City has mitigation plan

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE — More than two years after the city thought it had an official hazard mitigation plan in place, it now actually does.
   A community needs to have a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan in place before it can qualify for certain pots of funding for things like flood control remedies, including house elevations.
   Back in July 2006, city officials believed Lambertville was on the fast track by becoming the third municipality to have an official hazard mitigation plan in place.
   But the announcement was premature. FEMA requested some revisions.
   ”We kept doing the stuff and turned it in,” Mayor David Del Vecchio said. “This is the first time we’ve gone through the process, and there are only four or five in the state that are approved. I would say neither FEMA nor the city had much experience in it.”
   Mayor Del Vecchio heralded the plan’s completion as “a huge thing.”
   He said, “A lot of people in the city worked a lot on this for a couple of years. Now we’ll be able to do the next step and put together an application if people are interested.”
   Specifically, the mayor was referring to flood relief for residents of Lambert Lane. If property owners there are interested, an application can be made for grant funding to elevate the properties.
   ”It makes us eligible for potential FEMA funds that might not otherwise be available,” said David Burd, the city’s emergency management coordinator.
   Mr. Burd said the three floods that occurred in the city in recent years resulted in “significant damage and emotional impact.”
   He said, “We would certainly like to try to address both areas, and the hazard mitigation plan helps us do that.”
   Since 1996, 280 private claims for flood damage totaled more than $4 million.
   In 2004, 60 claims totaled $900,329. In 2005, 103 claims totaled $1,528,326. In 2006, 89 claims totaled $1,581,500.