Drive-up ATM opens again at Webster Bank in borough

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The hole that opened up a year ago between Webster Bank and Rubber Avenue has been fixed with temporary pavement. Customers can now use the drive-up ATMs. –RA ARCHIVE

NAUGATUCK — Almost a year to the day since flooding and a pipe burst opened a gaping hole in the driveway from Webster Bank to Rubber Avenue, cars are passing through the drive-up ATMs once again.

“It’s something to be proud of,” said Pasquale Salvatore, the attorney representing Mountview Plaza owner Mancinone Realty. “They did a lot of work.”

A temporary coat of rough pavement covers the narrow section of road, which passes over Long Meadow Brook. Cars can drive on it, but a permanent layer of asphalt will have to be laid at a later date, said Salvatore, of Yamin & Grant in Waterbury.

Mancinone Realty owns the property, which was inundated during heavy rains last March when the brook flooded and a pipe under the pavement burst. Since then, a new pipe has been installed, according to land use records. On the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission’s orders, curbs, hay bales and rebuilt retaining walls will prevent erosion into the brook.

Repairs were supposed to be completed in October, but the company had to wait two months for Yankee Gas to move a gas line, according to land use records. Before that, the company had to get an inland wetlands permit for the repairs, a process that took three months, and then waited for an ordered pipe to arrive.

The company repaired the broken pipe and installed a new one, which will handle heavier water flows with the aim of preventing future flooding and damage.

Before the driveway was repaved, customers could not use the drive-up ATM at the bank, which has only one branch in the borough. Customers could use their bank cards to swipe into the vestibule after hours and use the machine there.

After the pavement burst open, heavy summer rains caused water to pool in the hole. Hurricane Irene widened the hole and ruptured more of the pavement around it.

A permanent layer of paving will likely be added after asphalt plants open in April or May, said Steven Macary, zoning enforcement officer and assistant wetlands enforcement officer.

Macary said he thought Mancinone Realty had been diligent about following all the steps needed to repair the driveway, which the borough did not require the company to do.

“I thought it went very smooth,” Macary said.