Buildings In Sandy Hook Center

Slated For Public Water Connection

By Jan Howard

Five buildings near Sandy Hook Center will soon be connected to United Water’s public water supply.

Local businessman and builder Mike Porco said this week he is applying for hookup to three buildings he owns on Church Hill Road. The hookup would not extend to buildings he owns on Glen Road because there is no public water supply available there, he said.

“I’ve filled out the application and paid the fees. It’s just a matter of getting the pipe hookup with the water company,” Mr Porco said this week.

Kevin Moran of United Water said two other applicants, Joe Tartaglia and Mike Daubert, have applied for connection to buildings they own on Church Hill Road.

Mr Moran said the applicants must also apply for a permit from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) for authorization to dig up the road. The permit process usually takes from one to two weeks, he noted. The state must also approve the contractor hired to do the excavating.

Mr Moran said the applicants are required to pay for all excavation. “Our responsibility is to tap the main to the edge of the property.” It is then the responsibility of each applicant to hire a plumber to tie the line into the buildings. Service begins after United Water installs a meter, and the commercial business then pays a monthly fee for the service.

Mr Moran noted that existing wells must be disconnected before service can begin to prevent any cross-connection between two water lines.

“Once the permit is issued, the contractor can start work,” he said. The actual digging would take about two days. Mr Moran said the work in the roadway would be coordinated so it could be done at one time.

Newtown Department of Health Director Donna McCarthy said the state would be advised after the buildings are connected to the water line.

In 2002 the town extended the United Water public water supply to Sandy Hook Center to ensure safe, reliable water supply in an area where some wells had been proven to be unreliable. The line was extended down Church Hill Road from the intersection of Walnut Tree Hill Road eastward to 100 Church Hill Road, and then southward through a parking lot and beneath the Pootatuck River to the intersection of Washington Avenue and Crestwood Drive.

It was then extended eastward on Crestwood Drive to the rear of the Sandy Hook School on Dickinson Drive and from there to Riverside Road to the Sandy Hook Firehouse and the Multi-Purpose Building housing the Newtown Senior Center and the Children’s Adventure Center.

The water line has since been extended to the Tilson Woods residential subdivision off Washington Avenue and to Newtown High School.

In April of 2002, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said the town had no plans to extend the public water line westward on Riverside Road from the Multi-Purpose Building toward Sandy Hook Center. He said the town extended the water line to Sandy Hook School via the least costly route. At that time, Mr Rosenthal said there were no town funds to connect nearby homes or businesses to the water line.

Ms McCarthy said that a problem with a water system at one of Mr Porco’s buildings has been resolved following installation of an ultraviolet light system, and test samples taken since then show no signs of bacteria in the water.

Ms McCarthy said that it is not unusual, especially in rainy weather such as the area has experienced, for old wells to have a problem with bacteria caused by runoff.

She said Mr Porco worked closely with Aqua Environmental Lab during the testing period and was “very conscientious.”

“We’re on top of everything,” Mr Porco said. “My concern was to give them a clean source of water.”

The business owner closed voluntarily, and Mr Porco made repairs to the well, rechlorinated the system, and then installed the ultraviolet light system.

Mr Porco said this week he was unsure if the owner would reopen soon or wait for the water line to be installed.