Town Of Wilton: Closing Updates-Merwin Meadows Pond, Stadium And Lilly Turf Fields And Stadium Track

Press release from the Town of Wilton:

September 3, 2021 - 12:30pm

Due to storm runoff, Merwin Meadows pond is closed to swimming through September 7th, as a precautionary measure.  

The Stadium track will close tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. and remain closed for the day due to tomorrow night's fireworks.

The Stadium and Lilly turf fields remain closed.  Professionals will be onsite early next week.  Replacement infill has been ordered. 

Several of you have asked, How did water, mud and debris end up on the Stadium Track and the Turf Field?. Here is the answer:

• Water from Wednesday night’s rainfall traveled down from the top of Catalpa Road via an intermittent watercourse woven through private properties on Catalpa and under Catalpa Road until it crossed back onto town-owned property just north of the back corner of the WHS Stadium.  The Town has a 6 ft deep drain at the end of the watercourse to capture water from the watercourse.  That drain connects to a network of drains throughout the Complex that take water to the pond and road drains.  During the storm, the watercourse brought not only rainwater into our drainage system, but also mud, tree branches and tree debris that fell during the storm.
• The mud, tree branches and tree debis blocked some of the drains within the Town’s network.  Tree branches and tree debris blocked the 6 ft deep drain at the base of the watercourse behind the north section of the Stadium. See photo here. This caused water, mud and debris to surge onto the track and across the turf field, taking the coconut husk and sand infill with it. The water and debris exited the turf field under the visitor benches.  After pushing through the rocks under the bleachers, it turned right and continued racing across the field behind the youth baseball field, with debris stopping just short of the pond. 

Obvious next questions are whether the Town took measures to prevent this from happening and whether there are additional measures the Town can implement to prevent this should we have another high intensity storm.  The answers are: 1-As a preventative measure, this Spring, we enlarged the drain behind the field to 6 feet deep and we cleared the drains. Even as enlarged, the tree debris was so significant as to fill the drain.  2-Our Town Engineer is leading an investigation into what else is possible, as we recognize the increased possibility of more intense storms.  

Look for further updates next week.  Meanwhile, enjoy the long weekend.

This press release was produced by the Town of Wilton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.