Town officials are calling for a Norwalk-based excavating company and town resident to pay $3,500 to repair damage caused by heavy equipment it loaded onto a public road.
Damage to the roadway in the area of 131 Soundview Lane has been caused by Norwalk-based company M. Lato Excavating & Tree Service. The town says it will cost $3,500 to repair the road via micro overlay, apparently damaged by heavy excavating equipment, and is seeking that compensation. The company separately has been fined $1,000 in a swimming pool and pavilion project in Hoyt Farms that has been done in violation of Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Regulations, officials say.
The company in question, M. Lato Excavating & Tree Service, damaged the area of 131 Soundview Lane last month, according to a letter sent by DPW officials to both the company and resident whose property there has undergone work.
The $3,500 is the estimated cost to micro overlay the damaged roadway—work that will be done in the next paving cycle, officials say.
Asked about the matter, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said residents of the street are “furious” about the damage and pleased with how the town is handling the situation. It appears that the proper pallets may not have been used in unloading excavating equipment at the site, he said.
Another look at the road damaged in the area of 131 Soundview Lane. Credit: Michael Dinan
Officials at the company could not immediately be reached for comment. It isn’t clear who are the principals at the company or whether it’s registered under a separate LLC. No records for ‘M. Lato Excavating & Tree Service’ can be found in the online database maintained by the Connecticut Secretary of the State.
Meanwhile, an Aug. 5 letter from the Town of New Canaan and addressed to the company and ‘Mike Lato’ specifically says that, at a different site in town—86 Hoyt Farm Road—M. Lato Excavating during the creation of a swimming pool and pavilion failed to install soil and erosion controls, and filled in an area on the property that included wetlands.
That’s in violation of New Canaan’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Regulations, and prompted town officials to issue a $1,000 fine that must be paid by Sept. 15, as well as to fix the problems it created on the site.