Politics & Government

Bloomingdale Council to Form Flood Mitigation Committee

Councilmembers, residents to work with borough engineer to find solutions to borough's flooding issue.

The will be forming a flood mitigation committee consisting of councilmembers and residents to work with Borough Engineer Paul Darmofalski in approaching the state for help dealing with the borough's ongoing flooding issues.

The committee will be made up of Mayor Jon Dunleavy, Council President Linda Huntley, Councilman Glenn Schiffman and residents.

Flooding has been a , with parts of Main Street flooding in the spring every year for the past several years. In April, Darmofalski approached the mayor and council and over the past several years.

Find out what's happening in Tri-Borowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Because of the flooding, Sloan Park has seen a signficant amount of damage, including to its bridge, which is currently awaiting bids for restoration. The borough is seeking a $300,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation (DOT), and has received about $80,000 from the county for construction of a new bridge at the site.

Darmofalski and Borough Administrator Ted Ehrenburg met with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in May to talk about remedial work to keep the water from the Pequannock River within its banks. The DEP agreed to allow the borough to reconstruct the river banks, a project that would come at a cost of about $500,000, according to Darmofalski, but not to put up temporary, plastic barriers along the banks.

Find out what's happening in Tri-Borowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Several residents have approached the council about how the flooding affects them. One resident, Jack Miller, has been vocal about how the flooding is affecting Main Street businesses.

"I think it's important to have people like Mr. Miller, who have suffered with the flooding, be a part of it," said Councilwoman Linda Shortman Tuesday. "We've had quite a number of people get up and speak to us about it and I think that, even if they're not on the committee, they can be informed and participate."

Miller, along with residents Ray Yazdi and Ron Caputo, are being asked to join the flood mitigation committee.


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