Waldwick April 13, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 9 Borough plans to inventory private drainage systems Waldwick is considering undertaking repairs of drainage systems on private property. Borough Administrator Gary Kratz will undertake an inventory of the existing systems throughout the town to determine the extent of the problem and how best to address it. “These systems are starting to fail, and more and more property owners are coming to the municipality asking for assistance correcting the problems,” Kratz told the mayor and council last week. “If we wish to take this responsibility on, we need to identify where the systems exist and get an actual easement agreement. We would incur additional liabilities to bring them up to snuff,” he added. Kratz said that unlike drainage systems installed with recorded deeds of easement through backyards, the systems in question were put in place without being officially recorded or were not part of a subdivision map on file with the municipality. Therefore, he said, any problems are technically the responsibility of the homeowner, not the municipality. “Why would we take on the responsibility for drains put in without our permission and without an easement?” asked Councilwoman Anita Bozzo. Kratz explained that a collapse on any part of a system affects the catch basins in the public streets. “As homes reach 50 and 60 years old, you are getting more systems collapsing,” he said. Former Mayor Frank McKenna, speaking from the audience, said that the private drainage systems were installed in the 1970s with the council’s blessing. “People gave the easements; some who did not benefit gave the easements because their neighbors were affected. They negotiated in good faith. I didn’t follow up on the easements. I thought it was the engineer’s job. If I had done it correctly, those systems would now be the responsibility of the town. You have a moral obligation,” Mc Kenna told the council, noting that before the borough had an administrator, individual council members were responsible for carrying out specific duties. The drainage system was his concept. He said at least 500-600 homes were affected in all areas of town, and that residents had to be convinced to provide the easement. He said that public hearings had been held on the program, which was done in phases and took four years to complete. Borough Attorney Craig Bossong said that the lack of recorded easements complicates any work that has to be done now and will make it more costly. He said that if people have erected fences or sheds or shrubbery on the easements, they will have to be removed and replaced if any work has to be done. “If we had an easement, we would have told people that anything they put there is done at their own risk,” Bossong said. “Once we know the scope and identify areas, we can do some every year,” commented Councilman Frank Palladino. Kratz cautioned, however, that the town would have no legal authority to proceed, only a moral responsibility. The Waldwick school year for teachers and students will be scaled back by one day for this year only. At its last meeting, the board of education approved the reduction in school days so as not to have to cut into vacation time. The move was caused by the unusually high number of snow closings this winter. A school official reported three full-day closings were used due to snow this year, and multiple late openings or early closings were necessitated by snow or ice storms throughout the winter. The board also approved a side-bar agreement with the Waldwick Education Association reducing the number of days in School year shortened the contract to 181 pupil days plus the two non-pupil contact days. The sidebar states that the calendar will return to 182 for the 2011-12 school year. Next school year, three snow days will be attached to the Memorial Day holiday. If these snow days are not used, the three-day Memorial Day holiday will be extended one extra day in May 2012. Although state law requires 180 school days, Waldwick’s calendar provides for 182 student contact days and two additional teacher days. 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