Two residents spoke out at Tuesday’s board meeting regarding flooding issues allegedly caused by the Pine Hollow Country Club in East Norwich.
The issues have repeatedly caused damage to personal property and home interiors in houses bordering the golf course, according to residents.
“We are living on the edge every time it’s going to rain,” said East Norwich resident Diane Di Bernardo.
Residents contacted the town Code Enforcement Bureau, which examined the area.
“It was determined that it was the golf course,” Di Bernardo said.
Affected residents have contacted various agencies, but the issue has not been resolved, Di Bernardo said.
The flooding, Di Bernardo said, comes from an easement on Split Oak Drive that was cleared before 2021.
“There is an easement going up Split Oak, which goes all the way into the golf course,” she said.
“The area, that easement that I’ve been talking about, was cleared by PSEG,” she said. “They cleared that area prior to July 2021.”
Di Bernardo said she has lived in her home for 21 years. The issue did not affect her property until 2021, she said.
The issue has been ongoing since the initial flood, she said. Her property experienced flooding in July 2021, March 2024 and June 2024.
“I, too, have problems on my property from flooding from the Pine Hollow Golf Course,” said East Norwich resident Cliff Broffman.
Broffman said he has lived in his home for 30 years and has experienced four floods: 1994, 2011, 2019, and 2021.
He said a lawyer contacted the golf course on his behalf in 1994 and was given money to put towards his expenses. When the golf course was contacted after the second flood, Broffman said he did not receive anything.
Broffman said there are two storm drains on the border of his property, which meets the golf course. He said these drains fill up and form ponds, which run over to his property and create flooding.
“I’ve had 4,000 gallons of water pumped out of my home,” Broffman said. He said he has spent thousands of dollars to remedy damages, including mold investigations.
“I’ve had to install several drains in my backyard and many pumps,” he said.
“There was never any permanent remediation,” Di Bernardo said.
Di Bernardo said after the first flood in 2021, PSEG paid her damages. However, when she contacted PSEG this year following the flooding, she was denied.
PSEG said they are not responsible for the area because other vehicles have utilized it since their involvement, she said.
“Over time, that easement became more and more and more barren because of vehicles going through there,” she said.
Di Bernardo said she asked workers on the property if they knew who owned it. Workers told her the easement belongs to a residence on Split Oak Drive.
“That’s only part of the answer,” she said,“because this easement goes all the way up to the golf course.”
Di Bernardo said there is debris blocking the storm drains, which contributes to flooding.
“My backyard is all eroded,” she said. Di Bernardo said she has a pool on her property, which catches water from the flood as well.
Her neighbor “had to replace two levels in her house,” Di Bernardo said.
“When we bought the house, we didn’t know about the problem,” Broffman said.
Broffman said the company he hired to pump the 4,000 gallons of water from the house said they were contacted by the previous owners with the same problem.
“It’s my understanding now when you sell a house, you have to provide a disclosure statement saying whether or not you have any issues that you are aware of,” he said.
“I’m not going to be able to sell my house,” he said, “because no one’s going to buy a house with three pumps in the backyardwith water flooding from the golf course.”
Broffman said he cannot renovate or repair areas of his home out of fear that they will be damaged in the next flood.
Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said the town will determine who is responsible for maintaining the easement and resolve the drainage problem.
“Well, you certainly have our attention, our commitment to help,” Saladino said.
Saladino instructed Di Bernardo and Broffman, as well as additional affected neighbors, to speak with town officials to work towards a solution.
“It sounds like the drain has the capacity, but it’s constantly filling up and being blocked by everything the water is carrying down,” Saladino said.
“This is going on way too long,” he said.
Saladino said the town will look into solutions to the problem as well as legal action.
“We’ll get some progress moving on both the constructive solution and the legal ramifications,” he said.
