Forge River sewer informational

The design team for the Forge River watershed sewer project must visit each affected property within Phases 1 and 2 to assess the topography and identify obstacles that must either be maneuvered around or removed.

Alongside Suffolk County Department of Public Works and the office of Legis. Rudy Sunderman, Gannett Fleming Engineers and Architects held a public forum last Thursday at the Mastic Fire Department to acquire information from residents about their properties and to also provide information to those residents who have questions or are unfamiliar with the project. Residents were welcome to stop by or call in anytime between 1 and 7 p.m.

“Some people are working [during the day],” said Lars Augustin, senior project manager and vice president of Gannett Fleming. “This is so we can accommodate those folks.”

A property investigation questionnaire has been created for residents to fill out and consists of questions regarding utilities, septic tanks, cesspools and other potential below-ground obstacles located on the property. The questionnaire was distributed at the forum on Thursday and is available online at www.forgewatershedsewers.com. The questionnaire may also be mailed to Sunderman’s office or provided to field technicians upon arrival for the property’s field investigation.

“Legis. Sunderman's goal is to basically make this process go as smoothly as possible for everyone that is involved,” said Timothy Rothang, Sunderman’s chief of staff. “The whole idea behind this meeting was to encourage those who may still have some questions or may be still skeptical of the project to come down here.”

As of Monday, 100 applicable residents have completed the questionnaire. The project’s design is 30 percent complete, and that portion has been submitted for review, said Ben Wright, DPW’s chief engineer.

“We can't finish the information on various properties if we don't have that information,” Wright said.

This explains the necessity for the design team to acquire information about these properties. Construction remains set to begin April 2020.