Short Again: What Is Stewart's Back-Up Plan? Where Is The Money?

All of our recent flooding updates and narratives with photos, video interviews, documents, etc. are published on-line in the New Britain Progressive’s “Flooding Series”. Listen to and view our City Council Presentations on the City Web-Site… Go to newbritainct.gov. Click on government, common council, videos.

In December 2023, Mayor Stewart advised us to feel free to criticize the way she spends the taxpayer’s money. Per Stewart’s invitation, we have stepped up to voice our opinions regarding Stewart’s priorities and fiscal behavior.

UPDATED 8-13-25 PRESENTATION #39: This updated record is being shared regarding the status of our neighborhood’s storm-sewer-sanitary system and the City and State responses.

To: -Our Neighborhood Flooding and Sanitary Back-Up Victims
-Concerned Residents and Taxpayers
-City and State Officials:

Mayor Stewart released her 2025 List of Projects in her Annual Message. The list included NB-FLUSH, Parks, Housing, Infrastructure, etc. Nothing was mentioned about the Allen St. Storm-Sewer-Sanitary Project. Mayor Stewart is still $6M short for the Allen St. Project.

1) The Allen St. System serves 177 acres of developed, congested, commercial and residential properties. Intense rainfall inflows and infiltrates our compromised underground infrastructure which floods and saturates our land. This flooding easily overwhelms our antiquated and undersized storm-sewer system and retention pond. Our section of this acreage (50+ properties and structures) receives the brunt of the contaminated flooding water along with the sanitary back-ups and breaks.

2) Remember, our neighborhood, block and property are not in a designated flood zone. The contaminants in the flooding water include a toxic mix of bacteria, fecal matter, fats, motor oil, grease, etc. Our neighborhood resembles a primitive third world country during these flooding events with this malfunctioning Allen St. storm-sewer-sanitary infrastructure.

3) The compromised Allen St. Storm-Sewer System creates an open air cesspool on Allen St. and in the surrounding neighborhoods. Our properties are the toilet bowls-catch basins where all of the contaminated flooding water gathers waiting for the rain events to end before receding. This is unacceptable, shameful and scandalous.

4) In 1995, Director Carilli determined with his engineers that the Allen St. Storm-Sewer System requires upgrades.

5) From 1995 to 2025, the record clearly shows how the Allen St. Problem has grown from a localized, small storm-sewer back-up to the neighborhood wide storm-sewer-sanitary flooding emergency that it is today.

6) Over the past 30 years, City Officials chose to kick the Allen St. Project down the road allowing the system to deteriorate further. City Official neglect and mismanagement has carried the day regarding the Allen St. Project.

7) In 1997, Mayor Pawlak noted that we don’t want storm water infiltrating the sewage system because it needlessly increases the water volume treated at the plant. Therefore, it costs all New Britain taxpayers more money and the excessive storm water strains and overwhelms the plant.

8) In 2012, Mayor O’Brien responsibly initiated the Cardinal Engineering Plan for the Allen St. Problem with an estimated cost of nearly $7M.

9) In 2013, Mayor Stewart took office and chose to ignore Mayor O’Brien’s Allen St. Plan. The 2025 updated Cardinal Engineering Plan for Allen St. with approvals will total nearly $15M.

10) Through the years 2013-2025, Mayor Stewart described the Allen St. Project this way: “The Allen St. Project is our most pressing need. 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.”

11) Mayor Stewart also identified the antiquated storm-sewer cross connections on Allen St.
These cross connections funnel storm water into the sewage system. The cross connections and the infiltration noted by Mayor Pawlak needlessly cost all New Britain taxpayers more money. Our taxpayers are unaware of this.

12) In 2018, Mayor Stewart refused our invitations (multiple times) to walk our neighborhood with us. Our lingering questions went unanswered, for example, “Do we need to upgrade the underground system along Allen St.”? Stewart and her associates went silent.

13) We had 3 floods in 2018, the year we started tracking the flooding. Stewart wrote, “Allen St. is a definite hazard we hope to mitigate”. As we have noted, Stewart knew in 2013 that the Allen St. System was compromised. Writing memos does not get the job done.

14) When the contaminated flooding water recedes and during DRY SPELLS the taxpayers and residents in the Belvedere Section of Ward 4 are conveniently forgotten by our City Officials.

15) 6 floods occurred in 2023 and 4 more in 2024. Weston-Sampson Engineers declared in 2023, “The Allen St. Project must be a priority because the infrastructure is at crisis levels”. To date, Mayor Stewart has refused to prioritize, fully fund and construct the Allen St. Project.

16) Over the past 12 years, hundreds of millions of earmark free dollars have been funneled to Mayor Stewart from our State and Federal Partners. Not One Dollar was used to fully fund and construct the Allen St. Project.

17) Once again, Mayor Stewart expects the State to bail her out. We have learned that our State Officials have offered a $2M grant in aid which we are grateful for. Mayor Stewart you are still $6M short for the Allen St. Project. What is your back-up plan? Where is the money?

18) Our City Officials have neglected and mismanaged the Allen St. Problem for over 30 years including 12 years on Mayor Stewart’s watch. Again, Mayor Stewart has noted during her years in office, “The Allen St. Project Is Our Most Pressing Need.”

19) Along with thousands of extra water treatment dollars that our taxpayers have unknowingly paid out over the years because of storm water infiltration and cross connections, we must include the thousands of dollars spent to repair the antiquated Allen St. storm-sewer-sanitary failures. Also, factor in the expensive updates to our aging Allen St. engineering plans and the reimbursements to our flooding victims for their damage claims.

20) In total, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent needlessly. This does not include the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by us and our neighbors to mitigate our properties hoping to avoid future catastrophic losses due to the flooding and sanitary back-ups. All of this is out of our control. Our City Officials refuse to reimburse us for these mitigation expenses.

21) Because of City Official neglect and mismanagement, millions more dollars are now needed to construct the Allen St. Project in today’s dollars vs. 2013 dollars. All of this is fiscally irresponsible behavior with ongoing neglect.

22) The cause and effect because of the neglected Allen St. Problem is clearly identified. Whether one home is flooding due to compromised infrastructure systems, or 50 properties or 100 properties, each case requires the maximum effort and full funding from our City Officials for these long overdue upgrades.

23) We have debunked all of Stewart’s Allen St. talking points. There is no more time for fabricated deflections, fuzzy math, phony transfers and political distractions from our City Officials.

24) As we have clearly shown, Mayor Stewart has failed us and continues to fail all of us, the flooding and sanitary back-up/break victims in the Belvedere Section of Ward 4 and all of the taxpayers in New Britain.

25) After 13 floods over the past 7 years, the 2025 Allen St. Plan is ready to go. Mayor Stewart, PRIORITIZE, FULLY FUND and start CONSTRUCTION of the Allen St. Project now. Mayor Stewart, you claim to have a $34M surplus to work with. You are $6M short for Allen St. Step up and fully fund the Allen St. Project for the benefit of all New Britain taxpayers.

Meanwhile, our quality of life continues to suffer, our safety continues to be in harm’s way and 50+ properties and structures are all at risk.

Thank you.

Frank and Sharon Chase