Mt. Laurel resident Phil Huber is very familiar with floods.
Living in the Ramblewood section of the town, Huber’s home sits on a floodplain. His basement sees water come in during bad rain storms, such as the one that pounded the area on April 29 and caused flooding in multiple locations.
However, Huber thinks the township can do something to help reduce the excess water.
At last night’s council meeting, Huber requested the township clean mud from three culverts at Penny Bridge near the Ramblewood development. According to Huber, the culverts were void of mud for about four years. Now, the culverts are about half-clogged. Huber presented pictures of the clogged culverts to council, saying the mud has caused the water to rise quickly in the area during storms.
“Essentially, Ramblewood is being used as a retention base,” Huber said.
During the April 29 storm, Huber said he spent much of the night pumping water out of his basement. While he did not suffer damage during the latest storm, the past hasn’t been too kind to him. Last year, he lost his car when a flash flood hit the area; he was unable to move his vehicle before it was taken siege by the water.
Fixing the problem with the culverts is a little more involved than what Huber presented. While township officials said they have no issue removing the mud from under Penny Bridge, they explained they cannot clean out other clogs in the area that might also be causing issues.
“We cannot clean the creek on the golf course,” said Councilman Jim Keenan, referring to the neighboring Ramblewood Country Club.
Township Manager Maureen Mitchell said the township can send a notice to the golf course owners to clean out their area of the creek. Mitchell also plans to ask the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to clean out the culvert it maintains within Mt. Laurel.
Despite this, Keenan added there is only so much the township can do about the flooding. He noted Huber’s home is in an area prone to flooding. He also said clogs outside Mt. Laurel’s borders may be attributing to additional flooding, and there is little the township can do to help fix that.
For now, Huber said he hopes the township follows through with his request to clean out the mud before the next storm rolls through the area.
