SAUGUS — A $1.2 million drainage project, sparked by a resident who was sick of pumping water from his basement, has been completed.
“We weren’t sure this would completely solve the issue, and we may have had to implement alternative solutions,” said Town Manager Scott Crabtree. “However, this project appears to be properly alleviating the issue for our residents.”
The Elm Street drainage project included the construction and installation of large drain pipes up to 6 feet in diameter to redirect stormwater away from homes and into the Saugus River. It also included the pavement of Avalah Street, Innis Street, and a portion of Elm Street.
The project was urged into existence by Innis Street resident Jack Perry, 81. He spent more than half his lifetime and upwards of $100,000 on preventing flood water from entering his home.
Perry started a petition as a last resort and collected nearly 40 signatures from neighbors who also experience flooding problems. They requested up to $1 million of taxpayer money at Town Meeting.
Perry’s intentions were to have a 30-inch drain on the bridge’s north side removed and install a drain on the south side.
Town Meeting signed off on $1.2 million to repair the problem in 2016.
A 2015 report by CDM Smith, a Boston-based engineering and construction firm, said the flooding occurred because of insufficient capacity in the culvert, or tunnel beneath the road. The drainage system was undersized and inadequate, according to the report.
Flooding was said to be particularly severe in areas along Alvah, Innis, Holland and Saville streets.
In 2014, Saugus received a $1.3 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fund a portion of the cost to remove the culvert, increase drainage along the street, and install additional catch basins.
The plan would have removed the bridge and widened the river, Crabtree said. But officials disagreed on the project and it did not move forward.
Since the grant had already been offered to the town and went unused, Crabtree said Saugus was no longer eligible for the financial assistance.
“We are proud to mitigate this decades-long flooding issue that has affected the Elm Street area,” Crabtree in a statement. “Some longtime residents of Saugus had been contending with flooding in their homes for more than 50 years, so we are extremely pleased to have resolved this matter and improved the quality of life for numerous Saugus residents.”
