Last Tuesday a water main broke when a crew was working on rock removal at 151 Hamilton Avenue in Chickahominy, resulting in a traffic detour and interrupted water service.
The owner of JCM Services, JC Merz, was unable respond in time for an article last week, but later shared several points about the challenges of rock removal in Chickahominy – all the more apropos given the increased pressure on development in this neighborhood.
Mr. Merz said he was born and raised in Greenwich, and has run JCM Services with a good track record and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
“We have done both large and small projects throughout the state with many satisfied customers,” Merz told GFP.
“We have been in business for 25 years servicing the Connecticut/Westchester areas and have never had issues with our workmanship. We have done both large and small projects throughout the state with many satisfied customers.”
Merz acknowledged that work at 151 Hamilton Avenue where construction of a second house at the rear of the original 1924 house has continued for 22 months due to the extensive rock removal required, but he said JCM didn’t start hammering there until six months ago.
“It’s all ledge. It’s a mountain of rock,” he continued, adding that ideally the rock would be blasted, but that was not possible in this particular case.
“Blasting takes place in an instant, but there the lot is too tight. On these small lots, with old foundations, it’s simply not an option.”
Merz described the aging infrastructure including sewer, water and gas lines as a minefield, adding to his challenge.
“We are all dealing with a failing infrastructure on a daily basis due to its age, which is of no one’s fault. Back in the old days they did not have our current requirements so many times we don’t know what we will be running into.”
Call Before You Dig
Merz explained, “CBYD indicates any area that should not be excavated into (i.e. water line, fuel, gas etc). On Hamilton Ave, the water main had not been marked to the curb box across the street by Aquarion’s marking crew.”
He said that at 151 Hamilton Ave, CBYD did not indicate the water service across the street, leaving his crew to excavate in an area that was not to be excavated in and they hit the water line that ran close to the sewer line and was backfilled with rock.
“There was no sand or marking tape to indicate that a waterline was there,” he said.
As for that century old water main, Merz said it had been fabricated from lead and required replacement because lead lines are unsanitary for use for human consumption.
Mr. Merz said that for each home built over the years, the original water main had been tapped into, with a mere four inches separating the clamps. New regulations require an 18-inch separation, allowing for an easy tie-off, which the crew was not able to do easily.
He said he was disappointed that the AJ Penna & Son emergency crew called in by Aquarion did not continue to work into the evening hours last Tuesday, and that his JCM Services crew were not allowed to continue working, but rather forced to stand by for seven hours.
“We were willing to work with AJ Penna to speed up the process to get the water back working. We could have excavated on the opposite side of the street while they worked on the (south) side to get the curb box open so they could attach to it quickly,” he said, adding they could have completed the job in a few hours. “They chose not to accept our offer.”
Finally, Mr. Merz said in response to Don Nelson and others with complaints regarding noise, “We ascribe to all town ordinances which only allows for us to excavate from Mon- Fri between the hours of 7:00am-6:00pm, Saturdays 8:00am-5:00pm and no holidays. Most days we worked from 7:30 am-3:00pm. We started work at that site back in Feb of 2025.”
Traffic on Hamilton Avenue was detoured to Artic, Josephine Evaristo and Charles Street on Monday. July 14, 2025 Photo: Leslie Yager
One lane of traffic was open for vehicles headed east on Monday morning. July 14, 2025 Photo: Leslie Yager
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July 9, 2025