City wants federal funds for Ely Creek flood remedy

John Miller, a member of the Planning Board and a certified floodplain manager with Princeton Hydro, will write the application.

By: Linda Seida
   LAMBERTVILLE — The City Council agreed to pay an engineering firm another $10,000 to put together a grant application for federal funds to help pay for an Ely Creek flood remedy.
   John Miller, a senior water resource engineer and certified floodplain manager with Princeton Hydro, will write the application. Princeton Hydro and Mr. Miller, a member of the city’s Planning Board, were hired initially for $12,000 to determine a remedy for the creek’s flooding problem.
   "The grant application requires benefit-cost analysis, alternative analysis, budget, letters to agencies and such," Mr. Miller said. "It is an involved application."
   The grant could pay up to 75 percent of the cost of the flood mitigation plans for Ely Creek. Although the final cost is unknown at this time, it is possible the recommended flood gates and pump system could cost up to $200,000, according to Mr. Miller.
   The maximum amount possible from the grant fund is about $150,000. The deadline for the application is mid-June, Mr. Miller said.
   To justify the cost of the project, the benefit-cost analysis must show a ratio of one or above. This means if the project costs $200,000, it would have to reduce damages by at least the same amount.
   The city would have to match 25 percent of the grant. Mr. Miller said this match could come from what is known as "in-kind services" or work performed by the city that would equal the value of 25 percent. The match is not permitted to come from other sources of federal funding.
   Last week, in preparation for the application, representatives from Princeton Hydro and Van Cleef Engineering Associates performed a survey of properties on North Union Street between Cherry Street and Arnett Avenue. They collected measurements of first floor elevations of commercial and residential properties.
   The state Office of Emergency Management administers the funds, which come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The city would be the sub-applicant while the OEM would act as the main applicant.
   The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program makes funds available when the president of the United States announces a disaster declaration. This pot of funds stems from the June 2006 disaster declaration.
   Among the areas affected by flooding from Ely Creek are North Union Street and Arnett Avenue. In the last two floods, about $350,000 in damage occurred there.