By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

Residents who live near the Hampton Circle Playground remain concerned about longstanding problems with flooding, rain pooling, and poor drainage, problems that they say have been made worse by the town’s addition of fill during the reconstruction of the site.

Construction on the Hampton Circle Playground includes adding fill around the play structures. [Richard W. Green photo]

During a Zoom meeting among residents, town officials, and engineers last week, Director of Community Development & Planning Chris DiIorio assured the group that Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements are followed in all floodplain development projects in town. He added the playground was designed with the knowledge that this area experiences substantial flooding from the ocean, and that a portion of that ocean water – as well as water from rain events – is drained by the existing system.

“The playground is designed to work with that existing system. Drainage in that area is the subject of an upcoming study, which will start soon, that will develop recommendations for a more robust drainage system regarding rainwater to improve conditions at the site,” said DiIorio. “Drainage needs to be addressed beyond this project; the town realizes it and is taking it on. Any work we can do to help alleviate ponding and puddling, we will do that.”

Engineers from the Beta Group, an engineering firm, explained that the Hampton Circle area is in a floodplain, but is not considered a “floodway” because this term is used to describe systems that convey flood waters in a one-direction flow.

“The land is subject to coastal storm flowage, but is not a floodway,” Director of Climate Adaptation and Conservation Chris Krahforst said.

Liz Kay of Hampton Circle said it is difficult for many residents to follow the technical terminology and suggested that visuals may help to “communicate the process, especially issues of elevation, flood areas, and storm drains.”

“In the event of coastal flooding, it is not like the mound is a brick wall. When water hits , it will disperse,” Town Manager Jennifer Constable said. “The top 18 inches are permeable; water goes in the ground.”

Constable also highlighted the outreach to the neighborhood and responsiveness by town staff to concerns about the project.

“People feel there has been a lot of pushback at us, and we live here, dealing with the issues,” Hampton Circle resident Valerie Carlson said. “Really want to hear the town also wishes they had dealt with the drainage issues before building the playground.”

“It appears to me a dam has been created,” said Jen Romeo Picaro of Moreland Avenue. “When water floods, it won’t be able to go through the playground… I would like assurance from the engineers, because multiple properties are at stake of being ruined.”

Dave McKinley, landscape engineer from the Beta Group, said the playground work “did lift areas, but did not create a physical dam all the way around to prevent water from getting across; water can move around it.” He said the project “added a mound, but didn’t add grades around the mound so natural drainage should happen. However, if the drainage system is not working, then it will not take water off the road correctly and it will seek another way.”

“We don’t have to be an engineer or scientist; a mound of material was placed there,” Carlson said. “Water that is displaced has to go somewhere else. Doesn’t matter coastal flooding or rain, water that used to flow through has to flow around.”

The engineers said they did not do a drainage plan on site; they were hired to reconstruct the playground with the existing drainage.

“Drainage was not in the scope of the project,” said McKinley.

“If the stormwater system is working, the playground mass will not raise the storm water,” Beta Group civil engineer Gary James said. “[It] doesn’t take very much change in grade to change the drainage.”

Bryan Fenelon of Hampton Circle said the drainage is not working properly; water runs along the wall and into yards.

“I am talking about rain effect, not just coastal flooding,” he said.

“As Bryan explained, the drainage wasn’t working before, and now with the new playground there, it is working worse…changes need to be made soon,” said Deidre Murphy of Hampton Circle.

Krahforst reminded the group the playground was installed in one of the worst rainfall years of recent times, and the rainfall needs to be mapped to what is typical.

“Torrential downpours are part of the change in environment going forward; there is concern about absorbing this rainwater,” Kay said. “There are still many concerns about the known storm drain issues within the area, as well as along Moreland and Marginal, all which have been known culprits to severe drainage issues.”

When the project started, Eileen Weisslinger of Hampton Circle remembers asking if a drainage study had been done, and being told it was not required.

“I am not against the playground, but I believe the cart was put before the horse…drainage studies should have been done first,” said Weisslinger, adding she is “astounded how it all played out.”

DiIorio said a drainage study was not needed at the time of constructing the new playground because the project did change the drainage, and the ground was graded to work with the existing system. Abutters disagreed, and believe the drainage system was impacted because fill was added to change the elevation.

“MEPA didn’t think we needed a written report,” said McKinley.

Krahforst said he doesn’t want to “promise putting in a drainage system will solve flooding in the area. The drainage system will only work as well as the groundwater table and tides will let it. [It is] going to function as well as it can in an area that used to be wetlands.”

Krahforst said the town next will “need to look at cost and how to move forward” with potential solutions to the issues raised by the neighbors.

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