The South Central Regional Water Authority on Tuesday unveiled new plans to put a 2 million-gallon water storage tank on Derby’s Telescope Mountain.
The new plans would see the water tank built on a location to the south of the originally proposed site.
The company said the change would eliminate construction traffic on narrow Summit Street and require 400 fewer truck trips to remove rock blasted or excavated at the site.
Though residents of the area condemned the original proposal at public hearings this year, the company said in a prepared statement Tuesday that its employees and consultants “significantly redesigned” the proposal and “have worked to address the safety and community issues expressed during the hearings.”
The company also launched a website, communitywatertank.com, with details on the proposal.
Background
In December the South Central Regional Water Authority proposed putting the 2‑million gallon concrete storage tank on Telescope Mountain.
Company officials said they wanted to build the storage tank off Summit Street and Mountain Road to provide better water service and fire protection for Derby’s west side.
Water service in west Derby trickles to next to nothing when the city’s old water mains fail. It’s a dangerous problem for Griffin Hospital, the institution’s chief executive officer told the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission in January.
Local fire officials also endorsed the proposal.
But neighbors in the area were less enthusiastic, especially after leaning the proposal involved blasting into the mountain’s rock outcroppings to remove some 13,000 cubic yards of rock.
The blasting would last three to four weeks and involve at least 750 truck trips to cart rock from the site, company officials told the Planning and Zoning Commission during a public hearing in January.
Click here to read more about the public hearing.
The company then withdrew its original plans and said they’d file a new application after revising them.
New Proposal
The water authority in its statement issued Tuesday said that “the most important aspect of the redesign is safety.”
“The new location on the southern portion of the property eliminates construction traffic from Summit Street and the surrounding neighborhoods,” the company said. “The new CWT location also eliminates the need to construct a water main along narrow residential streets including Fall Street, Emmett Avenue and Eleventh Street and other utility work on Mountain Street.”
Construction access for the new proposed location would be off Coon Hollow Road.
The company also said the new location would make the tank less visible to residents of the area.
Article continues after drawing of the new plan posted below.
The company also said that it plans to buy nearly 18 acres of land around the tank site, and hopes to conserve 12 of them as open space.
The land is currently owned by a limited liability company controlled by Shelton-based John J. Brennan Construction Company.
The water company said it will mail letters to neighbors informing them of the new plans and will also host an “informational meeting” with the neighborhood.
Kate Powell, a spokeswoman for Regional Water, said in an e‑mail Tuesday that a date for that informational meeting has not yet been set, but would probably be before the company submits an application to the city’s land use boards.
Powell said RWA will seek approvals from the city’s Inland-Wetlands and Planning and Zoning commissions this summer and fall and hopes to begin site work on the project next spring.
By that timeline, actual construction of the tank would start in summer 2014, and if all were to go according to plan, it would be in service by fall 2014.
Powell said that RWA “believes that the new plan addresses the issues brought up by the neighbors,” but said she couldn’t speculate about whether those originally opposed to it would be satisfied by the changes.
Alderman Ron Sill, who represents the city’s second ward, which includes the Telescope Mountain area, said Tuesday he hadn’t heard anything about the new plans.
He called RWA’s plans to meet with residents a “good move” but withheld judgment until more information is available.
“There’s still quite an active group of residents who are opposed to this,” Sill said. “It does cause some concerns.”
Sill also held out hope that Telescope Mountain could be conserved, an idea Aldermen discussed briefly during a meeting in April.
The Valley Indy left a message Tuesday for Sharlene McEvoy, an Emmett Avenue resident who gathered more than 140 signatures in opposition to the water tank proposal.
The Valley Indy also left a message for Mayor Anthony Staffieri, who opposed the water company’s original proposal, but had been involved in closed-door discussions with the company about its new plans.
A fact sheet published by the water authority on its website for the project is posted below.
