Marsh may be contributing to flooding in OOB
Marsh may be contributing to flooding in OOB
By Brandi Neal
Staff writer
For many residents of the Tide Water Loft and Davenport condominiums along Milliken and Walnut Streets in Old Orchard Beach, a wet basement has been the rule rather than the exception. Town officials hope a study of the Little River/Jones Creek Watershed currently underway by Milone and MacBroom Consultants out of Newcastle will help answer some of the questions as to why certain areas of the town are consistently flooding and how to solve the problem once and for all.
Earlier this year, the Old Orchard Beach Town Council approved $93,000 for the study, which is slated for completion in September of 2007. The town of Scarborough is contributing $10,000 to the study as well to confirm one way or the other if the clean up of the Scarborough Marsh is contributing to the flooding, Scarborough Town Manager Ron Owens said during a phone interview Monday.
Nearly two-dozen residents turned out for a presentation and public hearing Wednesday, Dec. 6 where Milone and MacBroom Project Manager Nicole Burnham and David Bragg and Jim MacBroom of Milone and MacBroom gave a slideshow presentation and answered questions from the public.
“This is not something that is going to be presto bingo,” said Town Manager Jim Thomas of changes made as a result of the study.
Thomas said comments from the public have not fallen on deaf ears. He said the town wants to deal with facts and figures, not rumors and innuendoes and he encouraged the residents to be patient with the study.
“This is the only way we’re going to get help from Augusta or Washington, D.C.,” Thomas said. “This is a multi-million dollar problem and it’s not going to get fixed over night. We need to put our arms around the problem and then put a price tag on it.”
MacBroom explained that three geological areas are contributing to the flooding (upstream, convergence and discharge) though he cited discharge as the town’s biggest problem. He said that the New England coastal area has gained a foot of water in the last century due to global warming, which has added to the flooding. Historically dry areas will become wetter and the rising of the tide could also cause the ground water table to rise as well, MacBroom said.
MacBroom described the project goals as alleviating the flooding, replacing or modifying culverts at roadway crossings, modifying the dam at the Bailey campground, evaluation of the tidal gates, protecting the water quality and protecting the tidal marsh. Thomas said the Friends of the Scarborough Marsh are reluctant to bring back tidal gates that redirected the run off of the Little River Marsh into the Scarborough River. Thomas said once the gates were removed the Scarborough Marsh began to come back.
Owens confirmed that there were such structures that were washed away when the Milliken Mills Dam burst in 1996. Owens said the Department of Environmental Protection would not allow those gates to be replaced.
“We’re trying to get to the bottom of this,” Owens said of the flooding. “People’s perception is not usually the case of what’s going on from an ecological standpoint.”
Burnham set tidal gauges throughout the marsh in early November that will remain in place until February. She said they plan to build a model of the river and marsh system. Burnham said the town should also consider flood proofing. She mentioned dredging the marsh and building tidal gates as two options. Tidal gates open when there is enough water behind them. She also suggested raising roadways that are subject to consistent flooding. However, Burnham said flood proofing isn’t their first choice.
“The first choice would be mitigating it (the flooding) in a way that doesn’t involve a structural solution,” she said. “The solution is going to multi-faceted, there’s not going to be one silver-bullet solution that’s going to solve all the problems.”
Burnham said they do not yet understand how the Bayley dam, built in the late 1980s by Fred Bayley and Ducks Unlimited, is affecting the marsh. She said during high tide, water spills over the dam.
Henry Pelletier, who owns land in Scarborough, worried that his property could be negatively impacted. He cited the Milliken Mills Dam, which broke in 1996 sending 54 inches of water onto his property.
“Anything that happens here seems to reflect Scarborough,” he said.
Burnham said the goal of the study is to try to strike a balance, resolving the problems of Old Orchard Beach without impacting the Scarborough Marsh system.
Thomas said the town hopes to implement a long-range strategic plan.
“We don’t want to pass the buck to Scarborough or anyone else,” Thomas said.
Old Orchard Beach Town Councilor Jim Long said he felt that the $10,000 contributed by Scarborough was not a fair contribution. He said he wanted to hear how Old Orchard Beach intended to solve the problem and added that the consequences to the Scarborough Marsh could be dealt with in Scarborough. He cited the Bailey dam as the biggest problem and said he wanted to have the dam removed.
“Water that’s being backed up by this dam is what’s hurting Old Orchard Beach,” Long said. “I know this research is going to be quality and I will watch it very closely.”
Long received a round of applause for his comments.
The next meeting regarding the Little River/Jones Creek Watershed will be held during the regular Old Orchard Beach Town Council meeting on Dec. 19.
By Brandi Neal
Staff writer
For many residents of the Tide Water Loft and Davenport condominiums along Milliken and Walnut Streets in Old Orchard Beach, a wet basement has been the rule rather than the exception. Town officials hope a study of the Little River/Jones Creek Watershed currently underway by Milone and MacBroom Consultants out of Newcastle will help answer some of the questions as to why certain areas of the town are consistently flooding and how to solve the problem once and for all.
Earlier this year, the Old Orchard Beach Town Council approved $93,000 for the study, which is slated for completion in September of 2007. The town of Scarborough is contributing $10,000 to the study as well to confirm one way or the other if the clean up of the Scarborough Marsh is contributing to the flooding, Scarborough Town Manager Ron Owens said during a phone interview Monday.
Nearly two-dozen residents turned out for a presentation and public hearing Wednesday, Dec. 6 where Milone and MacBroom Project Manager Nicole Burnham and David Bragg and Jim MacBroom of Milone and MacBroom gave a slideshow presentation and answered questions from the public.
“This is not something that is going to be presto bingo,” said Town Manager Jim Thomas of changes made as a result of the study.
Thomas said comments from the public have not fallen on deaf ears. He said the town wants to deal with facts and figures, not rumors and innuendoes and he encouraged the residents to be patient with the study.
“This is the only way we’re going to get help from Augusta or Washington, D.C.,” Thomas said. “This is a multi-million dollar problem and it’s not going to get fixed over night. We need to put our arms around the problem and then put a price tag on it.”
MacBroom explained that three geological areas are contributing to the flooding (upstream, convergence and discharge) though he cited discharge as the town’s biggest problem. He said that the New England coastal area has gained a foot of water in the last century due to global warming, which has added to the flooding. Historically dry areas will become wetter and the rising of the tide could also cause the ground water table to rise as well, MacBroom said.
MacBroom described the project goals as alleviating the flooding, replacing or modifying culverts at roadway crossings, modifying the dam at the Bailey campground, evaluation of the tidal gates, protecting the water quality and protecting the tidal marsh. Thomas said the Friends of the Scarborough Marsh are reluctant to bring back tidal gates that redirected the run off of the Little River Marsh into the Scarborough River. Thomas said once the gates were removed the Scarborough Marsh began to come back.
Owens confirmed that there were such structures that were washed away when the Milliken Mills Dam burst in 1996. Owens said the Department of Environmental Protection would not allow those gates to be replaced.
“We’re trying to get to the bottom of this,” Owens said of the flooding. “People’s perception is not usually the case of what’s going on from an ecological standpoint.”
Burnham set tidal gauges throughout the marsh in early November that will remain in place until February. She said they plan to build a model of the river and marsh system. Burnham said the town should also consider flood proofing. She mentioned dredging the marsh and building tidal gates as two options. Tidal gates open when there is enough water behind them. She also suggested raising roadways that are subject to consistent flooding. However, Burnham said flood proofing isn’t their first choice.
“The first choice would be mitigating it (the flooding) in a way that doesn’t involve a structural solution,” she said. “The solution is going to multi-faceted, there’s not going to be one silver-bullet solution that’s going to solve all the problems.”
Burnham said they do not yet understand how the Bayley dam, built in the late 1980s by Fred Bayley and Ducks Unlimited, is affecting the marsh. She said during high tide, water spills over the dam.
Henry Pelletier, who owns land in Scarborough, worried that his property could be negatively impacted. He cited the Milliken Mills Dam, which broke in 1996 sending 54 inches of water onto his property.
“Anything that happens here seems to reflect Scarborough,” he said.
Burnham said the goal of the study is to try to strike a balance, resolving the problems of Old Orchard Beach without impacting the Scarborough Marsh system.
Thomas said the town hopes to implement a long-range strategic plan.
“We don’t want to pass the buck to Scarborough or anyone else,” Thomas said.
Old Orchard Beach Town Councilor Jim Long said he felt that the $10,000 contributed by Scarborough was not a fair contribution. He said he wanted to hear how Old Orchard Beach intended to solve the problem and added that the consequences to the Scarborough Marsh could be dealt with in Scarborough. He cited the Bailey dam as the biggest problem and said he wanted to have the dam removed.
“Water that’s being backed up by this dam is what’s hurting Old Orchard Beach,” Long said. “I know this research is going to be quality and I will watch it very closely.”
Long received a round of applause for his comments.
The next meeting regarding the Little River/Jones Creek Watershed will be held during the regular Old Orchard Beach Town Council meeting on Dec. 19.
Comments