Windsor Locks Public Works
Infrastructure:
Highway Division –
On October 29, 2011 the Town of Windsor Locks along with most of the northeast part of the
country, experienced what most would call the “Storm of the Century”. When Storm Alfred hit it
dropped over one foot of snow locally which toppled many trees and brought down utility wires
all over Town. After several weeks of hard work the streets of Windsor Locks were clear of
debris and things were headed back to normal. During that time the Town collected
approximately fifty thousand cubic yards of debris of which the Town forces and the residents
collected roughly twenty nine thousand cubic yards. The Department of Public Works would like
to thank all of those residents that forged out on their own and brought their debris to the Leaf
Composting Facility on Old County Road. Their efforts saved the Town a significant amount of
money by not having to utilize the Contracted services that we did for the remaining debris. All
in all, it was a job well done.
The South Center Street project is coming to a close. The Sanitary Sewers are complete, the
drainage has had improvements made to it, the sidewalks have been replaced and the road
surface was reclaimed, graded and repaved. A pedestrian bridge over the brook near the CT
Waterworks property is being installed so that the residents from the Oakridge Road area have a
safe route to walk on to access the CT Waterworks property. The Town received another
$500,000.00 for Infrastructure improvements on Fern Street and Pearl Street. Again, the sanitary
sewers and drainage systems were replaced along with the sidewalks and the road surfaces.
The deteriorating asphalt sidewalks on Reed Avenue were recently replaced with new concrete
sidewalks. The Town received a grant that will enable us to replace the concrete sidewalks on
Elm Street from Main Street up to Center Street on both sides and in the future replace the
sidewalks on Main Street from Church Street to Chestnut Street. The Town Hall had new ADA
compliant sidewalks installed recently. The parking lot was repaved and re-striped with handicap
accessible parking spaces close to the entrances. The Safety Complex as well as the Public
Works Facility have reclaimed and repaved the parking areas at each facility. The Police
Department has also had a new two thousand square foot, fenced in impound lot constructed.
The paved walkway from South Elm Street to the rear of the Housing Authority was replaced as
part of our infrastructure improvements this year as well.
The Department of Public Works has been working very closely with CT DEEP to continue to
provide the residents of Town with an avenue for the disposal of leaves, brush and now grass
clippings. There is a storage bin located toward the rear of the composting area where grass
clippings can be dropped off. DPW employees remove the grass clippings every week and bring
them to an approved location.
Parks and Grounds Division –
Newly fabricated and erected signs at different Park locations in Town have been completed.
The Lions Ambulance Facility, Spring Park, The Senior Center and Pesci Park have all received
new signs. Repairs and improvements to the irrigation systems at some of our facilities have
been finished. The Parks and Grounds staff has also worked with the Highway Division with
many of the town-wide improvements this construction season along with playing a critical role
with the debris management from Storm Alfred.
Facility Maintenance –
The Safety Complex has had a major upgrade to its Air Conditioning / Heating system. The
rooftop units were replaced with more cost efficient units as well as implementing a new
Building Management System which will allow us to better control the system. The BMS utilizes
the outside air temperature to supplement the air handling system. By doing this we are able to
conserve electricity and fuel oil.
The Park and Recreation Department has moved into their new offices located in the west wing
of the Town Hall. The next move will be the Building, Planning and Zoning Department who
should be in their new location by the end of the year. The rearrangement of the office areas was
designed to make applying for building permits a more fluent process by having the Building,
Planning and Zoning Department closer to the Tax Collector’s Office as well as being near the
Assessor’s Office and the Town Clerk.
The Director of Public Works would again like to express his deepest gratitude to all of the
Public Works employees, including the Water Pollution Control and Facility Maintenance
employees for their efforts and hard work this past year. I would also like to thank the Board of
Selectmen and the Board of Finance for their continued support in helping to make Windsor
Locks a better community.