Turned down

State government has said it will not fund a fix to the severe erosion that threatens two Heather Lane homes.

Middlesex Borough officials were recently notified that the municipality’s application for a Resilient Communities Program grant of up to $5 million has been rejected by the state Department of Community Affairs.

A letter from the DCA received by Mayor Jack Mikolajczyk said the application was turned down “due to program funding availability.”

“That’s a little kick in the teeth guys,“ Mikolajczyk said at the Borough Council’s Tuesday, April 23 meeting.

The erosion has already caused one Heather Lane home to be deemed uninhabitable. With the nearby stream bank wearing away, it’s feared that home, the one next door, and possibly more on nearby Holly Court could eventually slide into the waterway. Without the grant, officials are turning to other options.

The borough’s effort to install a series of large-size, rebar-enforced blocks to temporarily shore up the eroding bank has been stalled since January by frequent wet weather.

But with precipitation easing over the past week, the temporary fix project may get off the ground next week or soon after. It will be done by the borough’s Department of Public Works in conjunction with a contractor.

DPW Superintendent Len Vidal told the council that needed materials for the temporary fix might be moved late this week to a staging area near the stream bank. 

While the recent grant application was nixed, Mikolajczyk said it will be resubmitted when another round of Resilient Communities funding becomes available later this year.

“Obviously, we’re going to pitch it again,” the mayor said. “It’s a shame that it didn’t happen. We tried our best.”

Mikolajczyk noted that the borough had reached out to officials “a little higher in the food chain than us” to no avail. He was referring to contacts with the borough’s 21st District legislators in Trenton. State Sen. Jon Bramnick wrote a recommendation letter that was submitted along with the recent grant application.

“We have to just keep plugging away at it,” Mikolajczyk added. 

Middlesex officials and affected homeowners contend that the severe erosion was exacerbated by construction of a pumping station and flood wall nearby. That work was part of the federal Green Brook Flood Risk Management project.

One homeowner has said the erosion worsened in the wake of Tropical Storm Ida in September 2021.

The U.S. Army Corps of engineers disputes that the flood management project has caused the problem. During a Zoom call with borough officials last October, Army Corps reps claimed the erosion would have occurred even if the flood control work had not been undertaken.

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