Hamden Repairing Sidewalks!

By Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor
adematteo@newhavenregister.com

Concrete foreman Mike Donaghy of BIRM-1 of Ansonia prepares to pour fresh concrete while repairing sidewalks damaged by tree roots along Woodlawn Street In Hamden. The town repairs sidewalks year-round, except for winter. (Peter Casolino/Register)

HAMDEN — If you live in Spring Glen or the southwestern section of town, you may see contractors repairing sidewalks.

That’s because the town is using about $775,000 in state grant money and capital funds to pay for repairs to cracked and raised sidewalks damaged by tree roots.

The work is being done to combat a 15-year backlog of residential requests, according to Curt Balzano Leng, chief administrative officer to Mayor Scott D. Jackson.

“One of the mayor’s objectives was to clean the list up. We thought it was an eight-year backlog, but it’s really 15 years,” Leng said.

The goal for 2010 is to clear up complaints made through 1999. While contractors are on those streets, newer complaints on the list also will be handled so that streets can be finished and up to date, Leng said.

In order to determine which areas of town should be done first, the Engineering Department split the town into quadrants and looked at the areas with the largest number of old complaints. Southwestern Hamden and Spring Glen were at the top of the list. Two different companies were hired to tackle the cracks.

BIRM-1 of Ansonia is working in Spring Glen and Blue Ribbon Services Inc. of East Haven is taking care of southwestern Hamden.

The town opened bids May 20 and issued purchase orders for the work July 16, said Purchasing Agent Richard Cumpstone.

BIRM-1’s bid was $199,132.50 for the Spring Glen area. Blue Ribbon’s purchase order was for $54,000, while its bid was $86,010. Town officials said the purchase order will be raised to the higher amount, because more capital funds became available Aug. 25.

According to Town Engineer Robert Brinton, sidewalks in southwest Hamden on Belden and Twin Brook roads; Saint Mihiel and West Side drives and Woodin Street have been repaired.

In Spring Glen, Elihu, Filbert, Greenway, Harmon, Waite and Woodlawn streets and Whitney Avenue have been completed, Brinton said.

Tonight, the Legislative Council will act on the acceptance of $200,000 from the state’s local capital improvement program. The town already accepted $200,000 from the grant program in May. The council approved $275,000 for sidewalk repair in this year’s budget, and there is roughly $100,000 left from previous capital allocations.

The town will also be seeking bids for sidewalk replacement work in the northern, southeastern and Whitneyville sections of town. One or more contractors will be hired, Leng said.

The only areas that won’t be part of the sidewalk repairs this year are Hamden Plains, which had a lower number of complaints that dated from 1995 to 1999, and the Newhall area, where yards are being remediated and sidewalks repaired at the same time, Leng said.

The Engineering Department, rather than the mayor’s office, is now determining which sidewalks will be done. “We work with them to set policy and get funding to do their job,” Leng said.

(QUESTIONS - E-MAIL me at curt.leng@yahoo.com)