The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Residents ‘extremely’ pleased city will fully replace Pameacha dam
MIDDLETOWN — City officials have decided to entirely replace the crumbling brownstone dam at Pameacha Pond, more than 150 years old, in the south portion of the city, and are seeking federal funding to partially cover the cost.
Presently, $3 million worth of sewer line replacement is underway on Pameacha Road. The project is about halfway complete, according to Middletown Water & Sewer Department Director Joseph Fazzino. It closed to through traffic earlier this month and is expected to reopen by the end of June.
Work involves replacing the original 1930s sewer line, which goes through a culvert into which a stream also flows, then travels underneath a parking lot alongside the Wilcox Apartments and into a ravine, according to Water & Sewer Chief Engineer Brian Robillard.
During times of heavy precipitation, water comes off the dam and floods the culvert, he said.
“It reduces the amount of flow you can get through there,” he said. If debris and other materials hit the sewer main, Robillard said, there would be a sewer spill into the [Connecticut] River, “which we do not want.”
The brownstone dam was privately built for the former Wilcox, Crittenden & Co. factory, Middletown Water & Sewer Director Joseph Fazzino said. Parts of it have been deteriorating and falling into the water for some time.
A 1980 report by the Army Corps of Engineers estimated the dam was built around 1870. At the time, Pameacha Creek was the factory’s prime source of water power, the report said.
The site is now occupied by the Wilcox Apartments at 234 Main St.
“Repair would be the ideal,” Mayor Ben Florsheim said, “but it’s not likely that that’s going to be feasible. This is a dam that is far gone and needs to be fully replaced,” referring to advice from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which issued the city a consent order to do the dam work in 2018.
“Based on conversations with them, elimination of the dam — not replacing it — was the direction that a lot of bodies of water, like Pameacha Pond, and around the state, seem to be going in,” the mayor said.
Reasons behind it include environmental impacts, maintenance costs and a variety of other concerns, he said, which prompted the study.
A lot of the time since 2018 was spent studying how to respond to the consent order, the mayor said.
“Engineering takes a long time, deliberating different options takes time,” Florsheim said. “The time that’s been spent has been time spent listening to residents, has been time spent developing plans that make sense, has been spent hopefully getting to a final result that we can all live with for a long time.”
Another factor was pandemic-related delays, he added. Last summer, the city explored the concept of a nature park on the site, but it was met with vigorous disapproval from pond residents and others in the community who spoke out against the proposal at a series of city meetings. The group established the Help Save Pameacha Pond page on Facebook.
“We’ve heard a lot from the community since then. There are a lot of concerns — justifiable,” Florsheim said. “The cost of replacing the dam is one thing,
but then the cost of maintaining a park is something entirely different.
“The concern that we heard as it relates to invasive species from DEEP earlier on, a couple of years ago, in conjunction with the dam issue, no longer seem stobeas much of a pressing concern,” Florsheim said.
That includes snakehead fish. The only verified sighting in Connecticut of the predator fish, known for its voracious appetite, was in 2017, according to DEEP.
“Regardless of what that population looks like, we’ll continue to work with the experts in terms of trying to manage that population, but, since that initial meeting a couple of years ago, we have not heard that that is a major concern” any longer, Florsheim added.
“The concern that won the day is that Pameacha Pond is something we want to maintain,” he added.
Public Works Director Chris Holden said estimates for the dam replacement are in the $2 million range.
“One way or another, this will be a very costly replacement,” the mayor said.
The city wants to follow the DEEP advice so it would qualify for state funding. Already, Florsheim said, Middletown has applied for a federal grant through the Congressionally Directed Spending program.
“There’s not a whole lot of existing programmatic funding out there for dam replacements specifically, so we’ll also have to be mindful of those costs in budgets going forward, and, potentially in future bond referendums,” Florsheim said.
“There is a very vocal, vibrant and passionate community of people who live in this neighborhood and throughout the rest of the city who use the pond, enjoy the pond, who have a relationship with the pond as a part of Middletown,” said Florsheim, who is pleased to see such a high level of engagement with local government on the issue. One of the arguments raised, he said, was that there are plenty of other parks across the city, including Harbor Park.
“This could be something that is potentially a unique offering if we maintain it the right way,” Florsheim said.
Resident Mary Ellen Sutton’s backyard faces
the pond. She recalled her family members and the community enjoying ice skating there when it was permitted. She was “extremely pleased” with the decision.
“The Common Council has listened to our concerns and we’re very excited,” she said.
Sutton and others are hoping the dam design will allow water levels to return to their original level. She anticipates the city will provide safe public access, create a fishing pier and possibly kayak and boat launch.
With water levels down, Sutton said, a lot of sediment has been exposed. “It’s creating all the extra vegetation. That also could increase invasive species plants.”
“The city should stay true to its path of keeping the pond, and, if it is necessary to fully rebuild the dam, then so be it,” said Tyler Eckstrom, a nearby resident.
“As discussed in the public works meetings, there are many advantages to keeping this dam and cleaning the pond,” he added. “A reversal on their stance would be shameful and would be met with protest by the people of Middletown.”