TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—An unnamed waterway that drains into Musquapsink Brook might become even less well known if council enacts an engineering proposal to pipe it through four local backyards.
However, following a brief presentation on the possibility at the Sept. 5 council meeting, members raised more questions that first need answers.
It was unclear when the council might decide on the options presented.
Members heard options — ranging from nearly $300,000 to $400,000 — to cover and pipe the tributary running behind four Meisten Street homes that had become a source of controversy during hearings for a proposed retail plaza at the Pascack–Washington intersection.
Following a Boswell study this spring, the engineer determined the tributary, previously thought to be a Category One, or protected waterway, was not a regulated waterway because it did not drain an area of 50 acres as required, instead only draining an area of nearly 49 acres.
Several nearby residents, including Meisten Street resident Michael Agnello, disagreed with Boswell’s finding, as did an engineer residing in Emerson who questioned the consultant’s conclusion.
Had the waterway been deemed a protected waterway, it was likely to be a factor in evaluating possible impacts to it from a proposed 17,100-square-foot retail development.
However, that did not occur. The retail proposal was denied by the Zoning Board and the applicant has recently filed a legal complaint in Superior Court to appeal the decision.
The waterway behind the Meisten Street homes flows out of Northgate Condominium complex, cuts through four Meisten Street backyards, and under Washington Avenue, where it eventually joins Musquapsink Brook, heading toward Schlegel (or Washington) Lake.
After it exits Schlegel Lake, the waterway heads toward Oradell Reservoir, a drinking water source for about 800,000 Bergen and Hudson county residents.
Township administrator Mark DiCarlo said he wanted to advise the council of potential costs for such a project to help determine whether the council wanted to move forward with it in 2024.
DiCarlo said that he, consulting engineer John Yakimic, and Agnello met in August to discuss Agnello’s suggestion that the waterway be redirected or rerouted around the four properties. Agnello even suggested at one point he would reroute the waterway, after Boswell said it was not a regulated waterway.
DiCarlo said the four Meisten Street homeowners “don’t want it there” in their backyards.
DiCarlo said that piping the tributary through the four backyards was not the only option, although he said it seems the homeowners want to have the waterway piped. He said concrete pipe or plastic pipe may be options, noting costs ranged from approximately $281,000 to $399,000 in Boswell’s estimates.
Councilman Tom Sears asked what Boswell’s fee would be to handle engineering services from start to finish on a piping project. DiCarlo estimated the total to be about $70,000.
Sears wondered if council could get a second opinion on whether piping a tributary was a good idea, and asked attorney Kenneth Poller if he had looked into the waterway’s status.
Poller told him he was comfortable with it not being a Category One waterway. “It seems like it is not,” Poller told Sears, then noted that NJDEP “changes things all the time” related to environmental regulations and rules.
Council Vice President Steven Cascio asked DiCarlo whether he had looked into cleaning up the area where the unnamed tributary runs, noting it would be “less expensive” than up to $400,000 for piping the stream. DiCarlo said it would cost less to simply maintain the stream area, but that that would require easements from each property owner.
Councilwoman Stacey Feeney wondered what piping of the tributary might do to potential flooding downstream. She wondered if piping was the right decision for the environment.
No answers were offered.
She asked what was the “right answer” for the tributary and waterway in the long term.
DiCarlo noted Burke Street resident James Walsh expressed concerns about the waterway.
Calling into the meeting, Walsh said he has “serious erosion” in his backyard due to stormwater that flows through it and then heads toward the unnamed tributary behind the Meisten Street homes.
He asked the council to keep him and residents informed of stormwater management updates and maintenance, including remediation at the Northgate complex.