TRENTON – Legislation sponsored by Senators Joseph Coniglio and Nia Gill that would appropriate $25 million to finance State and local flood control projects was passed by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today.
“With two major floods in the past year, we know that sound water management and flood control are essential in reducing the damage caused by any future floods,” said Senator Congilio, D-Bergen. “The people of New Jersey also realize the need to maintain the integrity of our lakes, streams and dams so that every major storm doesn’t result in a federal emergency, causing people to lose their homes or business to rising flood waters. We saw the potential for devestation with the Saddle River flooding during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and this bill is the culmination of six years of fighting to get money to fix the problems that led to that flood.”
Bill S-2297 would appropriate $25 million from the voter-approved “Dam, Lake, Stream, Flood Control, Water Resources, and Wastewater Treatment Project Bond Act of 2003.” The money appropriated would finance the costs of 21 State and local flood control project grants. The funds come from $150 million dollars in bonds issued by the State
“Often, making necessary repairs to dams and other means of flood control can be prohibitively expensive for local municipalities and private owners,” said Senator Gill, D-Essex and Passaic. “If the State simply allows these structures to fail into a further state of disrepair, there is a good possiblity that heavy rains in the future could cause them to fail, compounding the damage caused by any normal flooding. The $1.3 million that Clifton will receive to fix the Weasel Brook Culvert is a vital safety project for the residents of the city”
The flood control projects that would receive funding are listed below:
Project Project Sponsor Grant Amount
Regional Flood Management Plan Atlantic County $200,000
Weasel Brook Culvert Clifton City $1,318,500
Pine Mt. Levee and Tide Gate Cumberland County $600,000
Culvert Replacement Dunellen Borough $900,000
Bulkhead Construction Egg Harbor Township $2,000,000
Detention Basin Franklin Township
(Warren County) $200,000
Storm Sewer Galloway Township $640,897
Repaupo Creek Flood Gate Greenwich Township
(Gloucester County) $2,250,000
Buyout Lawrence Township
(Mercer County) $750,000
Flood Management Plan Mahwah Township $150,000
Flood Management Plan Maplewood Township $182,250
Storm Sewer Mount Arlington Borough $208,000
Channel Improvement North Caldwell Borough $261,750
Channel Improvement Oakland Borough $346,725
Bridge and Channel Improvement Roselle Borough $5,055,000
Pine Brook Culvert Washington Township $255,000
Buyout Wayne Township $1,800,000
W. Br. Elizabeth River Sewer Union Township $1,185,000
Map Modernization NJDEP $1,000,000
Lower Saddle River Project NJDEP $3,696,878
USGS Stream Gage NJDEP $1,000,000
The bill passed the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee passed by a vote of 15-0. It now goes to full Senate for approval.
