HILLSBOROUGH: Corps’ study funded at highest level in years

Nearly $700,000 due to come from state, federal governments

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
   More money should be coming to help fund work on the Army Corps of Engineers study of the Millstone-Raritan rivers basin.
   An estimated $687,929 has been appropriated to the project, said Frank Jurewicz, chairman of the Raritan and Millstone Flood Control Commission, last week. That’s the most ever in the 12-year history of the study, which is examining flooding issues in the basin of the rivers that converge at Manville.
   Nearly $400,000 has been received from the federal government, said Mr. Jurewicz. That’s the most ever in the history of this project.
   The state has committed to more than $288,000, he said, with about $18,000 received at this point.
   The study’s estimated cost is $6.8 million. After 12 years, an estimated $3.95 million worth of work remained in 2012, so the appropriated 2013 funding will bring the study past the halfway mark, to an estimated $3.25 million of work remaining.
   The average in the prior nine years was a combined $189,476 from the two levels of government, Mr. Jurewicz said. In four of the years since 2005, the study received zero funding.
   Mr. Jurewicz credited U.S. Congressman Rush Holt, a Democrat who inherited Manville and Franklin Township in his district after the 2012 redistricting, for working to raise the profile of the project and secure funding. Mr. Jurewicz said state Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman, a Republican, was a key fighter for state money.
   Mr. Jurewicz, a Manville resident, credited the 18-month-old commission and the cumulative effect of many local voices, for putting the pressure on legislators to provide aid.