FARMINGTON – The drainage pipe replacement project off Front Street and construction of a new parking lot downtown are nearing completion.
The $300,000 project to replace a failed drainage pipe, which carries a large portion of downtown Farmington’s storm water runoff, will be competed soon with the final tie into the existing system completed and repaving the parking lot to follow.
The drainage pipe runs from Front Street near the entrance to Narrow Gauge Cinemas and under Prescott Field to the pond, which filters the discharge before it goes into the Sandy River. E.L. Vining & Son, Inc., of Farmington, is the project’s construction contractor.
One hitch of the project, Town Manager Richard Davis said, is that the dry summer has meant getting vegetation in the large retention pond to take hold. Without it, a heavy rain event could cause erosion to occur. Vinings moved ahead and connected the drainage system last week to complete the project and will reseed the area for erosion control this fall.
Meanwhile, the new 28-space parking lot on Church Street is expected to be completed by the end of this week. The new lot, which is bordered by Church and Cony streets, will provide additional parking for patrons to the downtown area.
A deteriorating apartment house was razed earlier this year, with clean up, drainage work and paving work by Jordan Excavation.
After voter approval of the project, the town purchased the property in 2015 for $79,000 and about another $149,000 going into construction of the lot which will be equipped with street lighting. Jordan’s bid also included a drainage improvement project at 219 High Street, where runoff has caused an ongoing erosion issue. Funds for the parking lot project is coming out of the town’s tax increment financing fund account.
Selectmen will take up the discussion of planting shrubs in a 100-foot bed between the lot and Cony Street at their meeting tonight. The bed is only four feet wide and, with a slight slope, needs something planted to hold its soil. Davis said mowing the bed, if grass were to be seeded there, would require more maintenance than shrubs.
