Maylor proposes brook dredging to alleviate Swampscott flooding

SWAMPSCOTT – Town Administrator Andrew Maylor will propose dredging sections of Hawthorne Brook to better contain floodwater in and around Vinnin Square, just weeks after a torrential rainstorm caused cars to float in parking lots in the square.”We attempted to evaluate the whole area to help reduce the impact a storm would have on Vinnin Square,” Maylor told selectmen at a recent meeting.He noted that the area had changed from undeveloped lowlands and bluffs to where now it is almost a completely paved over commercial and residential area.As a result, the rainwater once absorbed by the ground now washes off into the brook – along with any road salt, dirt or other detritus on the road.”Over time it’s filled with sediment, the pond at Tedesco Country Club went from 6? feet deep to 2? feet deep,” Maylor said, noting that the sediment has accumulated at the bottom of the pond.The analysis was completed by Rimmer Environmental Consultants of Newburyport and McKenzie Engineering Group of Danvers. Engineer Scott Cameron said that it essentially examined all the land where, if rain fell, that rain would end up traveling through Vinnin Square until the pond at the west side of Salem Street alongside Tedesco Country Club’s 7th hole. The land includes not only the square itself, but also most of Swampscott Cemetery, the bluffs where condominiums have sprouted and the “back nine” of Tedesco, according to the report.Maylor said that the dredging would occur in two locations: the pond by Stop and Shop and the pond on the golf course.The cost – which will be submitted as a capital improvements request – could be approximately $200,000 per site, but ultimately depends on the extent of the dredging, Maylor said earlier this week.Consultant Mary Rimmer explained that dredging the ponds would increase the volume of water that they could store and also slow the flow of water downstream. Water simply runs over the accumulation of the silt at the pond’s bottom rather than being slowed down and stored in the pond, she said.Maylor said that the improvements would benefit Vinnin Square rather than affect the flooding in the Stanley Road and Dennison Avenue neighborhoods that were impacted by the Oct. 4 storm.”This is accumulation of water before it gets to Stanley and Dennison,” he told selectmen.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].