HILLSBOROUGH: Democrats Beggiato, Le call for stormwater reduction measures

Democrats running for Hillsborough Township Committee are calling for "21st-century stormwater management" to help reduce flood risks in the township and region.
Long-term residents can remember a time when their areas did not flood, but it is happening more often and in places not previously affected, say candidates John Beggiato and Thuy Anh Le in a written statement.
It is to the point that many in Hillsborough worry about access to work and school when the roads flood and the township become an "island," they said.
"Yet development continues in Hillsborough, thereby increasing traffic and impervious coverage that contributes to more flooding and road closures," they said. "Something that could be done now for residents is to evaluate routes that are increasingly flooded."
They called for more reticence to grant "economic hardship" waivers of the tree mitigation ordinance.
"It’s time to stop approving hardship waivers for our tree mitigation ordinance," they said. "We should encourage developers to preserve more trees, slowing stormwater runoff and erosion.
"Developers raze hundreds of trees, limiting natural drainage," they said. "Despite the importance of undeveloped land for flood control, the Township Committee attempted to divert funds from the continued purchase and preservation of open space just this past year."
Instead of spending taxpayer money to maintain outdated designs that channel rainwater from impervious coverage, Hillsborough could remove old concrete inlet channels as they break down over time, they said.
Transforming old channels into bio-swales reduces constant mowing, thereby lowering costs associated with outdated detention basins, and replacing them with natural bio-retention basins, they said.
A community can be accommodated with updated stormwater management practices to decrease flooding and enhance water quality, their statement said.