ARTICLE: Setting the Record Straight on Flood Mitigation in Garwood

By Vincent Kearney, Karina Boto & Sean Keagan Foley |  Published in the Union County Hawk, October 26, 2023 

We’ve had several residents ask questions about flooding and the Garwood Brook, prompted by comments from the Republican candidates on Facebook or their mailers. There appears to be some bad information out there, so we’d like to correct the record and discuss flooding, collaborative approaches for flood mitigation in the greater region Garwood belongs to, and our ideas for infrastructure updates and community engagement to help with this unfortunately growing issue.

Regarding the Garwood Brook near the Lidl on South Avenue: Spending money on hiring a company for “cleaning” and “monthly maintenance” would violate the terms Garwood agreed to with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection decades ago, when the site was developed for the former Pathmark, and it is a literal waste of taxpayer dollars. Some greenery is needed there due to state fish habitation requirements, plus the minimal sediment there has no effect on flood mitigation as discussed at the recent town forum on flooding by our Borough Engineer.

The Garwood GOP also stated they would push the County or State to create additional catch basins along the North and South Avenue corridors. In a Hurricane Ida-type scenario, this would add even more water to an already overloaded system, and probably worsen flooding.

The underlying issue with flooding requires coordination across multiple surrounding towns that are impacted by the Rahway River Watershed, not “quick fixes” within Garwood’s borders which would almost certainly be to the detriment of our neighbors. However, instead of developing realistic action plans by speaking to professionals, or engaging with our Mayor who has worked for years with the Rahway Valley River Coalition and our district’s US Congress representatives to re-prioritize the Army Corps of Engineers’ flood project for our area, the Garwood GOP once again proposes sensational and costly fixes that just won’t work.

In addition to continued support of Mayor Blumenstock’s efforts, our team has set forth plans to upgrade and relocate the pump system for the Center Street Underpass, create a block ambassador program for volunteer residents to help coordinate DPW service requests in their neighborhoods (which would help with keeping storm drains clear), and to work with the Garwood Police Department to create volunteer citizen teams through the federal “CERT” program.

Vote for the team that understands the issues and is committed to put the work in to address them. Vote for Kearney, Boto, and Foley by November 7th.