Saugus board debates removing bridge

SAUGUS – The Saugus Board of Selectmen discussed the possibility of removing the Elm Street bridge Tuesday night to help alleviate flooding problems in the area.Paul Ross, Vice President of CDM Smith, said the town has applied for a $1 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the project, but won’t hear back until the fall. He said about 30 homes are affected around Elm Street.”You have to solve the flooding problem in the area,” said Ross. “The bridge is a restriction, it’s like going from a 48-inch pipe to a 40-inch pipe. The elimination of the bridge will alleviate the storm water flooding significantly, not the waste water flooding.”Another option would be to build a bigger bridge, but Ross said that could cost as much as $3 million and would not qualify for a grant.Selectman Debra Panetta lives in the area and said she has seen first hand how bad the flooding can be during major storms.”I live down there,” said Panetta. “That whole area there ? People who live there are always taking their stuff out after a storm. I want to take care of the people if they’re having flooding in their homes.”In other business, the board voted to submit an application for a new pump station in the same area that would help alleviate sewage backups into people’s homes, which is a separate issue from the storm flooding.The pumping station would be paid for with a 2 percent loan from the state and cost close to $1 million.Ross said houses on Alvah and Innis streets off of Elm Street are the most affected by sewage backups.”The only way to really solve that problem is to isolate those homes from the interceptor and that’s with a pumping station,” said Ross. “It would be a separate system all together.”Ross also updated the board on the town’s 10-year inflow and infiltration elimination program, which upgrades the town’s sewer system to prevent water from seeping into it.Ross said five million gallons of I & I have been removed so far out of the 11 million gallons required by the Department of Environmental Protection. Ross also noted the town has spent $13.1 million to date, which is about 25 percent lower than anticipated.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].