Bridge Update #3 - A Timeline of events
Details about the bridge journey from the beginning...
This newsletter is in a new section focused on Bridge updates. This section is separate from our regular announcements. If you want to keep up with our recovery and fundraising efforts then this is the place to do it.
Subscribers, if you’d like to opt out of these updates you can do that via your settings in Substack.
Follow us on the journey
Those who have followed the Bridge story in person already have glimpses into some of our actions in response to the disaster. But those who only follow online would have no way to see the whole picture. And even if we spoke face to face, it’s rare that we’d have had the time to detail every step.
Transparency is important to us so we figured we’d take the time to catch everyone up on what happened, from the start, up until today. It’s… a lot, though. So rather than type it out, here is a timeline of events for the last few months. I’ve included the dates where I’m sure of them and otherwise placed the events in chronological order.
I’ll try to keep the updates coming more regularly now that we’ve come up for air. That way, you can follow along for the journey.
The Timeline
August
16th - Closed on the Newtown property
18th - Historic flooding destroys the only bridge onto the property
19th - Placed a simple footbridge on the wreckage to allow limited access to the folks trapped on site with the help of Stonewell Garden
19th - spoke with Land Use Agency
Spoke with Department of Public Works
20th - met with G.Pic & Sons Construction Co
Met with Newtown engineer
23rd - met with Sound Engineering Associates
28th - attended USDA listening session for CT producers and connected with NRCS/FSA
Started the process to receive aid from the USDA/NRCS/FSA
We talked to News8 WTNH and James was on TV
We (and some friends) wrote letters to Governor Lamont, Rep. Bolinsky of the 106th, Senator Hwang of the 28th, and Congresswoman Hayes of the 5th.
Applied for DECD/WBDC Flood Relief Grant
With the help of the NRCS, started pricing out/planning a temporary bridge including gathering and comparing:
Plans
Engineers
Estimates
Contractors
September
Plans completed by NRCS engineers
16th - Received $25,000 via DECD/WBDC Flood Relief Grant
18th - Ordered crane mats for temporary bridge (-$7,700)
23rd - Received $19,000 via NRCS
25th - Temporary bridge completed by G.Pic & Sons Construction Co (-$22,800)
Demolition of old bridge done by G.Pic & Sons Construction Co (-$16,000)
Submitted documents to secure permitting for Bridge Fest
Started nailing down food trucks, auction items, musicians for Bridge Fest
October
4th - Applied for disaster aid from FEMA
Completed the Bridge Fest flyer
Finalized a logo for t shirts (we hope) for Bridge Fest
Started nailing down vendors, raffle items, and volunteers
Received our first 4 donations
21st - Last touches on the Temporary bridge added to assure we are compliant with NRCS standards
Thank you
The further we get away from the date of the original disaster, the more we have to be grateful for. Even though it’s created some challenges, this situation has shown us, who our neighbors are, who our true allies are, and how kind (or not!) the people around us can be.
We’ve met, and gotten to know, so many people as we work to replace the bridge. We have a lot of people to thank. Some of them we’ve already mentioned in the first update or on our donation page. We’d like to supplement our previous list by thanking some more folks here:
USDA, FSA, and NRCS (Anna, Katey, Dianne, Jim, Ed etc)
G.Pic & Sons Construction Co
Guardian’s Farm (David Buck)
DECD/WBDC
Congresswoman Hayes and team
Stonewell Garden (Austin Bonner)
What’s next
We’ve been hard at work fleshing out the details for Bridge Fest! There is more in store at this event than we’ve let on previously. Expect another email from us in the coming days sharing what you can expect when you come!