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08/15/2023 07:49 AMThere’s been much speculation about the piles of dirt, machinery, and construction observed recently at Chittenden Park. According to town officials, the work is part of a long-term wetlands restoration project mandated by the state.
According to town officials, the project and associated wetlands have not been impacted by any private construction underway in the area, which is forbidden by building and zoning codes and is solely associated with Guilford’s previous fill-in of small patches of wetlands during a construction project dating back to 2012. Town engineer Janice Plaziak said the project fulfills the required mandate by state and federal agencies as part of the original permitting process for several road elevation projects conducted from 2012 through 2017.
“This is a wetlands mitigation project that the town is required to do as part of our permits both with the Connecticut DEEP [Department of Energy and Environmental Protection] and the Army Corp of Engineers,” said Plaziak. “When the road elevation projects were first permitted, there was the expectation, because we knew there were going to be some impacts to wetlands, for a mitigation project.”
Plaziak said projects such as these and the associated permitting process can take years, even decades to sort out and plan between the various entities that hold purview over such construction. According to the town engineer, there were several other previous proposals for potential restoration sites that, for various reasons, were deemed impractical; however, the current project eventually ticked all the boxes, and an agreement was hammered out.
“We had to work with both DEEP and Army Corp to come up with a new project that would satisfy both agencies because they both have different perspectives on exactly what a successful wetland mitigation project entails…so we worked hard to find a project that would be successful and satisfy the requirements of both agencies, and that is why we settled on this one,” Plaziak said. “We think it’s a win-win for the town to be able to satisfy the requirements for mitigation for those projects and also to create additional tidal wetland habitat for the town.”
Plaziak stressed that the project is not a “penalty” for anyone by the town. It is simply a permitting requirement when municipalities undertake crucial infrastructure projects with no option but to impact habitats. The construction that enacted the mandate was critical flood prevention projects in the environs of both Chatfinch Island and a small section on Leete’s Island, dating back to 2012 that unfortunately necessitated wetland disruption by the town to complete, according to Plaziak.
“This comes from some road elevation projects that took place a number of years ago here in town, which included Tuttles Point Road, Old Quarry Road, and Chatfinch Island Road because in elevating those projects, we had to fill some wetlands in order to bring the elevation of the roads up,” Plaziak said. “This current project is to mitigate those impacts to tidal wetlands, and it was our consultant…and the environmental scientist who we’ve been working with both in getting both the permits through the two agencies as well as developing and designing this mitigation plan. Which basically includes creating tidal wetlands at the fringe of Chittenden Park in what was lawn area just adjacent to tidal wetlands that lead out to the beach to create an additional half-acre of wetlands there, along with a tidal creek.”
According to Plaziak, despite uninformed online speculation to the contrary, wetland restoration, though a long-term endeavor, is an effective option for restoring critical habitat, which is vital not only for local wildlife but for flood mitigation along our shores.
“Yes, it is designed to hit keys points for tidal flow to be achieved and key points for plantings, and we are required to monitor and maintain this area for at least five years, and then in addition, the US Army Corps of Engineers requires we have third party oversight of the project, which is the Guilford Land and Conservation Trust, which has taken an easement over the area,” said Plaziak. “If done as we expect and hope, we will have very little work to do in the future, and any tweaks we have to do in the meantime, we’ll undertake to make sure it is a successful project.”
Plaziak said this portion of the project should wrap up relatively shortly but that further work will be initiated in the coming months.
“We hope to have the bulk of the work done for the bulk of this wetlands restoration completed in the next couple of weeks,” Plaziak said. “In the fall or winter, we are going to be doing some additional tidal wetlands rehabilitation and reestablishment out in the actual wetland area between Chittenden Park and the yacht club area. We were fortunate enough that the DEEP’s wetlands restoration unit is the contractor doing this project for us.”
Plaziak said there will also be work done on the access of the New England Trail boardwalk that goes out to the beach area once DEEP completes the project.