Repairing the dam would cost about $260,000, while eliminating the lake would cost $110,000.
By: Helen Pettigrew
MONTGOMERY The state is seriously considering eliminating Sylvan Lake, located on the property of the former North Princeton Developmental Center off Route 601, to turn it into a wetland, a state spokesman said Monday.
Township Deputy Mayor Don Matthews said he is disappointed but not surprised by the state’s action.
"I think, first of all, it’s following the lines that we have seen concerning this site, where the state is involved in allowing buildings to fall into disrepair," Mr. Matthews said Monday. "Now, destroying the lake, which was a large part of our 1996 Master Plan, is showing disrespect for the cooperation that we had agreed upon to develop this property."
Mr. Matthews is one of three township officials who have been working with several state departments to create a plan to develop the state-owned NPDC property. He discovered that the state was draining Sylvan Lake about a week ago when he drove by it and noticed the lake’s water level was down several feet because the dam had been opened and the dam gate locked in place.
Mr. Matthews investigated the situation and found that the state was responsible for opening the dam, and state officials told him they planned to examine the dam but said nothing about turning the lake into a wetland at that time, he said.
Treasury Department spokesman Fran Rapa said Monday that the Department of Environmental Protection’s dam inspection unit inspected the dam and had concerns about its structural integrity, so the state began lowering the lake in January.
Mr. Rapa said the Department of the Treasury hired a consultant who prepared a report last May on options for the lake. One option was to repair the dam, which was built in 1909, and the other option was to drain the lake and restore it as a forested wetland, Mr. Rapa said. Repairing the dam would cost about $260,000, he said, while eliminating the lake would cost $110,000.
"The state, at this point in time, is taking a serious look at the option of eliminating the lake and restoring it as a wetlands habitat," Mr. Rapa said.
Mr. Rapa said the difference in cost, among other things, will factor into the Treasury Department’s decision.
He said the township was not notified the lake would be lowered, "simply because it is a state-owned lake on state-owned property. Of course, since then, local officials have expressed some concern about that and officials have done their best to bring them up to snuff on what’s happening there."
The lake is now down about 4 to 5 feet, according to Mr. Rapa. The dam is still open and the state will maintain the water at that level.
The state’s next step may be to look into hiring a consultant to determine specifically "what would need to be done to restore the property as a forested wetland habitat and to determine the exact cost of such a project," Mr. Rapa said.
The township’s 1996 master plan for the NPDC property included a lakeside senior-housing facility in one of the center’s existing buildings, Mr. Matthews has said.
Also, the Millstone River Watershed steering committee, of which Mr. Matthews is a member, had discussed enlarging the lake in order to store more water and help reduce flooding in the Millstone area.