Hartford residents look for action on flooding; MDC says it’s doing ‘multiple outreach meetings.’
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North Hartford residents say they are still awaiting action on flooding that has plagued the city, as Gov. Ned Lamont and his administration a month ago announced the commitment of $85 million from the state Clean Water Fund and related funding for a pilot program that will address sewage overflows in streets and basements.
The Clean Water Fund is administered by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and the fund is used by the state to provide financial assistance to municipalities for projects addressing wastewater.
The money will be applied to 12 projects proposed by the Metropolitan District to increase protections from sewer and stormwater-related flooding and backups in North Hartford, with the projects estimated to cost $170 million in total.
Community activist Bridgitte Prince said she has seen little done by the Metropolitan District Commission, despite the agency being aware that there is an immediate need, as there have been two major storms since Lamont’s announcement.
She said her concern stems in part from her findings that the city of Hartford received $500,000 to help assist residents through the Flood Mitigation Assistance program, which was established in 2021 to help homeowners who were affected by storms Fred, Henri, and/or Ida on a local level, but that it was not enough to assist residents fully with flooding and sewage issues.
Prince said there have been applicants who were denied access to this program, due to unreasonable requirements on the applications, which include questions on whether residents have back child support payments or delinquent parking tickets, and the need for several back tax returns.
Prince said she is asking the federal government and State Attorney General William Tong to look at who got the money and why some residents were disqualified from these funds. She said that she submitted a freedom of information request for detailed records of the fund.
“There’s a lot of questions that we have,” she said, noting she believes the MDC is moving slowly in its work.
But MDC spokesman Nick Salemi said that more than 100 backwater valve assessment appointments have been booked by the agency’s Utility Services Department over the last week and they are averaging 10 a day right now.
As far as outreach about the MDC’s upcoming North Hartford projects, he said the agency has been and continues to reach out directly to residents in North Hartford with mailings, doorhangers and fliers in the identified project areas.
“We already have had multiple outreach meetings on Durham street (one of the sewer separation project areas planned for construction next month) directly with residents,” Salemi said. “More are planned for the other project areas. This is a practice already established as part of our construction outreach.”
Salemi also said that the MDC has met with several Hartford Neighborhood Revitalization Zone groups in the past few months and provided information on the program, and are scheduled to attend more.
The MDC also now has a dedicated page on its website about the program for the public to stay updated on progress, along with a message printed directly on customer bills that states how to make an appointment.
Salemi also said that a separate bill insert was sent to their 100,000 customers with information on the program.
The MDC also plans more direct mailings, continued neighborhood outreach meetings, web/social media efforts and other opportunities to promote the program.
At the July 12 district board meeting, MDC commissioners discussed the new sewage House Connection Program, which will support new sewer house connections and address failing private property sewer house connections by allowing for the installation of new or renewed (replaced or rehabilitated) sewer house connections on private property to be funded by the district.
According to accompanying presentation materials, the benefit of renewing sanitary sewer house connections is a reduction in infiltration from private property (contributing to the goals of the Clean Water Program), more effective customer service/operations involvement in renewing house connections extending onto private property, and reduction of potential private property backups, caused by deteriorated house connections, root intrusion, and more.
Officials said that an important note about the new House Connection Program is that previously the MDC was not able to use Clean Water Fund appropriations for this type of private property work.
MDC Chair William A. DiBella said he commends CEO Scott Jellison, the legal team, and staff for helping the agency with the upcoming programs and projects in North Hartford.
However, he noted that this is not a total solution to the sewage and stormwater issues that residents face, but a first step in the right direction.
Jellison agreed and said he shared this with residents during a public hearing on June 29 at the North End Senior Center.
Civil Rights/Environmental Attorney Cynthia Jennings said that it is important to recognize that when it was realized that climate change was a threat, nothing was done and now “we have an opportunity to set up a pilot program that works not only in the urban centers, but that expands out to the surrounding towns so that we can be safe. We can no longer take a chance on ignoring the issues of climate change, because we could all be underwater.”
She also said there are still residents who have had their houses and businesses flooded and have raw sewage in basements but still have not had them sanitized, cleaned, and made safe for them to return.
“Some people have been out of their homes since December. So we’re asking that MDC not only do the backflow valves, and do the sump pumps, but that they take the money that was already designated to do the separation of sewer and wastewater, and start going into North Hartford (to start) separating the wastewater from the sewer and…from the sewage to make sure that the people in North Hartford are no longer flooded,” she said. “There’s a resolution to this issue, we want it stepped up because the flooding continues, and it is getting worse.”
Greater African American Alliance president and mayoral candidate J. Stan McCauley said he wanted to stress that they will continue to fight for residents. He said that while there is an effort to rebuild the trust between politicians and residents, they still plan to trust and verify that the work begins.
A message seeking comment was left with Mayor Luke Bronin’s office.
