Flood-Prone Land Would Be Tax-Exempt Under New Bill

Townships wouldn't have to pay county, school and fire district property taxes.

Bipartisan legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen and Passaic, and Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, R-Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer and Middlesex, that would exempt flood-prone properties acquired by municipalities from county, school and fire district property taxes for the following tax year, was approved by the General Assembly on Monday. Under current law, if a municipality acquires such a property after October 1, it must pay the county, school, and fire district property taxes owed for all or the remainder of the following tax year. “The flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy last year and the devastation witnessed in 2011 by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee has increased the awareness of towns that …

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Lance, Mayors Meet With Army Corps To Discuss Flood Remediation

Rep. Leonard Lance, NJ-07, met with mayors from Union and Essex counties to discuss the Rahway River Basin feasibility study.

On Jan. 9, Congressman Leonard Lance, NJ-07, met with several Seventh District mayors, state officials and representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to discuss the status of the Rahway River Basin feasibility study currently under way by the Corps.   During the meeting, Millburn Mayor Sandra Haimoff, Springfield Mayor David Amlen, Union Mayor Clifton People, Cranford Mayor Tom Hannen, Garwood Mayor Pat Quattrochi and Union County Freeholder Bruce Bergen received a briefing from the Army Corps of Engineers, state officials and Lance about the status of the study. The Seventh District lawmaker, who arranged the meeting, also pledged his strong support for the project and updated the group on several actions he has already taken to …

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Sandy Will Be a 'Long-Duration Event,' NOAA Official Says

Hurricane will bring a variety of hazards and up to 8 inches of rain as it wreaks havoc throughout East Coast, according to federal officials.

As Hurricane Sandy travels toward the East Coast, New Jersey residents should brace for a slow deterioration of the weather well before landfall early next week, according to officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Additional damage from Sandy is expected, because the hurricane is expected to lose speed by the time it makes landfall. This will extend the period of heavy wind and rainfall, according to NOAA's National Hurricane Center Director Dr. Rick Knabb. Sandy is expected to bring between 5 and 8 inches of rain to the affected area, NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction Director Dr. Louis Uccellini said. Between 50 and 60 million people will be impacted by Sandy well into next week. "It's difficult to …

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Hurricane Sandy

HURRICANE SANDY: JCP&L Says it Learned From Its Mistakes

Stresses storm may knock out power for 7-10 days

  Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) President Don Lynch says the company has learned from the mistakes it made from Hurricane Irene and is ready for Hurricane Sandy and the threat it poses to the state. The company took heat when Hurricane Irene left many New Jersey towns without power for days - and, in some cases, weeks. Many thought JCP&L's response was too slow. The biggest lesson learned is getting the information out to customers and municipalities as specifically, quickly and often as possible, Lynch said. The company wants its customers to know as much information as possible, he said. "Just know that Jersey Central will be working hard day and night - we've already started, should that storm hit shore here and cause outages …

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Towns Along Watershed Join Together To Fund Flood Control Project

Cranford, Millburn and other towns along the Rahway River have entered into an interlocal agreement to fund early stages of the project.

Governing bodies from the communities that are represented on the Mayors Council on Rahway River Watershed Flood Control agreed last week to enter into an interlocal agreement to fund the legal analysis on the development of the South Mountain Reservation detention dam. The project, once constructed, is expected to detain storm water at peak flow conditions that will reduce water elevations in communities such as Millburn, Springfield, Union, Kenilworth, Cranford and Rahway. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's hydrology assessment indicated the project could reduce water elevations by almost 3 feet at the Route 78 confluence of the Rahway River. Cranford officials discussed the interlocal agreement during a recent Township Committee workshop …

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Mayors Form Task Force To Work With Army Corps Of Engineers

Officials continue to explore project to reduce flooding in Cranford and surrounding towns.

The Mayors Council Rahway River Watershed Flood Control has established a task force to work with the US Army Corps of Engineers on the next project evaluation on its agenda, which involves the improvements proposed for Lenape Park. "Preliminary hydrology done by the Army Corps indicates significant reduction potential in the water elevation in the existing detention basin including channelization work. This, combined with the South Mountain project has a potential of major improvements in lowering water elevations in Cranford," said former Cranford Mayor Daniel Aschenbach who continues to spearhead the  Council's efforts.   The task force will include the mayors and engineers from Cranford, Union, Kenilworth, Westfield and Union County. …

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Mayors Want to Use Reservation for Flood Control

Preliminary Army Corps of Engineers' study shows large reservoir on South Mountain could alleviate flooding downstream

After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed on Thursday that a bigger reservoir on the South Mountain Reservation could alleviate flooding along the Rahway, the Mayors Council on Rahway River Flood Control set out to convince Essex County that it’s a project worth pursuing. If the river towns and Essex and Union Counties leave the project up to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it could be several years before work could even begin and that is not palatable to mayors whose towns suffered a combined $75 million in damages. “This has to be done sooner rather than later. When’s the next big storm going to hit? We don’t know,” said Millburn Mayor Sandy Haimoff,  who hosted two meetings of the Mayors' Council, the Corps of Engineers and …

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Committee Approves Birchwood Ordinance 'Under Protest'

Officials say the approval of the measure will allow the town to appeal a judge's decision to allow a housing development to be built in a flood zone.

Following a public hearing that lasted nearly two hours, the Township Committee approved an ordinance "under protest" that will alter the town's master plan to allow an apartment complex to be built in a flood-prone area on Birchwood Avenue. The court-ordered ordinance will also allow the township to move forward with the process of appealing Superior Court Judge Lisa Chrystal's July, 2011 decision to allow developer, S. Hekemian Group, to build 360 housing units on Birchwood Avenue. Residents and officials have been protesting the court's decision for several months. Community members have written letters to legislators, spoken out at meetings, spoken directly to Gov. Christie Christie during town hall meetings an on radio programs, …

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Panel: No Quick Solutions for Passaic River Flooding

About 100 area residents wanted answers from environmental experts about Passaic River flooding. They found out it will take hard work and cooperation among the town, the county and the state to keep the waterways from flooding local homes.

Flooding is a fact of life for Berkeley Heights, New Providence, Chatham and Long Hill Township residents who live near the Passaic river. About 100 of those residents sought answers from New Jersey environmental activists Monday night and heard that it could take a generation of work to ease the risks.  During a stream protection meeting last night at Governor Livingston High School, a panel of five environmental experts, from Berkeley Heights and the State, said it could take anywhere from five to 20 years to fix the flooding problem.  Panelists indicated that this is largely due to lack of ownership and responsibility for the river from the municipalities and the county, which continues to prevent overall maintenance of the river, …

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Mayors' Council Discusses Flood Mitigation Solutions

A recent Army Corps of Engineers report shows that solutions upstream might help towns along the Union County portion of the Rahway River.

Preliminary findngs by the Army Corps of Engineers indicate that there are some solutions upstream from Union County that might help with flood mitigation in the towns along the Rahway River. "There were promising flood mitigation solutions contained in a preliminary U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report provided to the Mayors Council on Rahway River Flood Control at its April 3 meeting," former Cranford Mayor Daniel Aschenbach said. Aschenbach was involved with the creation of the Mayor's Council and continues to be involved in the organization. The council's most recent meeting took place at the Union Township Municipal Building and was hosted by Union Mayor Joseph Florio. Mayors of Springfield, Kenilworth, Cranford, Rahway, Union and …

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