Life in Cherry Brook neighborhood still swamped with water

By LOUISE TETREAULT, Valley Breeze Staff Writer

NORTH SMITHFIELD - In the Cherry Brook neighborhood residents of Lapre and Woodlawn roads have seen time move on, but their water woes are at a standstill.

It's been a year since a group of residents who live near Cherry Brook brought their concerns of flooded basements and yards to the Town Council and the town administrator.

Now residents in the area are gearing up to bring yet another petition asking again for relief from their watery situation. The few things that have been done are not enough, they say.

In addition, residents say that Town Administrator Robert Lowe has not been responsive and has not kept them up-to-date on his efforts to help them, a complaint that echoes from last year. One resident has taken to sending registered letters to Lowe in order to prove he's received them.

On the other hand, Lowe said he has been the only administrator to address issues in the area and that money that the town doesn't have is a main reason why more hasn't been done.

When asked what progress has been made since last year, Lowe said. "One year? It's been 50 years."

"I get nasty letters," said Lowe. "Where was everybody else before me? We're the first to have a maintenance plan."

Since last year, the culvert at Meadow Brook Road was cleaned and a damaged pipe connecting two storm drains on Woodlawn Road to Cherry Brook was repaired. Also a clogged pipe connecting drains to Cherry Brook was cleaned out.

Those efforts, while appreciated, have done little to resolve the flooding issues in the neighborhoods according to May Briggs and Debbie Papineau who live on Woodlawn Road.

Briggs said residents were told they would receive a schedule for the culvert clean up and that they would be notified of DEM's response to a request to dredge Cherry Brook. They have received neither.

Lowe said that the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management told him that a $70,000 study needs to be conducted before any changes can be considered.

"We would need a half-million to a million dollars to fix it then we'd have to consider what it would do to Woonsocket," said Lowe. "Reality tells me we don't have any money for that."

Continued Lowe, "In the spring, when we look at the project again, we need to come up with a plan. Do we want to spend $70,000 on something we're not able to do? The project will never get done unless we have federal money. That's my opinion."

Briggs said she was told that former grant writer Mary McDonald had begun writing a grant that would have provided the funds needed to conduct the study.

Through his secretary Claire LaBarre, Lowe said they were looking for grants but never found any to address their needs.

Town Council President Linda Thibault said the quest should actively continue.

"We've got to so something about it," said Thibault. "We can't just throw up our arms. We've got to find a way."

Lowe said another pipe is scheduled to be fixed in the spring when the construction season reopens.

Papineau said she wants to see culvert sizes restored to their original size for optimum flow during peak flow time and to replace the culverts with a size that allows for it. She also wants to see residents who have had soil erosion due to the constant flooding receive fill to restore even levels with abutting properties.

Mostly, they want Lowe or a designee to keep them updated on any progress or developments.

"Do something other than say you can't do anything," said Briggs.

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