Some homeowners looked beleaguered and skeptical. Some looked worn out by long-winded bureaucratic explanations. Others were pissed off.
Such was the mood in the American Legion Pavilion as about 200 people, including officials and Middlesex residents, gathered for a Green Brook Flood Control Commission meeting on Saturday morning, Aug. 5.
The session had been publicized on social media as a chance for those plagued by flooding to get answers on when the Middlesex portion of the much-ballyhooed $1.4 billion flood management/wall project will get completed.
There was no firm assurance on that. The meeting was a mixed bag of things to feel optimistic about, along with others that spurred some to look at their spouse and shake their head.
Flood Commission Chairman Raymond Murray emceed the meeting. During the day, Murray works as Green Brook’s chief financial officer. He showed he is well-versed in bureaucratic order-keeping. After a few disgruntled attendees shouted out, Murray replied it was “his meeting” and if anyone wanted to talk loudly out-of-turn “you can go elsewhere.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the flood control project, but its representative did not attend the meeting.
Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler made sure to get his name in the meeting minutes by making two insignificant motions during the session’s brief business portion. Wahler then quietly slinked out of the meeting. He did so before one audience member said he was “calling Wahler out” for lack of cooperation with Middlesex officials on the water main break that caused the Creighton Lake fish kill two years ago.
There was plenty to think about from officials’ comments and audience questions.
* Congress has appropriated the remaining $496 million needed to complete the flood control project. A state match is not required. Officials said they will no longer have to go “begging” for appropriations each year from upper levels of government.
* A contractor îs scheduled to be in Middlesex starting on Aug. 15 to clear tree trunks and other debris taken down near the Cap Lane floodwall but never removed. The contractor will also install footings for a coming flood gate.
*Asked why it seems 100-year storms are occurring annually, one Somerset County official said a storm with such designation is considered to have a 1 percent chance of occurring in a given year. That does not mean they can’t occur in consecutive years.
*Completed floodwall work in Bound Brook is not causing flooding in Middlesex, despite some contending it is a factor, according to officials. Bound Brook’s lower elevation does not result in stormwater being pushed back into Middlesex, they said.
*A floodplain management ordinance suggested by the state Department of Environmental Protection has yet to be adopted in Middlesex Borough. It has been approved in towns such as North and South Plainfield, Piscataway and Dunellen.
*Flood insurance premiums through FEMA figure to continue rising as the amount of government subsidy gets gradually reduced. But the cost of flood insurance is expected to drop, Murray said, once the Middlesex portion of the flood control project is completed.
*While those in some areas of Middlesex are expected to get relief from a completed floodwall and other measures, some will not. Murray noted that one area lying outside the benefit zone is the often-flooded neighborhood near Victor Crowell Park’s boathouse.
*Flood control progress is sometimes hindered by non-cooperative property owners. One off of Pond Avenue has slowed progress of the Middlesex portion of the project.
*Two Heather Lane properties, located next to a stream, have suffered serious stormwater erosion problems. Large sections of their yards have washed away. Their owners suspect nearby floodwall work has been a factor. Murray said the Army Corps disputes that.
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