Last night the RTM passed multiple drainage items that were on their agenda.

The first item was topographical mapping. The last time it was done was in the 1950, prior to the construction of I-95 and the development of the past 50 years. The cost will be $350,000. It was reported that an RFP (Request for Proposal) has been sent out and if an acceptable bid is placed, mapping can begin in March or April — it must be done while the leaves are off the trees and there is NO snow on the ground. It will take 6 months for the mapping results to be returned to Public Works. This passed unanimously.

Next on the agenda was approval of an accounting transaction… movement of $203,000 from the infrastructure reserve to replenish the general fund. This money has been appropriated for the engineering studies for the Baker Park flood mitigation project.

The La Forge Rd drainage project was approved 56 for, 15 against and 6 RTM members abstaining. The total cost of the project is $437,00 – it will entail installation of a pipe to move water from La Forge Rd to a tributary of Stony Brook. Head of Public Works, Bob Steeger, assured everyone that the downstream effect will be negligible.

The final item was the transfer of $200,000 to a FEMA Buy Out Fund. It was described that FEMA allocates money to the CT State DEP to allocate to towns through a grant process. If a town is successful in obtaining a grant, 75% of a project is paid by the grant and the town is responsible for the remaining 25%. It was reported that last year $680,000 was awarded to the entire state of Connecticut and distributed to towns. There are two homeowners in Darien who have requested that the town apply for a FEMA Buy Out (note: even if Darien obtained the entire grant money allotted to the State, it’s unlikely there is enough funding to purchase both properties). This item also passed overwhelmingly.