By Andreas Yilma Citizen’s News
NAUGATUCK — The Board of Mayor and Burgesses on Sept. 28 selected Kleinfelder Northeast, a national engineering firm with an office in Rocky Hill, for the final design of storm water and sanitary sewer upgrades and streetscape designs for Church and Maple streets.
The engineering firm is collaborating with Richter & Cegan Inc., a landscape architecture and planning firm from Avon for the for the streetscape portion of the project.
The project would cost about $10.1 million. The borough would be utilizing $9.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said the borough would be applying for additional state funding including in the second round of the Connecticut Communities Challenge Grant Program.
Hess said the borough has already entered into an agreement with Kleinfelder to do a preliminary design on what it would take to eliminate some major problems regarding the sanitary sewer and storm water lines.
“We have a sinkhole in front of the firehouse that’s reoccurring to some extent,” Hess said.
“We have major problems on Church when we get a lot of rain in a short period of time and we have other existing problems.”
Kleinfelder Senior Program Manager Neil Kulikauskas said the project will address some known existing issues in downtown’s system pipes, sanitary storm water issues as well as ensuring that any future development will have adequate capacity.
“One of the main things that really we heard from day one but honestly heard during the proposals, the challenges that Church Street has with drainage,” Kulikauskas said.
Some of the firm’s plans for the infrastructure include new sanitary pipes on Church Street, Park Place and Maple Street. The plans also call for new or extension of storm pipes on Church Street, Old Firehouse Road and Maple Street. A repair of a storm pipe underneath the Town Green is also called for according to the firm’s planned improvements.
Richter & Cegan Inc. partner Michael Cegan said the Church Street and Maple Street would become a little slimmer and allow to slightly expansion of the sidewalks to allow for more outdoor dining and become more pedestrian friendly.
The sidewalks would have regimental full range, or red bricks. Metal light fixtures, benches, bike racks, benches and stringed lights would also be included the in the pedestrian walkways. Church Street would still be one-way and have parallel parking on both sides.
Four parking spaces, two in front of 66 Church St. and two in front of 87 Maple St. would be occupied with a bump out of the sidewalk to provide more outdoor dining.
Burgess Rocky Vitale said he thought the borough was looking for more parking and not less.
Hess said parking is definitely an issue but those parking spots are meaningless with the whole revitalization of downtown. Additionally, the borough is looking at more magnified approach to come up with larger areas of land for additional parking.
Cegan said once people get into that routine knowing that those spaces aren’t’ there, the additional amenities will still draw people in.
The Church and Maple street intersection will be redone and improved. The portion of the Town Green facing Maple Street will potentially have stone seat walls on either side of the Town Green’s opening with a possible Christmas tree on one side and some sort of other feature on the other side, Cegan said.
Kulikauskas said the final design would be completed, followed by a bidding process to begin in Apri. Construction will follow in July.
