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With the feds offering no assistance, Middlesex Borough officials are pursuing state funding to fix a serious Heather Lane erosion problem.

The Borough Council held a required public hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 21 as part of an application to the state’s Resilient Communities Program. The hearing was basically a formality and no constituents commented.

This fall, the council authorized the use of Belgian blocks to temporarily shore up two Heather Lane properties that abut the stream. The state grant is being sought to pay for a longer term solution, which could cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.

One of the homes was deemed uninhabitable in March 2022. The homeowner next door fears his residence is next. And officials are concerned the problem could spread to other homes on the stream’s edge, some on nearby Holly Court.

“We just hope we can get this off the ground,” Mayor John Madden said at the meeting. “Time is of the essence.”

Madden said he fears a “domino effect” of uninhabitable homes if the erosion issue is not addressed. He added that it’s “just a matter of time” before others are affected.

Worried homeowners contend the Green Brook Flood Risk Management Project’s nearby flood wall caused the erosion problem during Hurricane Ida in September 2021.

On a Zoom call two months ago with Middlesex officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives asserted the erosion problem would have occurred even without the flood wall or management project.

Madden said in an Thursday, Nov. 30 email that he’s attempted to bring the Heather Lane problem to the attention of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state Department of Environmental Protection, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Green Brook Flood Control Commission.

“That said, everybody declined to provide emergency assistance even though it is clear in their goal/mission that said remedy is within their wheelhouse,” Madden said.

The Resilient Communities Program, he added, is designed to reduce long-term risk to life and property on environmentally distressed properties severely impacted and threatened by natural disasters.

When television news crews descended on Middlesex several months ago in pursuit of a fugitive alligator, Madden alerted them to the Heather Lane situation. Segments were aired. The mayor noted that when one outlet asked Gov. Phil Murphy about the situation, he replied, “No comment.”

While officials are hopeful the relief application will be successful, Madden said, “This is a very competitive grant.”

“Keep in mind that the borough cannot get involved with private property issues,” he said. “We are only providing a temporary fix of the bank stabilization as an emergency stop-gap measure.”

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