November 9, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Mahwah Grants sought for purchase of flood-prone homes by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Council has approved a resolution authorizing the mayor and municipal clerk to execute an application to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to seek Blue Acres Flood Plain Acquisition Program funding for 24 township homes that experience repetitive flooding. The NJDEP’s Blue Acres Flood Plain Acquisition Program is an extension of the state’s Green Acres Program. Applications had to be filed with the Green Acres office by Oct. 31, with funding decisions anticipated by Dec. 1. Brian Campion, the township’s business administrator, recently advised the council that the state program could provide up to 25 percent of the value of the property acquisition, while another application the township has made to the Federal Emergency Management Agency could provide the balance. Campion emphasized that the program is completely voluntary on the part of the property owners and it is nonbinding on them. Any property owner can opt out if he or she receives funding and is not satisfied, Campion said. He noted that there is no guarantee how much money will be available for buyouts. The 24 homes are located on Glen Gray Road, Catherine Avenue, Brakeshoe Place, Alexandra Court, and Devine Drive in the northern end of the township and are adjacent to or near the Mahwah and Ramapo rivers. Campion said all the property owners who would be eligible for the acquisition funding have been notified. Township resident Steven Sbarra asked Campion who would buy the properties and what would be done with them. Campion replied that the township would be the purchaser and the homes on those properties would be demolished and the resulting vacant land would be joined with other surrounding vacant land. Campion acknowledged that the township would lose the taxes currently being paid on those properties, and that it is possible that some property owners would accept the funding while others might not. “There have been relatively few buyouts,” Campion said, “but those results indicate that it is rare that someone says no, assuming the price is fair.” According to the Blue Acres application filed by the township, the values of the 24 homes range between $262,900 and $565,100 and the total cost of the buyout would be $7,260,100. Resident Robert Lockwood asked who would be responsible for remediation if the properties were found to be toxic or hazardous. Campion said the NJDEP requires that the sites be investigated before they are bought, and the cost of the demolition and the site investigation would be the responsibility of the state and that 100 percent of the cost would be borne by the federal and state governments. According to the Green Acres Program application, recent and ongoing flooding throughout New Jersey has inspired all levels of government to maximize federal and state grants for the buyout of flood prone properties. Harmony, Pohatcong, and Wayne townships were the first municipalities to apply for both federal funding under a FEMA grant program, which is a 75 percent grant, and for a 25 percent Green Acres open space acquisition grant, to successfully acquire repetitively flooded properties as permanent open space. “It is the department’s belief that getting people out of harm’s way, combined with creating open space, warrants innovative action,” the application states. “Therefore, for the first time, Green Acres is creating a special category of funding to assist towns and counties in acquiring flood prone lands.” The application points out that this is a pilot program and, therefore, funding caps will be established per applicant to allow acquisitions to be accomplished by a maximum number of local governments. The Blue Acres Flood Plain Acquisition Program was part of a 2007 bond act that authorized $12 million for acquisition of lands in the floodways of the Delaware, Passaic, and Raritan rivers and their respective tributaries for recreation and conservation purposes. An additional $24 million was approved by the voters in the Green Acres, Water Supply and Floodplain Protection and Farmland and Historic Preservation Bond Act of 2009. The program emphasizes that all Blue Acres acquisitions must be from willing sellers.