Swampscott selectmen: Flooding issues need to be top priority

SWAMPSCOTT – The Board of Selectmen agreed Wednesday that drainage and flooding issues would need to take top priority if there is a Special Town Meeting in the fall after hearing another complaint about flood damage Wednesday.Joe Ford, a Walnut Road resident, brought a letter from his attorney to the meeting for “one last effort to have the issue resolved quickly and amicably” before filing a complaint against the town. Ford said he has spent $10,000 trying to fix the flooding damage to his home.Ford said he was a coach of three athletic teams in town and was involved in the town schools, but the situation had caused him to “feel different” about his involvement in the town. “I had a hard time paying my water and sewer bill because I felt I had a right not to pay it because the storm drain isn’t working properly,” said Ford. “I don’t really understand why this hasn’t been fixed yet.”Town Administrator Thomas Younger said he recently found extra funds from past capital improvement projects that were not completed, going back to 2007, that totaled almost six figures, that could be appropriated by the town to use for drainage fixes in the fall.”I hope if we go to Town Meeting, this will be a top priority,” said Selectman Jill Sullivan.Selectman Glenn Kessler said the drainage issues needed to become part of a five-to-10-year capital plan. “It’s never going to be perfect because of our location by the water, but we talk about it, and it never gets done,” he said. “What’s more important: the turf field, or drainage in town? If it takes 10 years, so be it. We have to, at the minimum, get the study done.”Following Ford’s complaint, the selectmen officially voted to postpone the Athletic Field Study Committee’s proposal to put the synthetic turf field on the warrant.”We’ve got to get this drainage thing paid for,” said Sullivan.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].