By Susan Trask
On the first weekend in June of 2012, Auburn received nine inches of rain in just three days. This event resulted in major flooding issues at the south end of Taylor Pond. Some residents were surrounded by water for up to two weeks, with basements flooded and sewage backing up through shower drains. In the fall of that year, the Taylor Pond Association convened a special committee to study the issues concerned with water levels. Over the next several years, the committee met with Auburn city officials, land use consultants, surveyors and environmental engineers in order to more fully understand how both natural and man-made features affect Taylor Pond’s water levels.
It has become clear that any possible remediation efforts need to be done carefully and in consultation and coordination with City and State entities. The City of Auburn funded a study of the Hotel Rd. culverts and then applied for a grant from the DEP to rebuild them. The application was denied in part because it did not include a study of the bridge and dam on the Kendall property downstream. The City asked the TPA to fund a further study, which after careful consideration, we agreed to do. The Board of Directors voted unanimously to authorize up to $10,000 in order to fund that study. Environmental engineering firm Wright-Pierce is currently collecting all available information and will construct a hydraulic model in order to analyze the effects of all the identified factors downstream of the Pond. Project Manager Joe McClean has been directing this study and has been in frequent communication with the Board. Special thanks go to board member Marc Tardif for all his diligent behind-the-scenes work on this project!
Joe McClean will be the featured speaker at the TPA Annual Meeting on August 6. Please make every effort to come and to be informed about the study’s findings to date and learn about next steps. We did receive the good news that the City’s second application to the DEP for the Hotel Rd. project was approved for $95,000. The results of the study that we are funding will certainly inform the new construction, and we look forward to continuing to work with the City, DEP and FEMA on this important project.