HILLSDALE—Local officials tell Pascack Press that they are likely to discuss, possibly in mid-May, a plan to improve the public works facilities that should help minimize flooding impacts there and upgrade the facilities at the same time.
With a Dec. 31 deadline looming to move DPW office operations and parking back from its temporary location in Woodcliff Lake, borough officials said they hope to present a plan soon for renovating the existing flood-plagued DPW facility and said costs would be reasonable.
Borough officials said they will publicly present a plan that will provide some protection against future floods as much as possible, along with minimizing the cost of needed improvements to taxpayers.
The issue of flooding at the DPW site, and possible flood-proofing options there, has been on the council’s public agenda over the last three years but no firm plan of action had yet emerged or been publicly discussed.
The topic has been raised at several council meetings in the last six months, but public information has been sparse as options were considered by the DPW Committee and Administrator Michael Ghassali.
DPW operations moved to Woodcliff Lake
Flooding from a severe December rain storm temporarily moved the office operations and light vehicle parking to two rented sites in nearby Woodcliff Lake. But the clock is ticking on the borough’s one-year lease and officials say a plan is due soon.
Councilman Justin Fox, the council’s DPW committee chair, told us that the plan includes renovations of the two onsite structures and may also bring in trailers to provide office space for operations and accommodations, such as break rooms and bathrooms, for DPW workers.
He stressed the possible solutions being suggested were only preliminary and open for discussion when a plan is presented to council.
However, the plan is not yet finalized, and a more detailed plan will likely be presented, with estimated costs, at a future council meeting possibly in May, said officials.
Ghassali told Pascack Press that other options were explored including finding other space in town, shared services, shared DPW space with another town, and leasing space from a water utility. None of those options worked out, he said.
He said it appeared that the state environmental protection agency would not allow trailers on the site due to potential impacts from flooding, and any permanent structures there would likely require NJDEP permits due to the nearby Pascack Brook.
“We have no other choice,” Ghassali told us April 23. He said the borough must focus its efforts on renovating the existing DPW site. He said a four-bay garage on the site’s southeast corner is on the property’s highest ground and renovations will be made there to customize the existing space.
He said the main DPW building and the four-bay garage will both undergo some renovations, although it’s likely the main building may continue to suffer impacts from severe floods in the future, too.
He said the four-bay garage last flooded during remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021, making it “drier than the main building.” He said DPW vehicles are generally moved to the borough’s West Lot downtown when severe weather is forecast, moving them out of harm’s way from floodwaters.
Ghassali noted that the borough must vacate two properties being rented on an “emergency basis” in Woodcliff Lake by year’s end. The properties at 150 Broadway and 160 Broadway are being used for office operations and standard vehicle parking.
He said the borough’s $34,000 one-year rental was needed due to major flood damage from a December storm on DPW facilities.
Fox said under preliminary plans being discussed, the town may modify the two existing structures on site, but all improvements are now focused on keeping the DPW where it is.
He said the DPW committee and administrator are gathering costs and getting estimates and when a more formal plan is ready, that will be presented to the mayor and council. He declined to estimate possible costs of any future renovation plans.
Fox said that the borough has a DPW committee in place in order to discuss all possible options for dealing with DPW’s ongoing flooding issues, and that many options were explored and discussed before they arrived back at the option of improving the current site.
He said these discussions are held by the committee, and like other committees the borough has, discussions by committee members need to be kept confidential until a final proposal is ready for public review.
Officials said a recent feasibility study offered alternatives with estimates that ranged so high—allegedly in the $12 million to $15 million range—and that they were a non-starter due to the excessive cost.
That study and estimated costs, along with other alternatives, continue to be explored by members of the council’s DPW Committee which includes chair Justin Fox, councilwoman Abby Lundy and Council President John Escobar. Administrator Mike Ghassali also sits on the committee.
Colliers DPW study released
On April 22, after months of being denied an engineering study on the DPW site due to its “advisory, consultative and deliberative” nature under the Open Public Records Act, the borough clerk released the Colliers Engineering & Design, plus a DPW site concept plan, to Pascack Press.
However, due to its ongoing “deliberative” status, the clerk denied us a copy of a March 5 Colliers letter that allegedly provided a cost estimate for onsite DPW options.
Officials said the estimate—alleged to be near $15 million for elevating onsite buildings, vehicle ramps and parking—was never going to be considered due to its excessive price and that the Colliers study was no longer a part of the discussion of future DPW options.
Mayor Michael Sheinfield told us that the Colliers study and estimate was a “ridiculous plan” and “it became dead on arrival” due to its excessive cost.
He said, “We’re going to stay where we are,” and noted that one option might include retaining walls near the brook.
He said staying there and renovating the main building and four-bay garage is “not going to be a perfect solution” but it will “mitigate the (flooding) problem as much as possible.” The mayor said the council would “figure out something because doing nothing is not an option.”
He said this could include elevating road salt piles to prevent any flood impacts. Nearly all the stored salt piles washed away during Hurricane Ida-related flooding. Ghassali said that due to the facility’s location near Pascack Brook, and increasing severe storms, it’s not possible to make the DPW facility floodproof.
DPW Committee member Lundy told Pascack Press, “The committee has explored other options and has had preliminary discussions with the borough administrator and DPW personnel to get their thoughts as to what possibilities might exist to mitigate the flooding at a tolerable cost.”
She added, “We recognize that the borough needs to prioritize the situation and come up with a cohesive plan that will rectify the flooding issue. The committee is still in discussions as to exactly what this might entail.”