PASCACK VALLEY—By mid- or late March, the second Pascack Valley municipality to undertake a drone study of its tributaries—Westwood—hopes to have a report on what steps it needs to take to improve the flow of Pascack Brook to help mitigate local flooding, especially during storms.
At least four towns in Pascack Valley have discussed undertaking drone studies of waterways, mainly to improve stream flows and help mitigate flooding: the Township of Washington and River Vale, and Westwood and Hillsdale.
Of the four, only Hillsdale has not yet approved funding for the study. Officials in Westwood and River Vale tell Pascack Press that drone studies of their waterways have been approved and should take place over the coming months, before trees blossom and leaf out.
The drone flyover requires minimal tree cover to enhance the drone images of waterways. Following completion of drone flyovers, Boswell Engineering will provide reports detailing obstructions, such as downed trees and sediment shoals, plus eroded stream banks and other water flow and flood-related concerns.
Previously, Veolia North America, owner-manager of a water supply system that includes Woodcliff Lake Reservoir and Oradell Reservoir, which helps supply nearly 800,000 Bergen and Hudson county residents with potable water, had indicated it would assist Pascack Valley towns with stream improvements.
Pascack Press has reached out to Veolia for comment.
To date, only the Township of Washington has officially completed a drone study of the 3.6-mile long Musquapsink Brook, which empties into Schlegel Lake, also called Washington Lake, and then drains toward Oradell Reservoir. The study was completed in early 2023.
That drone study, conducted by Boswell Engineering, pointed out nearly 100 obstructions, including 45 downed trees, 33 sediment shoals, 14 areas where stream banks require stabilization due to erosion, and at least two emergency “critical” sanitary issues where stream erosion exposed two sanitary manholes that could lead to fecal contamination if not addressed.
Boswell Engineering was expected to complete a stream design report by early February 2024 and then apply for state DEP permits to fix the eroded streambanks around the two sanitary manholes.
Also, the DPW was planning to remove some downed trees in the brook on township-owned property, said Township of Washington administrator Mark DiCarlo at the Feb. 5 council meeting.
DiCarlo previously said restoration of the two stream banks around sanitary manholes involved engineering designs for sediment shoal removal in another brook area, and that the removed sediment will be used to restore the two stream banks. This was required by NJDEP regulations, he said.
Westwood’s upcoming report
Westwood Mayor Raymond Arroyo told Pascack Press that the final reaches of Pascack Brook in town were flown over and recorded by drone on Feb. 6. He said the town’s portions of Musquapsink Brook were done in December. He said the drone flyovers were complete.
“We anticipate Boswell Engineering will deliver the report, detailing their recommendations for remediation, by mid-March,” said Arroyo. Under resolution 23-341, approved Dec. 5, 2023, the Borough Council authorized Boswell to complete the drone “condition assessment” for an amount “not to exceed $26,000.”
River Vale’s study
In early February, River Vale Mayor Mark Bromberg told us, “River Vale is ready to go as soon as Westwood is finished.” He said administrator/chief financial officer Gennaro Rotella had “a purchase order in the works and we are ready to cut a check for our part of the drone study.”
Rotella told us the drone study’s cost was $28,500 and that the funds will come from the township’s operating budget under the engineering department.
Hillsdale’s drone status
Although Hillsdale discussed a drone study last September, and earlier in 2023, nothing was approved by council. At the Sept. 12, 2023 meeting, the minutes note, then-Mayor John Ruocco said the council had apparently given approval for the study, so there was no need to have Boswell Engineering appear in person at a meeting.
However, his successor, Mayor Michael Sheinfield, tells us that the council has not yet approved a drone study. It was unclear why the council never approved a resolution to do the study.
Last September Hillsdale’s administrator, Michael Ghassali, told council that he felt doing the drone study would be a benefit to Hillsdale, after he spoke with Boswell Engineering.
Initially, Montvale, where Ghassali is a third-term mayor, was included among Pascack Valley towns who were considering a drone study. The borough has yet to approve such a study.
In early 2023, the Pascack Valley Mayors Association, which includes eight Pascack Valley towns, plus Oradell and Old Tappan, wrote to Veolia North America to propose a three-part plan “to improve the compromised flow of the waterways carrying Veolia’s product, and mitigate the flooding that regularly results therefrom,” the mayors wrote.
Part 1 was to entail a detailed drone mapping of waterways to document current conditions of stream banks and features that should be addressed to improve stream flow.
“This analysis and resulting study would be conducted by a competent P.E. [principal engineer] and that engineering firm would recommend various DEP-approved methods for remediating the problem areas within the borders of each participating town,” the PVMA wrote.
Part 2 would involve the PVMA engaging a grant writer to seek funding for a basin-wide project from FEMA, or state funding sources.
“Once funding is secured, Part 3 would entail devising a multi-year plan and schedule for implementation. All parties involved in the ongoing issue of fluvial flooding—from our federal and state representatives, our county and local elected officials, DEP regulators and Veolia, to the thousands of residents and business owners adversely impacted on a regular basis–know that the piecemeal approach to a basin-wide flooding problem can only have limited, local effects bringing fleeting, short-lived relief, while simply moving the problem downstream to areas left unaddressed,” said the mayors.
The PVMA president this year is Westwood’s Ray Arroyo; vice president is Emerson’s Danielle DiPaola. Both spoke on flooding, related legislation, and other vital public issues, at the Jan. 24 annual Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce Breakfast With the Mayors.