Land-o-Lakes: Hillside Officials Lax in Solving Flood Problems

Residential and commercial areas in Hillside were left under water after recent record rainfall last week. This is not the first time and, residents fear, not the last time Hillside lawns and basements will be submerged under water and sewage.

The hardest-hit areas last week were the Community Food Bank on Evans Terminal Road (off of North Broad Street) and Bloy Street near Hurden-Looker School, the Gazette-Leader newspaper reported.

Residents of Bloy Street suffered from both excessive rainfall and the sewer system which backed up raw sewage into their homes and onto the streets.

Meanwhile, the Food Bank once again drowned under several feet of water.


NOT THE FIRST TIME

Residents of these problem areas have been impotent to the heavy rains for as long as they have lived there. The Food Bank is a chronic victim, as flooding tends to disrupt their food deliveries during peak seasons.

Last Thanksgiving, for instance, flooding delayed the Food Bank's shipment of thousands of turkeys to poor families.

Despite the economic loss and health concerns associated with the flooding, many residents believe that township and county officials have been lax in resolving the issue.


HARVARD AVENUE FLOOD PROJECT

Just recently, the township, in concert with the Army Corps of Engineers, completed the Harvard Avenue Flood Project. The project was a plan to control the overflow of the Elizabeth River, which was responsible for chronic flooding of the Harvard Avenue area off US Route 22.

But the project came to fruition only after years of activism by area residents and the constant call to action by former mayor Barbara Rowen and former Township Engineer Adam Samiec.

And even when the Council did start planning, residents had to lobby officials to also fix Route 22's drainage, which was causing flooding when rainwater ran off the road and down to the hill into the neighborhood.

After the project's completion, residents looked back and wondered why it had to take so long for officials to act on a problem that had been causing millions of dollars in property damage.


WHAT IS TOWN HALL DOING?

Residents of Bloy Street and the Food Bank are now asking the same questions Harvard Avenue residents waited so long to have answered: when is Town Hall going to act?

The local governing body insists that Essex County should resolve the issue of the Evans Terminal flooding; Essex County is waiting for Hillside to do it. But while officials play the blame game the flooding problem continues.

Meanwhile, it appears that residents of Bloy Street will have to wait just as many election cycles as those homeowners on Harvard Avenue before the township decides to swim into action.