Mill Street plan needs canal group’s OK

Mayor Gregg Rackin vows the drainage project will go forward, with or without the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission approval.

By: Linda Seida
   STOCKTON — Confusion and uncertainty surround the status of plans to upgrade Mill Street and repair the road’s decades-old drainage problems.
   But the mayor has vowed the problems will be fixed.
   The borough’s plan calls for the relocation of two of the street’s existing drainage pipes. Both now empty into the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and after the upgrade, they would still empty into the canal, according to borough officials and the town’s engineer.
   One pipe would be moved to the end of the street for better outflow. The second pipe would be moved to another location on Mill Street.
   The plan previously earned the necessary, if unofficial, nod of approval from outgoing Delaware and Raritan Canal Commissioner Jim Amon, according to officials and the engineer, Dennis O’Neal of Hopewell Valley Engineering. Now, with Mr. Amon’s resignation followed by Ernest Hahn’s succession in February, the canal commission’s approval has been withdrawn, Mr. O’Neal reported last month.
   That’s not true, according to Mr. Hahn. Approval was never given, and, furthermore, the borough has yet to submit an application for moving the outflow, he said Thursday.
   Mr. Hahn said he met with the borough’s representatives for a pre-application conference earlier this year.
   "Literally I had just taken the job," he said. "They never even submitted a project for approval."
   Along with an application, the commission needs to see documentation, said Mr. Hahn, who worked for 28 years in land use regulation with the state Department of Environmental Protection. Such documentation would note where the current outflow empties into the canal and how often.
   "When you present the application for approval, you should have the documentation in line," Mr. Hahn said.
   To create the new outflow at the end of Mill Street, the borough would need to obtain an easement to cross a slice of state-owned property. In exchange for the easement, the Statehouse Commission would want either property or money, according to Mr. O’Neal.
   A different option would allow Stockton to bypass the canal commission and the difficulty of procuring an easement across state land. The town could construct an outflow on an adjacent piece of undeveloped privately owned land and build a pond to catch the outflow.
   But that option, including the purchase price of the land, "would certainly add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the project," said Councilman Andrew Giannattasio.
   The borough proposes to upgrade Mill Street in three phases. Phase I encompasses 200 feet in front of the firehouse. Phase II, which is at risk now, stretches from the firehouse south to the end of the street. Phase III is measured from Bridge Street to the firehouse.
   "People on Mill Street need to start following this story, asking the questions and becoming involved," Mr. Giannattasio said later. "People should get involved. That’s what it’s going to take now."
   If the proposed outflow at the end of Mill Street fails to win approval, the town’s hope to repair Mill Street is almost sure to be dashed, according to Mr. Giannattasio.
   "The project is either dead or we need to purchase a piece of land," he said. "We can’t fight and just beat the state of New Jersey. I hope it’s not a fight. I hope we can work together and just get a road project done."
   The project already carries an estimated price tag of $950,000 "soup to nuts," Mayor Gregg Rackin said.
   Mayor Rackin told the council he would schedule a meeting to discuss the project with Mr. Hahn.
   "We are moving forward with or without his support," the mayor said. "This is what we must do as a community."
   "I just want to adamantly show my support for this," Mill Street resident MaryAnn Cook said. "If you need people to come out to a meeting, I think I can rally people. Phase II needs to get done."
   In a later e-mail, Mayor Rackin said, "The Mill Street project will move forward in 2006. Of the three phases we have identified, two of them will be completed in 2006. We have secured $300,000 in DOT local aid support and will use those resources to the best of our abilities. In my discussions with both residents of Mill Street and members of the Stockton Fire Company and Rescue Squad, I have been given a clear direction and high level of support to move forward to the best of our abilities. That is what we will do.
   "As for the borough’s partners in getting this job done, which includes the D&R Canal Commission, DEP, Parks & Forestry and DOT, we welcome their support, direction and insight in helping us get this job done in the best, most economical and expedient way possible."