NAHANT — Town Administrator Tony Barletta and Director of Department of Public Works (DPW) Zach Taylor sat down on Monday afternoon to discuss updates to the town’s stormwater improvement project.
Taylor started by explaining that the initial overview study for the project was funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and that the town is currently using borrowed funds to complete the project.
“We experience a lot of coastal flooding in Nahant, but we also experience a lot of rain-flooding events, and it’s getting more significant, both are getting more significant,” Taylor said. “We have areas in town that experience the greatest flooding … So we’ve identified those areas, and we’re taking steps in phases to correct these problems.”
Barletta noted that N. Granese and Sons, Inc., was contracted by the town for the project.
Taylor said there are many pieces to this puzzle, and that by piecing together the “outside layer” of the puzzle, the town will have a clearer picture of what the future entails. “We started last year with what’s nicknamed the ‘lowlands area,’ which are streets like Castle Road, Ward Road and Fox Hill Road,” Taylor said. “And that seems to be working great so far.”
He noted the town has taken the same approach with the area of town that has seen the most significant impact from flooding, such as Willow Road and Emerald Road. “We did the overview study, and now shovels are already in the ground,” he said.
“With the ‘lowlands area,’ the stormwater issue goes back years and years,” Barletta explained. “The town has done a lot of study work, put efforts toward funding, town meeting articles supporting appropriations that would help make improvements. We’ve completed the work that the study recommended we do as a step one.”
Barletta continued, “We took the information from the study that was done, and started to create a Capital Plan, and then in last year’s Town Meeting, the town supported a $500,000 borrowing for the construction … So we’re in part one of chapter two now.”
“This is a lot of work, with a lot of money involved in it,” Barletta said. “We’ve identified challenges, but we’re excited because the issues have been happening for a few years, and definitely need the attention. Now the work is getting done.”
Barletta talked about the potential positive impact the work can have on residents. “If this work provides a similar benefit to what we saw with the ‘lowlands area,’ the residents should be extremely pleased,” Barletta said. “Hopefully, this solves a lot of the problems that we’ve been seeing down there.”
“The work so far is going great,” Taylor said. “We just started the project the other day, so we’re just getting into the early stages of it, but so far, so good.”
Taylor mentioned the town has run into slight challenges, such as the locations of other utilities that are in the roadway. “Drainage has to have a certain pitch, and it can’t change whereas a gas line or water line can be lowered or raised as needed,” Taylor said.
“When we did the investigation, we discovered a section of piping in Willow Road had a collapse, a break in it,” Barletta said, explaining how the flooding travels down Willow Road. “Once White Way connects to Willow Road, when the water starts to go down Willow toward Bear Pond, that’s where we saw major issues with stormwater.”
Barletta said the work should provide immediate relief for residents, as the water would then have a place to travel without worsening the issue. “The water basically hit a block … So imagine your kitchen sink being clogged but on a much bigger and complicated scale.”
“When you find an issue like that, it’s relieving,” Taylor said. “It’s an issue with the design, but it leads us to believe there’ll be a positive impact when we’re done.”
