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Norwalk Gets Stormwater Federal Grant


by turfgrrl


July 2nd, 2008 · 1 Comment

A $240,000 federal Clean Water fund grant is  coming to Norwalk thanks to State Rep Chris Perone. He sent out an press release yesterday highlighting the details:

State Representative Chris Perone (D-Norwalk) applauded A $240,000 federal grant heading to Norwalk to help deal with the cities outdated and insufficient stormwater sewer system. Norwalk was eligible for the funding, from the federal Clean Water Fund, due to its participation in Connecticut’s Stormwater Authority Pilot Program – a program created in 2007 through legislation drafted by Rep. Perone.

“We are finally heading in the right direction.  The citizens of Norwalk have put up with flooded basements and property damage for too long,” Rep. Perone said.

The funding will allow the city to prepare a stormwater management study, the first step toward an upgrade to the stormwater system.

“By creating a plan, you understand where the priorities are and what has to be addressed first,” Rep. Perone said. “You need a road map if you want to get anywhere.”

Tags: CT House · Norwalk

One Response so far ↓ “Norwalk Gets Stormwater Federal Grant”



  • 1 Diane Cece- looking the gift horse... // Jul 2, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    Some will think I am looking the gift horse in the mouth, but I assure you, this storm water authority is not something I want.
    With all due respect to Rep. Chris Perone, who already knows I was adamantly opposed to this legislation, this authority will ultimately fall under the category of “be careful what you wish for, you just might get it”. And sure enough, we flood victims may be royally screwed. Contrary to Mr. Perone’s statement, it does nothing to “understand where the priorities are and what has to be addressed first”. We’ve known the priority areas for years, and Tighe and Bond confirmed them.
    The press release implies by the very nature of the grant that unless & until this was funded thru the DEP, there is and would be no storm water plan in Norwalk. That is pathetic and ridiculous. Even worse is the intimation that no such plan would EVER be devised without federal funding. You mean to tell me if House Bill 6856 never passed that we would never get a comprehensive and cohesive storm water management plan?
    Here comes the best part: The authority will have the right to levy fees, much like the WPCA, to pay for storm water management, and can (read: will) levy fees to those it thinks have the most to benefit. Guess who that is? That’s right, folks. The flood victims. Victimized twice. We can bend over and bark or bend over and laugh, but either way, bend over.
    And now that the Clean Water fund money is allocated to us (by the way, Clean Water Funds are for, well, clean water, i.e., Long Island Sound, not flooding), a contract can commence with Malcolm Pirnie to design a plan. But wait, there’s more! In addition to Malcolm Pirnie, we read in The Hour that the money will also fund the work of the law firm Pepe & Hazard. What?!#@ Why do we need a law firm involved to design a storm water management plan or authority? Is it because the neglect and liability on the part of the city is so great that a law firm MUST assist to protect the city from future claims? Or will you believe Mr. Alvord’s probable explanation that Pepe & Hazard are the lawyers of record for the WPCA and that the new authority is essentially the same structure.
    We came, we begged, we cried, we carried signs, we asked for help and relief. Sorry I did that. As of today Buckingham and Lockwood are up the creek without a DEP permit, Olmstead to Raymond are awaiting our yard to be destroyed for a slightly larger pipe that is a waste of time and money, Ivy Place and others have had no consideration of their needs at all, and there still is not enough money in the budgets to contract for pipe maintenance. And so we may all be flooding again this fall, or soon. And so we may ALL regret having asked for any help at all, especially when the first of the fees are levied against us.
    Finally, this bullcrap makes it difficult if we actually need to ask the state or feds for money to maintain the pipes and stop the flooding. They will just laugh and say, “hey, you guys just got $240 thousand to clean the flood water before it goes into the Sound.”
    I looked the gift horse in the mouth. It is missing real teeth, breathes foul breath, eats our tax money like there is no tomorrow, and only produces piles of s_ _t to show for it. You can keep it.

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