FO Response Letter to DPW Comments on Draft As-Builts_20220801
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TO: Carolyn Misch, AICP
Assistant Director
City of Northampton Office of Planning and Sustainability
210 Main Street, Room 11
Northampton, MA 01060
FROM: Matthew Taylor, P.E.
DATE: August 1, 2022
RE: Higgins Way – Northampton, DPW As-Built Comment Response Letter
Fuss & O’Neill, Inc. Project No. 20091145.C71
Dear Ms. Misch:
This letter is in response to the memo titled “Review of Higgins Way As-Built Submissions” received on
June 14th 2022. I have reviewed the memo and have the following replies to the comments as they
appear in the memo as followed:
1. Detention Basin 1
a. The basin as shown in the as-built plans is accurate as of day of survey, any changes
that may have occurred after that date are unknown. The private developer of the
adjacent lot had been active and has, in the past, modified the basin. Any additional
survey or field measurements are out of the scope of our current agreement.
b. Drainage Calculations will be revised with the surveyed elevation
2. Drainage Calculations will be revised with the surveyed elevation. Detention Basin 2
3. Drainage Calculations will be revised with the surveyed elevation Drainage Calculations will be
revised with the surveyed elevation Drainage Calculations will be revised with the surveyed
elevation Subsurface Infiltration Basin #1
a. Details from the design plans will be included in next submission. No subsurface
excavation or exploration was included in our current scope of work.
4. Subsurface Infiltration System for Individual Houses
a. Details from the design plans will be included in next submission. We have no further
information on alterations made during construction.
b. Will add the two missing infiltrator systems to the As-Built Plans
c. We have no information on the possible connections to the noted 12” HDPE FES
Outlet. Any further investigation into possible connections to this pipe is not within
our current scope of work.
5. Rain Garden
a. Details from the design plans will be included in next submission. Field
investigation/verification of material depth is not included in our current scope of
work. We have no further information on alterations made during construction beyond
what was included in the as-built plan
b. Drainage calculations will be revised to include survey elevations.
correct the number of infiltrator systems shown on the As-Built Plans.
Carolyn Misch
August 1, 2022
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6. Pervious Pavers
a. Details from the design plans will be included in next submission. Field
investigation/verification of material depth is not included in our current scope of
work. We have no further information on alterations made during construction beyond
what was included in the as-built plan
Inspection of the Stormwater Management System
A draw down inspection, inspection report & plan to correct any deficiencies is not included in our
current scope of work.
General Comments
As noted above, the discrepancies in structure, outlet and other elevations between the As-Built Plans &
previously included drainage calculations will be revised and included in the next submission. While the
system appears to be functioning generally as intended, revisions to the stormwater calculations will
result in flow numbers that differ from the original calculations, and potentially could show that the
system does not perform as efficiently as originally designed. Any further deficiencies or non-
compliance issues discovered by the revisions to the calculations are not the responsibility of Fuss &
O’Neill, and are only reflections of the as-built data. Any additional rework or design plans to rectify
issues that arise out of the results of the revised calculations are not included in this scope of work,
included in our current contract Proposal for Design/Engineering Services for Higgins Way –
Northampton, dated 8/07/2020 and Amendment #1– Task 5 Final As-Built Services, dated
2/12/21.
We ask that Northampton DPW consider that the half-finished state of the subdivision, and
discrepancies between the design and the actual final construction, was brought about by the previous
developer. All current parties involved in rectifying the short comings left behind from this situation
have worked hard towards a completion of the project within limited budget. Many improvements and
site changes were made to address potential deficiencies and allow the site stormwater systems to
function as close to the as-approved condition as possible given the limitations of posed by the current
state of the site.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Matt Taylor at 413-452-0445 ext.
4425. We look forward to working with you on this project.
Sincerely,
Matthew Taylor, PE
Project Manager