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Date: 7/23/2015
CHICOPEE – Shawn Morse sits outside his home at the corner of Crawford Street and Pleasantview Avenue. It’s a quiet morning and so far the trucks have not driven down Crawford or his own street, an occurrence he charges has damaged his home and made life more difficult for his stepdaughter.
Morse took to Facebook several weeks ago with a series of videos and posts about the dump trucks that have rolled down his street as part of the work on the sewer separation project on nearby Grattan Street.
“I’m not trying to gripe. I’m trying protect my family and our assets,” he explained.
His stepdaughter suffers from several serious health issues and his home that recently underwent a $70,000 remodeling.
He said the vibration of the trucks hauling debris have caused cracks in his home’s
wall and floor and caused his stepdaughter trauma. He also asserted there was trash in his yard from workmen who were sitting on the retaining wall in his front yard – a wall that was damaged by a back hoe and has cracks through it that he said was caused by the vibrations of the vehicles.
He also said that work extends beyond 3:30 p.m. when the project is supposed to close down for the day.
"I’m all for progress. It has to be done, but give us some notice [about a longer work day],” he said. If he knew about additional hours he and his daughter could leave the house.
Morse has been critical of the Kos Administration on his Facebook page and has charged, “The current administration has absolutely no control over the construction company they hired.” He credited former Mayor Michael Bissonnette for helping him.
Twice members of the Department of Public Works have visited Morse’s home. One of those officials has been Quinn T. Lonczak, project supervisor, city of Chicopee Water Pollution Control, who said he has not been made aware of similar problems to homes in the same area.
He acknowledged that Morse’s home is “right in our construction area.”
Lonczak said the contractor hired by the city is responsible for any damage to private property and advised Morse to contact the Law Department.
The Department of Public Works has the paperwork to begin such a claims process, he added.
“We’re here to help,” Lonczak noted.
He said that in such a large project damage to property or to vehicles “is not unusual.” He called the work being done on Grattan Street to separate sewer and rainwater lines as “extremely complicated construction.” Lonczak said the work on this segment of the project is tentatively scheduled to be completed in September.
On his Facebook page, Morse posted the following question on July 21: “For four straight months my side street has been the main road that they have been using. There are several other side streets they can use. Why is it just our street or Crawford that they use?”