Reps from the Regional Water Authority said Thursday they want to buy land from the City of Derby in order to build a 1 million gallon water storage tank.
Whether the city is willing to sell remains to be seen.
The location is on about 2 acres of woods next to the Chatfield Street entrance to the Derby High School-Middle School campus.
If you’re driving up Chatfield Street from the Birmingham Health Center toward Hawthorne Avenue and make a left into the school’s main entrance, the location for the proposed tank is on the left.
It is a spot that will requires a smaller tank and is farther away from Derby residents than the water company’s previous top choice — at the top of “Telescope Mountain,” off Summit Street, a densely populated neighborhood.
Here is a map of the area:
That location was met with universal opposition from residents and Derby elected officials, including former Mayor Anthony Staffieri.
The Telescope Mountain tank would have been 2 million gallons — and would have required dynamite blasting, the removal of 13,000 cubic yards of rock, and hundreds of tractor-trailer trips to haul the rock off the site.
After several public meetings about two years ago during which neighbors lambasted the idea, Regional Water hired Tighe and Bond, a Shelton-based engineering and environmental firm, to consult on the project.
“We heard the message loud and clear, to look at other locations in the Valley,” said Beth Nesteriak, a manager with Regional Water.
Nesteriak said Tighe and Bond looked at more than 100 alternative sites, including in Ansonia and Seymour.
The water company also made some tweaks to the water distribution system. And they now predict the area won’t have as much demand for water as they originally calculated.
Now, reps for Regional Water said the city property at the high school entrance is the best location.
The location is near an existing, 12-inch water main, which means the project — if it moves forward — won’t require the utility company to dig up half of Derby to extend a pipe.
Regional Water’s Rose Gavrilovic estimated the utility would have to install about 200 feet of pipe to connect to the existing water main.
She also said that Regional Water would do much of the work in the summer, when the schools are not in heavy use.
“Another big consideration is the neighborhood impact,” Gavrilovic said. “In this area, we have the public works nearby, the dog park, Osbornebale park across the way. There is really one one residence nearby,” she said. “There is really minimal impact to residents.”
In this video from a public meeting in 2013, Stephen Rupar, a senior manager and engineer with Regional Water, explained why the tank is needed.
Several things need to happen before the project can move forward. Example — the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission would have to review it and decide whether to approve or reject it.
The Aldermen also have to decide whether they want to sell the land to the utility.
Gavrilovic said the tank would be about 50 feet high and 60 feet around, though the project is still being designed. She said the company would be willing to screen it from the public’s view with plantings. She also said the area’s topography should keep the thank hidden from Chatfield Street.
The issue was passed to a subcommittee of the Derby Board of Aldermen. It could return to the Aldermen’s agenda next month.
“My initial reaction is that it is a much better location,” said Art Gerckens, president of the Derby Board of Aldermen. “There is at least one neighbor, but compared to Summit Street and going up that hill and upsetting all those property owners — I think this is a far better location.”
