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Essex Works to Remediate Storm Damage at Popular Baseball Field

Although the heavy rain and wind from last week’s nor’easter caused some waters to rise in Essex, it didn’t come close to the impacts caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida in early September. The town is now preparing to repair damage caused by Ida at the Comstock baseball fields, a popular spot for Essex Little League, the Babe Ruth League, and a whole host of other teams.

Essex Park & Recreation Director Mary Ellen Barnes said the deluge of rain from Ida over such a short time period was the main culprit of damage to the small and large fields off of Park Road in Ivoryton.

Although the large one, called the Babe Ruth field, was put back into use about 10 days after Hurricane Ida, more works needs to be done on the small field.

“This particular storm, I think, was unique because it happened so quickly,” said Barnes in a phone interview.

The national Community Collaborative for Rain, Hail and Snow reported 6.53 inches of rain for Essex Village on Sept. 2. These heavy rains caused the nearby stream, which winds around the perimeter of the property, to rise.

“It broke its riverbank,” said Barnes. “It basically crossed over the field toward the opposite end of the park.”

The rapidly moving water uprooted bases and moved the clay infield dirt to the outfield.

“It almost looks like caverns within the middle of the [infield] clay, really deep ridges,” said Barnes. “[I]t created lips and bumps.”

Not only will the bases need to be reinstalled, she said, but so will the structures underneath, often referred to as anchors, that help stop the base from moving during play time.

“So, kind of just starting from scratch and building up to have a good, safe ball field again,” said Barnes.

The costs associated with repairs total approximately $33,000, according to Essex Finance Director Tracey Celentano.

“The majority of the costs really surround the clay,” said Barnes. “It’s a very expensive material and most of it was washed away completely and what was left was mixed with the sediment of the riverbed.”

The Comstock fields have a history of flooding, although the damage from Ida has been the most extensive.

The prior flooding was “nothing as severe as the extent to what we’ve had now,” said Barnes. “We’ve had at least two times that it was severe and then other times…it definitely needed some remediation.”

The town is considering the installation of jersey barriers at the site to prevent the stream from flowing across the fields in the future, according to Essex First Selectman Norman Needleman, at an Oct. 21 Essex Board of Finance (BOF) meeting.

“The problem is the whole thing is in the flood plain, so 9 inches of rain, it’s always going to flood,” said Needleman, at the meeting.

“It’s really hard to say what kind of proactive things we can do,” said Barnes. “You’re up against a small creek, which in the rain is more like a river.

“So, it’s really hard to say what we will be capable of doing…we’re definitely going to look into it,” she continued.

A sum of up to $50,000 from the Park & Recreation Sinking Fund, which also includes mitigation costs, was recently approved for the project by the BOF and sent for approval at a Thursday, Nov. 4 town meeting (visit www.essexct.gov for details).

These funds are a part of the town’s request for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for damages related to Hurricane Ida. The funds to repair Heron Pond Road, which was washed out during Ida, is also included in that request.

If the town receives funds from FEMA, the monies taken out to repair and mitigate the ball fields will go back into the Park & Recreation Sinking fund, according to Celentano.