Apologies to Dean Nahatis

To the Editor,

I want to apologize on behalf of Maryann Wood and myself for last week inadvertently misquoting Dean Nahatis in his June 7, 2025 letter to the Manchester Conservation Commission, in our letter to The Cricket last week.
Our letter was written to inform townspeople re: the importance of re-thinking and revising the town’s current, but outdated, plan to expand the size of the current Central Street culvert that connects Saw Mill Brook with the ocean. This original plan was designed to mitigate any future in-town flooding from Saw Mill Brook given that 100-year flood that happened on Mother’s Day in 2006.
In our letter (June 20, 2025, Manchester Cricket) we misquoted Dean when we wrote, “…the project’s current plan will seriously increase flooding in both the Inner Harbor and on property surrounding the Central Pond.”
What Dean actually wrote, when cautioning the Commission about the town’s current culvert replacement project was: “If the current 5ft tidal opening is widened to 20ft, the increased volume of incoming water will most likely increase the frequency and magnitude of flooding along the Channel (Central Pond?) especially from Knight Circle to the Fire Station. ….. This plan to widen the bridge (culvert) for passing a 100-year flood at EL (elevation) 7.7’ does not make sense if tidal flooding is more frequent (2 or 3 times a year) and higher?”
As an individual who owns property that now receives high tidal waters in my basement a few times each year, I am also concerned that town officials remain stubbornly enamored with their $5+ million federal/state funded project, designed fifteen years ago, that , according to at least one knowledgeable bridge engineer, would probably allow even more ocean flooding … thus ignoring the current reality that our town hall, town parking lot, Masconomo Park and many properties surrounding the Central Pond need tidal flood mitigation work to be done as soon as possible.
As Nahatis also wrote in his important letter to the Conservation Commission, “There are other water management options to control the river flooding that were not considered, such as an additional by-pass culvert under Elm Street, and/or an adjustable gate at the Atwater Ave bridge.”
Nahatis concludes by saying that the town’s current “antiquated design runs contrary to the trend throughout seacoast municipalities, where projects are being initiated to control the tide. Rehabilitating the existing bridge and modifying the dam with a self-regulating tide gate seems like a much more prudent investment for this town.”
Maryann and I certainly agree with Dean Nahatis and thank him profusely for his expertise, concern and advocacy for an appropriate and much needed tidal management proposal for Manchester. We again apologize for any inaccuracies in our letter of last week.
Again, we would like to request that town officials and our incoming town administrator hold a community forum ASAP to hear concerns from property owners re: these current annual high tide levels. Manchester must quickly design an up-to-date tidal mitigation plan, instead of moving ahead with this current culvert expansion plan that ignores FEMA’s 2024 tidal figures.
Susan Wadia-Ells
Manchester