A preliminary review of the existing utilities for the City Center was performed using available mapping and information available from utility companies, state agencies, and the City of Meriden.

The utility infrastructure will support the development proposed in the Master Plan without any significant issues.

1. Water
   Water supply is supplied to the City Center area via water mains of various sizes and materials. A comprehensive color-coded map is currently being developed by Metcalf & Eddy Engineering for the City of Meriden. A first-draft of this map is currently being reviewed and edited by the City of Meriden Water Department. A final draft is expected within the coming weeks. This study did not duplicate that effort.
   
   Water mains in the City Center are in generally good conditions. 12" ductile iron mains exist in Pratt Street, Broad Street, and Center Street. These lines are in generally good condition as they were installed sometime during the 1970's. Many of the fire lines to buildings located along West Main Street were upgraded in the 1990's with the addition of cement lining. Available information indicates that sufficient pressures and flows exist to accommodate the proposed development in the Project Area.
   
   Upgrading of water lines in the city is ongoing. This work is generally progressing from the western boundary of the city towards the eastern boundary of the city, since the lines on the eastern half of the city are generally newer than the lines in the western half.
    
2. Sanitary Sewer
   Sanitary sewer service for the City of Meriden is operated and maintained by the Meriden Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF), located on Evansville Avenue, in the south end of Meriden.
   
   Sanitary sewer service is provided by lines of varying size that are generally vitreous clay pipes (VCP). Many of these pipes are over 100 years old and are showing signs of cracking and leaking, as was discovered when the WPCF inspected by television camera. The director of the WPCF described his belief that the condition and performance of these VCP lines can be greatly improved by means of insitu lining and that this would be a cost-effective alternative to replacement.
   
   Newer lines exist in Pratt Street the form of a 42" and a 48" reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) that were installed in the 1970's. These lines appear to have sufficient capacity for the proposed development and would be the most likely place to make a new connection for such new development.
   
   However, these lines may have to be relocated if new box culverts for the transmission of Harbor Brook are installed underneath Pratt Street. Any relocation should be coordinated with new connections.
   
   Sanitary lines in the proposed development areas currently encounter problems with inflow and infiltration of stormwater, particularly when flooding occurs. This can occur frequently in the vicinity of the Hub, where the existing Harbor Brook culverts tend to overflow. Many sanitary manholes in the vicinity have been waterproofed to prevent inflow of stormwater. A comprehensive approach to the flood control issues, as described above, should help mitigate this problem.
   
   There are two large brick lined transmission lines leading from the City Center area that carry all of the city's sewage to the Water Pollution Control Facility. While the facility has not had any significant maintenance performed or had any significant upgrading in recent years, it is currently able to handle existing flows and could accommodate increases in flows resulting from the proposed development.
    
3. Natural Gas
   Gas service to the project area is provided by Yankee Gas Company. The majority of service in the downtown area is low pressure, carried in lines ranging from 2" to 16" in size. These include a 12" line in State Street and a 10" and 12" line in East Main Street. Some intermediate pressure lines exist in the form of a 10" line in Pratt Street and a 4" line in Liberty Street.
   
   Yankee Gas reports that they believe the existing network would not be capable of handling extremely high loads from a new development project. However, if the rate of return were sufficient, upgrading of lines is a feasible option.
    
4. Electricity
   Electric service is provided to the City Center area by Connecticut Light and Power, which is a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities. The City Center area is currently served through a combination of overhead and underground service, the majority being underground. Depending on the layout and components of the new development, new transformers and electrical appurtenances may be necessary.
    
5. Communication
   Southern New England Telephone (SNET) provides telephone and communication service to the City Center area. The City Center area currently has telephone service provided via a combination of overhead and underground lines, the majority of which are underground.
   
   The area is also well served by high speed fiber optic lines. A SNET "Metro Ring" exists underneath East Main Street and south of East Main Street, along the existing railroad tracks. The Metro Ring is a line with redundant cables and is capable of carrying traffic of varying rates of speed and demand. Businesses may purchase bandwidth from this ring. East Main Street also contains an SNET Feeder ring. This line is primarily for carrying SNET's traffic and is not available for private connections.
   
   SNET also has many Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) Feeder lines throughout the City of Meriden. These fiber optic lines were initially installed so that SNET could provide cable television service. SNET has since abandoned their attempt to provide cable television service and has been slowly removing the remaining coaxial cable. However, the fiber optic portions of the lines still exist and are available for new service connections.
   
   SNET also has a service division called Smart Moves. This is a marketing group that will work with new businesses to obtain the service level that they desire.
    
6. Cable Television
   Cable television service is currently supplied to the City of Meriden by Cox Communications. The downtown area is supplied by a combination of overhead and underground lines, the majority of which are underground.
   
   The cable television capacity is sufficient to meet the needs of the proposed development.

Conclusion
The utility infrastructure necessary to support the proposed development is already adequate or, in the case of natural gas, the necessary upgrade is believed to be economically feasible.

The material on this page is reproduced from "Meriden City Center Initiative - A Comprehensive Plan for Revitalization" prepared by BL Companies, released 07/24/2002. All rights reserved.