Residents upset over Bear Hill drainage problem
Published on July 29th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - The Board of Selectmen heard from several residents, Tuesday night, who were fed up with flooding problems in the northeast section of town.
DPW Director Robert Grover explained to the board that an extensive survey of the area must be conducted in order to determine proper remedies for the recurring problem and board members agreed to undertake such a project when a cost has been determined.
Flooding in the area was extensive in January and October of 1996, residents explained, as it was this past June when a 100 year storm hit the area. On July 23, the water table rose again and caused even more flooding.
Anthony Catalano, owner of property at 6 Celestine Terrace, told the board that, if another storm hits, his home will be ruined.
"One more storm and I'm going to have no foundation," he said. "I want this attended to. I'm not going to spend another dime on repairs, and I have spent money a number of times.
"I think I'll just spend my money on legal fees."
Catalano, who along with some of his neighbors, conducted an investigation of drainage in the area, said that the problem occurs when water from several streets collects in a pond on Bear Hill Country Club land and is released to the surrounding neighborhood. Once water builds up to a certain level in the pond, he said, a mechanism opens a drainage line which is quickly overcome with water.
This rush of water, residents said, quickly consumes homes such as Catalano's and the Buckingham Terrace condominium complex nearby.
"I don't want big expenditures," Catalano said. "We're tired of it. Something's got to be done. I don't want to see my house go."
Grover said that problems in the area have likely arisen in recent years due to the rise in population and a lack of planning in terms of drainage designs. He said the northeastern section's drainage system was a hodgepodge of catch basins and drainage lines which have done little to combat the water.
The solution, however, is not known to him. Grover recommended that an engineering survey be conducted of the entire area. The survey would also allow Grover to track the flow of water throughout the town and possibly reduce flooding all the way down to the Montvale Avenue area.
The main problem in flooding, however, is the incredible number of inches in rain which the area has received in recent years.
"We've had two 100 year storms in the last two years which is statistically impossible," Grover said. "No town in the state designs for these storms so you're bound to have isolated flooding problems."
Of the town's preventative measures to counteract flooding, he said, "It's something the town hasn't addressed. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Well it's broke."
He explained that in his time with Stoneham's DPW (the last 15 years) the town has appropriated only $20,000 in drainage upgrades.
Even with the large number of residents in attendance who complained about flooding in the northeastern section of the town, Grover said that his biggest area of concern was on Maple Street.
He explained that, due to Montvale Avenue's existence in a flood plain, it is closed off in many storms and an access to Route 93 is lost. In the June 13 storm, access to Route 93 was also lost on Maple Street, Grover said. This left many without access to their homes and their places of work.
Measures must be taken, he said, to ensure that this does not happen again.
He explained that a study of a stone culvert which is likely blocked must be done and repairs must take place as soon as possible.
"In my opinion, this is the most pressing drainage problem that we have in town," Grover said.
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