HARTFORD - The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) is more than 50 percent completed with its current project to dramatically reduce combined sewer overflows to the Connecticut River.

The MDC’s contractor for the Maple Avenue Area Combined Sewer Overflow Abatement Project is Paganelli Construction Corp. of Suffield. Phase I, so called Maple Avenue Area South, involves installing approximately 3,500 feet of new sanitary sewers and about 800 feet of new storm drains in portions of Campfield and Maple avenues and in Douglas, Clarendon, Chapman, Preston and West Preston streets in Hartford. That project is more than 50 percent completed.

While work continues on Phase I, construction of Phase II, named Maple Avenue Area CSO North, has begun. That project includes the construction of about 3,600 feet of new sanitary sewer along with approximately 800 feet of new storm drain in portions of Maple Avenue and in Clifford and Mapleton streets in Hartford.

These two projects are essential for the completion of the Combined Sewer Overflow abatement portion of the Metropolitan District Commission’s Phase I, Connecticut River Clean-up Program. The total bid price for both projects was $5,782,919.

The installation of the sanitary sewer and storm drainage piping will reduce the storm water to the sanitary sewerage system within the affected areas of the City of Hartford and, therefore, reduce the peak flows received at the Hartford Water Pollution Control Facility.

The full implementation of these goals is contingent upon completion of other projects within the Maple Avenue area, including catch basin sealing and roof drain downspout disconnections.

Phase I, Maple Avenue Area CSO South is expected to be completed by the end of October. The contract completion for Maple Avenue Area CSO North is scheduled by April 2003.

In addition to hiring an experienced contractor in Paganelli Construction Corp., the MDC has retained the services of Davis Communications of Hartford to help keep neighbors informed during the project. Design and construction project management have been accomplished in-house with the MDC’s staff.

The MDC appreciates the patience and cooperation of neighborhood residents and business during the project. Although traffic might be disrupted during construction, there is continuous access to businesses and homes within the construction area. If there are any concerns regarding the construction activity, residents or business owners may call the MDC’s construction inspector Kevin J. Barry at 524-0311 or the project engineer Constantin Banciulescu at 278-7850 ext. 3442. The MDC staff will do everything possible to address concerns.

Previous projects undertaken under the Connecticut River Cleanup Program Phase I included the Franklin Avenue sewer construction project; the expansion of the Hartford Water Pollution Control Facility and the construction of the Connecticut River Relief Interceptor. Together, these projects have resulted in preventing millions of gallons of combined sewer overflow from entering the Connecticut River.

A non-profit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929, the MDC supplies water and sewer services to its eight member municipalities: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. The MDC supplies treated water to the Town of Portland and portions of Glastonbury, East Granby, South Windsor and Farmington. The MDC owns and operates two three-megawatt hydroelectric power stations, one at the Goodwin Dam in Hartland and one at the Cole-brook River Dam in Colebrook.

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