Council approves sewer capital payments; staff describes Winstead Road force main emergency

The Torrington City Council on Jan. 21 approved a set of payments from Fund 490 (sanitary sewer capital improvements) and discussed an emergency repair to a force main on Winstead Road.

The council approved payment request number 5 to Yield Industries for $651,601.23 for Brightwood Avenue sewer replacement; engineering invoices to Wright-Pierce for punch-list and design work (invoices cited in the motion as $3,502.95 and $38,408.06), an additional Wright-Pierce invoice for the Harris Drive pump station design ($180,306.06 as listed in the payment request), and invoice 1829 to Yield Industries for $22,340 for an emergency repair to the Winstead Road force main. The payments were described in the staff memo attached to the agenda.

When asked for details, Ed Tousey (public works/operations) said crews responded to a Christmas Eve break on a force main exiting the Harris Drive pump station. He described two outgoing lines — a 12-inch and a 16-inch — and said the 16-inch section was leaking under Winstead Road; that line is not currently in service. Tousey said an open-cut repair under Winstead Road would be difficult given utility depth and embankment conditions and that the city is designing a tunnel/force-main relocation to eliminate the recurring emergency and to provide a corridor that also can serve a walking trail. He said design work on the tunnel/force-main is expected to be completed within the year.

Council members asked whether the Harris Drive pump station upgrade would address force-main breaks; staff said upgrades address pump-station reliability and equipment — some equipment dates to the mid-1970s — but will not directly eliminate breaks in aging force mains. The council approved the payments on a voice vote.