After solutions for floods on King Hill Road

SHARON — The selectmen are looking into ways to mitigate excessive runoff of water coming into property on 62 King Hill Road owned by Margaret Keilty and Mark LaMonica.

At a selectmen’s meeting in November, the property owners had threatened legal action against the town. LaMonica, who is a professional photographer, presented the board with pictures of the alleged damage from runoff to the land — including photos of a ditch that was created, he and Keilty said, by runoff from Sharon Hospital.

At that meeting, LaMonica and Keilty said they would seek monetary damages from the town, as well as the removal of a culvert pipe leading to their property and repairs to the property.

At last week’s meeting, the property owners and the selectmen reviewed a letter written by Christopher Pierce, senior project manager of Wright-Pierce Engineering of Middletown. Pierce was hired by the town in December to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the situation.

“Currently, storm water from King Hill Road, including flows from a majority of the Sharon Hospital site, flows to a rip-rap swale along the southern side of King Hill Road,� Pierce said in the letter.

“It appears that so me portions of the hospital flows discharge directly to the swale without passing through the [hospital’s] detention basin. The rip-rap swale discharges to an 18-inch reinforced concrete pipe which passes beneath Hospital Hill Road at the intersection with King Hill Road.�

To identify other possible issues and to correct the runoff problem, Pierce proposed a drainage study to assess the volume and the flow rates of the storm water. Afterward, the company could evaluate potential ideas to improve the existing drainage system. Those might include improvements or additions to the existing storm water detention system at Sharon Hospital; improvements to the existing swales along King Hill Road and through Keilty and LaMonica’s property; and improvements and the expansion of existing storm water culverts beneath both Hospital Hill and King Hill roads.

He estimated that the cost for the basic scope of service, including study and preliminary design phases, would be $17,500. This would not include a topographic survey, estimated at $4,000, and additional drainage analysis, estimated at $1,500.

The selectmen and the property owners said they need time to review the proposal.

“We really need more time to digest this,� First Selectman Malcolm Brown said. “I want to re-communicate with them because I want to ask [Pierce] to send back all of the engineering materials that we went through, in order to send it to another firm. I want to get another opinion about the potential costs of this project.�

Keilty told the board that no matter what the selectmen decide, she does not want the property involved in any drainage.

“Don’t waste your time figuring out how to put the water across the field,� Keilty said. “It’s already there and I want it off the field. There are some things in this letter saying that there might be a study on how to move the drainage through the field. I’m past all of that and I’m done with that. Don’t bother with that. The water has to be removed, I don’t care where it goes. I’ve been stuck with this for over 20 years.�

Keilty said she wanted her property to be returned to its natural state, which she said is the only thing she would accept in any plan.

“I just don’t want the town to pay for anything and be stuck with a plan that doesn’t address the problem,� Keilty said.

Brown said he would review all possibilities and he has not yet approached representatives from Sharon Hospital about the situation.

Woman’s Club

chili dinner Feb. 28

SHARON — The annual chili dinner, hosted by the Sharon Woman’s Club, will be held Saturday, Feb. 28. Dinner will be served at the firehouse from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dinner at the firehouse includes a homemade dessert buffet. Raffle prizes and door prizes will be awarded.

Purchasing tickets in advance is highly recommended. Dinner tickets are $12 per person, $8 for children under 12. Take-out is available. The take-out price is $8 and serves two. Tickets are available at the Sharon Pharmacy and the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon, or call Kim 860-364-5540.

Latest News

Housatonic softball beats Webutuck 16-3

Haley Leonard and Khyra McClennon looked on as HVRHS pulled ahead of Webutuck, May 2.

Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — The battle for the border between Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Webutuck High School Thursday, May 2, was won by HVRHS with a score of 16-3.

The New Yorkers played their Connecticut counterparts close early on and commanded the lead in the second inning. Errors plagued the Webutuck Warriors as the game went on, while the HVRHS Mountaineers stayed disciplined and finished strong.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mountaineers fall 3-0 to Wamogo

Anthony Foley caught Chase Ciccarelli in a rundown when HVRHS played Wamogo Wednesday, May 1.

Riley Klein

LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School varsity baseball dropped a 3-0 decision to Wamogo Regional High School Wednesday, May 1.

The Warriors kept errors to a minimum and held the Mountaineers scoreless through seven innings. HVRHS freshman pitcher Chris Race started the game strong with no hits through the first three innings, but hiccups in the fourth gave Wamogo a lead that could not be caught.

Keep ReadingShow less
The artist called ransome

‘Migration Collage' by ransome

Alexander Wilburn

If you claim a single sobriquet as your artistic moniker, you’re already in a club with some big names, from Zendaya to Beyoncé to the mysterious Banksy. At Geary, the contemporary art gallery in Millerton founded by New Yorkers Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, a new installation and painting exhibition titled “The Bitter and the Sweet” showcases the work of the artist known only as ransome — all lowercase, like the nom de plume of the late Black American social critic bell hooks.

Currently based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., ransome’s work looks farther South and farther back — to The Great Migration, when Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, and the public violence of lynching paved the way for over six million Black Americans to seek haven in northern cities, particularly New York urban areas, like Brooklyn and Baltimore. The Great Migration took place from the turn of the 20th century up through the 1970s, and ransome’s own life is a reflection of the final wave — born in North Carolina, he found a new home in his youth in New Jersey.

Keep ReadingShow less
Four Brothers ready for summer season

Hospitality, ease of living and just plain fun are rolled into one for those who are intrigued by the leisure-time Caravana experience at the family-owned Four Brothers Drive-in in Amenia. John Stefanopoulos, pictured above, highlights fun possibilities offered by Hotel Caravana.

Leila Hawken

The month-long process of unwrapping and preparing the various features at the Four Brothers Drive-In is nearing completion, and the imaginative recreational destination will be ready to open for the season on Friday, May 10.

The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.

Keep ReadingShow less