Darien Times Polls on Noroton Hts Fix

The Darien Times Website has a feature article on the hold-ups of the Baker Park flood mitigation for Heights Road. There’s also a survey asking whether 100 year old trees should be removed for flood control. The overwhelming answer today is to save the trees. We anticipate that those who choose trees aren’t choosing them over people. I’m sure our tree loving neighbors will be there to help the Heights Rd shops schlog their wet inventory to dumpsters after the next flooding. If you’re advocating continued flood damage, then you need to be willing to put your money, time, and back muscles into the clean up and continued losses.

What’s Up With Noroton Heights Flooding?

Slow Go For Noroton Flood Control at Baker Park

Darien, CT– Tonight Bob Steeger from Public Works took citizens on a tour of the proposed “offset” site for the Baker Project. It was interesting to see how misunderstood this project is.

The State DEP has demanded an “offset”… the rehabilitation of a wetlands to make up for a small wetlands area at the Baker Park site. The site chosen by the DEP and Public Works Dept. is just to the left of the entrance to Darien High School at the end of Noroton Ave.  If you look at the site you’ll see that there is a small creek – a tributary—and a large berm between the creek and the DHS driveway.

From what Mr. Steeger shared tonight, here’s some interesting facts to keep in mind about this site:

1. The creek channel was dug out about 40 years ago as part of a drainage project. The dirt from the dig was piled up for the berm, no specific purpose just an economy to avoid the cost of carting it away.
2. During this project 40 years ago or so, this land was changed from a wetlands area to a woodland.
3. The creek does not flow to Long Island Sound, but in the opposite direction toward the back of DHS and to Stony Brook.
4. The plan is to take out trees and dig out the berm. It will bring the land down the level of the channel and create an area where water can perk into the soil. There will also be new berms perpendicular, across, the channel. The new berms will slow the flow of water in sever storms.
5. Only trees on the DHS side of the channel will be removed and AFTER the soil is removed new trees and plants will be planted.  All the large trees on the other side will remain and will continue to provide a curtain between homes and the high school. 

There seems to be a lot of grumbling about the removal of trees. I love trees. They are what attracted us to Connecticut. Unlike a sports facility that removed trees and didn’t replant, these trees at DHS will be replaced. Unlike builders clear cut property in Darien, the land will remain in a pervious state without a mega-mansion, driveway, patio and other concrete hard-scape features that prevent water from perking into the soil.   

The thing that speaks the best for both sites of the Baker Field project is the DHS site. Years ago trees were removed and saplings planted. Trees have re-grown.  This is what will happen again. 

There are just some things that are a given in Darien. Our Town government sucks at communicating. The number of disgruntled people at this walk-through stems from poor notice of the project and poor communication of what will be done.

However, putting bad communication aside… this project needs to happen.  Who wants to call Valvala’s, Innovative Invitations, or Sanda’s to tell them they need to climb up on their counters to escape water the next time there’s a heavy storm?  The Town and their engineers say this project will improve flooding and make no area flood more.  We need to prove that 50 years of neglected flood control is behind Darien!

Darien Flooding…MIA in the Stimulus Package Request

Darien, CT — Never have we flooded so much (2007 in Darien) to being forgotten so quickly by our town representatives (2009 in Darien).

The January 6, 2009 edition of the Darien Times reported that the town was requested money for flood mitigation. NOT TRUE! I didn’t recognize any of the projects reported in the press: they weren’t the suggestions found in the Flood Mitigation Committee’s report nor were they repairs of any of the “hot spot” in the 12 Work Orders Save Darien’s Wetlands presented to the Department of Public Works, Board of Selectmen, EPC, and Board of Finance.

The items reported as flood projects kind of sounded like sewage to me. So, I went to the Board of Selectmen Meeting the following Monday and asked if Robert Steeger (head of Public Works) could elaborate on the Flood Mitigation Projects reported in the newspaper. Karl Kilduff, the town administrator clarified that the paper had made a mistake and that all the projects were for sewage and waste water.

Sorry folks, I’m still mystified. Governor Rell asked the towns to submit “shovel ready” projects for the state’s request for stimulus funds. Almost two years after promising to get right on this flooding thing… the town still feels they have no “shovel ready” projects. But hey, they have some great aerial photos. Of course the photos look much the same as you can get on google, google earth, msn, seadragon, et al… FOR FREE! And they had to shrink the La Forge Road flood mitigation project, eliminating the the Lillian Terrace part due to expenses. Wasn’t that “shovel ready” and just in the need of funding?

I see that Darien’s imaginary flood mitigation projects have made it into the New York Times (read article).  You gotta love this. The New York Times really did their research, NOT! They report “Darien requested $5.5 million to mitigate flooding.” Darien requested NOTHING. The Times article gives a link to the list by town of stimulus requests (view PDF). This shameful list shows that flooding is NOT on the list.

When is the next election in Darien? You can bet Flooding is going to be a hot topic. Each candidate from each party ran on flooding in the last election .  They’ve seem to believe that getting together to talk and filing failed applications for permits and grants is the same as taking ACTION on flooding. IT IS NOT.  Where was flooding on their list when they filed for stimulus money? The answer is that flooding wasn’t on their list at all.

Don’t you think it’s odd that both the Darien Times and the New York Times misunderstood from Town Hall on the same issue? Doesn’t look like a coincidence. Perhaps what our politicians are saying to the press is different than what they are doing?