Flooding, Birchwood Will Be On The Agenda For Town Hall Meeting Thursday

Now that the flood waters from Hurricane Irene have receded and the cleanup process is under way, Cranford residents will have an opportunity to raise their concerns about a number of storm-related issues during a special meeting Thursday.

Cranford will host a Town Hall meeting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Cranford High School to address a number of issues including the recent flooding, the Birchwood Avenue property and other issues related to Hurricane Irene and future flood control efforts.

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick is scheduled to attend the meeting, along with local officials. Gov. Chris Christie has been invited to attend, but has yet to confirm his attendance. According to Mayor Dan Aschenbach, the agenda will include a discussion about Hurricane Irene, the response and an update about the cleanup.

In addition, Aschenbach said there will be a discussion about Phase 5 of the township's flood remediation project and the pump station.Plans for remediation include expanding the storage capacity for the Lenape flood retention basin as well as raising the height of the dikes along Riverside Drive and Bluff Street through the use of federal, state and county funding.

Residents can also expect an update about FEMA's mitigation proposal. Last week, the Cranford Community Center was named a . Anyone in the area who was affected by flooding from the recent hurricane can register to meet face-to-face with FEMA representatives to discuss concerns such as the application process to receive funding.

A Mayor's Task Force to focus on the Irene Flood Mitigation will be appointed during the meeting as well, Aschenbach said.  Last week, the mayor led a contingent of Cranford representatives including Township Engineer Richard Marsden and Former Engineering Commissioner Scott Meese to the regional headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA in New York to discuss flooding conerns.

"Cranford has a plan to mitigate some of the flood problem and we intend to see this to implementation," Aschenbach said.

The ongoing builder's remedy lawsuit will also be on Thursday's agenda. Residents have, for years, raised concerns about the proposed Birchwood Avenue development. In July, a judge approved the construction of 360 residential units in the flood zone.