Flooding on Sayreville street is considered ‘major hazard’

By MATTHEW SOCKOL
Correspondent

SAYREVILLE — Sayreville resident Gerard Saccente is concerned about a “major safety hazard” involving Singleton Street, located in the Morgan section of the borough.

Saccente, who lives on the street, described how Singleton Street is facing “a serious flooding situation every time it rains” during the Nov. 23 council meeting.

“It’s to the point now where if we have a minor rain, it floods all the way across the entire street,” Saccente informed the council. “And in front of my house, it’s about two to three feet high.”

Saccente’s description of his street received support from Councilwoman Victoria Kilpatrick, who drove by the area while it was raining.

“I watched as the water pooled up right in front of this gentleman’s house,” Kilpatrick said. “And there was a fire hydrant right there, too. It’s a serious issue.”

Saccente discussed his previous contact with borough officials about improvements for Singleton Street. Repair work was estimated at $17,000, but wound up being “turned down because of budget purposes.”

When asked by Mayor Kennedy O’Brien to elaborate on the extent of the work, Borough Engineer Jay Cornell replied that fixing the street involved “some recreating and some drainage improvements in that area.” He also acknowledged he believed “budget issues” prevented repairs from being authorized.

According to Chief Financial Officer Wayne Kronowski, there are currently no emergency funds to cover repairs.

Fearing the flooding situation to be particularly dangerous with winter approaching, Saccente requested to know when repairs would happen. O’Brien responded that since there is not enough time left in the year to settle the issue, the council would first approve fixing Singleton Street in January.

The repairs would probably take place in the spring, although he added they “could happen in January if it’s a warm winter.”

Nevertheless, Saccente remained concerned that the safety hazards surrounding Singleton Street would continue throughout the spring and summer, prompting O’Brien to ask Kronowski if there was another way to handle the matter.

Kronowski stated there was not.

“People can’t come up every meeting asking for something to be done when it was never contemplated during the course of the year,” he explained. “It just doesn’t work that way.”

When Saccente argued the flood hazard “didn’t just come up,” Kronowski commented that Public Works Director Bernie Bailey frequently receives requests for repairs, citing residents who ask for the appearance of a road to be improved and want houses they are selling “to look good for the prospective buyers” as examples.

“We can’t address every issue immediately,” he told Saccente. “It takes a little time to get there.”

Kilpatrick responded to Kronowski by pointing out that repairing Singleton Street is not “just a cosmetic fix.”

Reiterating Saccente’s and her previous descriptions of how the smallest amount of rain would cause “excessive pooling” in the street, Kilpatrick also discussed further problems facing Singleton Street. She remarked that when the pools froze with a drop in temperature, they would “extend out about halfway into the road,” and excessive water saturation produced by the floods could cause the street’s manhole cover to “come up and explode.”

Kilpatrick’s proposal to solve the hazard is to have a catch basin placed in the area.

“Right now,” she explained, “there’s no place for the water to go.”