Devon residents implored officials to stop putting money into beautifying the neighborhood through the Devon Revitalization Project and start doing something about the chronic flooding around the Naugatuck Avenue and Bridgeport Avenue intersections. "Everybody wants to beautify Devon but let's worry about the infrastructure of Devon," Frank Rohrig said.

Armed with $3.6 million in state funds, officials and residents have been trying to reinvigorate business and consumer interest in the area.

But residents speaking at the Devon Revitalization Committee meeting Tuesday night said that those efforts would be in vain if the city did not do something soon to correct the long-standing flooding problem.

"We've got three decades of problems and nothing has been done to correct it," Rohrig said.

Even a modest rainfall like Wednesday night's caused problems, residents said.

"All you need is a half-inch of rain and you flood Naugatuck Avenue," said Ed Caprio.

Despite the best efforts of the city's Department of Public Works to clean out catch basins and clear drains, an outdated drainage system and low-lying land have contributed to water backing up along the streets and damaging area property, residents said. The most notable victim has been the St. Ann's School, where the basement was underwater after a Labor Day weekend storm brought seven inches of rain.

"It's a real problem," said Planning and Zoning Board member Nanci Seltzer. Seltzer said development in the area has added impervious surfaces and could be contributing to the problem but added that the flooding would not affect the revitalization project. Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said the city would move forward and planned to fix the problem within the next 18 months. He said the issue was included in a five-year capital improvement plan drawn up four years ago but added that replacing a drainage system was a giant undertaking.

"We're talking about a major project to alleviate the problem," Richetelli said.