Neighbors Urge Selectmen to Move on Flood Control

The Hawthorne Brook Neighborhood Association told selectmen Wednesday that they hope the town will dredge retaining ponds used for flood control as soon as possible.

Selectmen, who were meeting in their strategic planning session at Town Hall, said the town administrator was gathering cost estimates for a water study and seeking additional funding for flood control.

Town meeting approved $350,000 for Hawthorne Brook maintenance and $40,000 for a lower Paradise Road water study.

The brook maintenance project is expected to include dredging ponds whose water-holding capacity have been severely diminished due to sedimention build-up and vegetation.

Selectman Jill Sullivan thinks there might well be some funding available for technical assistance.

Selectman David Van Dam will meet with Peabody officials to review their success gaining funds for flood control.

Town Administrator Thomas Younger will investigate possible state and federal funding sources to bolster the local flood control project.

The officials said they will update the neighborhood group including Roseanne Mark and Mike Greenstein on flood control plans as they arise.

The neighborhood association has about 50 members, Roseanne said.

The group was spurred to action in the wake of the Oct. 4, flash flooding that filled basements, homes and businesses in Swampscott.

Two weeks before the flooding the town received a watershed evaluation report that helps explain flooding in areas around Tedesco Golf Course.

The report says the Tedesco pond located between holes 7 and 11 was designed to help control flooding and is operating at far less than capacity.

"The pond is part of the stormwater drainage system for much of the central and northern sections of Swampscott as well as the portion of southern Salem near Loring Tower," states the Watershed Evaluation Report for the Tedesco Country Club Pond Watershed. "This pond is the last open water body until stormwater ultimately discharges through a 4 by 8 foot box culvert at the Atlantic Ocean."  

The report, by Rimmer Environmental and McKenzie Engineering, estimates that the pond is operating at 35 to 45 percent of its original capacity due to sedimentation build up.

Stormwater runoff has carried sedimentation to the pond, which, over time, has "significantly reduced the pond's flood storage volume," the report states.

Once deposited, the sediment has attracted aquatic plants, which further increases sedimentation, the report states.

In short, it appears the pond needs to be dredged. It has been five years since the perimeter of the pond was dredged, the report says. 

A wetland beyond the  parking lot may also be a candidate for dredging, officials say.