During the Delran Council work session on Jan. 28, council provided several updates on happenings in the township. Among the topics discussed were the Stellwag development, the 2020 road improvement program, a shared service agreement with Riverside and the Abrasive Alloy property.
According to councilman Tyler Burrell, over the last six months to a year, the Stellwag development, an area slated for affordable housing located on Hartford Road, has begun to start renovations that have included clearing out certain parts of the land and creating infrastructure. At the Jan. 28 meeting, council members specifically discussed drainage issues at the site.
During the weekend of Jan. 25, a Bridgeboro Street resident shared a video of a substantial amount of flooding on their property during a rain storm, which was the result of water run-off coming from the Stellwag site due to poor drainage.
To fix this issue, according to Burrell, the township engineer met with the developer’s engineer on Monday, Jan. 27. The developer will now be installing a new drainage system in the next few weeks to address the flooding issue.
“Not to minimize any of the damage that people may have sustained from the rain, the amount of rain itself is uncommon,” Burrell said. “There were compounding factors in all of the issues, but the long and short of it is, that the developer and engineer really did a good job and are getting some additional drainage in.”
In regard to the Abrasive Alloy property on Rancocas Avenue, the council authorized engineering services for hazardous site remediation. According to Burrell, the property is a major public safety concern. The property is slated for affordable housing development in the future.
“It’s unsafe and hazardous, so over the last few years – even before I was on council – we’ve been doing studies using grants trying to figure out what is dangerous and what is hazardous,” Burrell explained.
“We will be using a grant called the New Jersey Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund to help fund this project,” he added.
According to New Jersey’s official website (www.nj.gov), the purpose of the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund, which was first established in 1993, is to help communities bring underperforming properties back to potential.
During the meeting, the board also began discussion on the 2020 road improvement program. While plans are in the preliminary stage, in a recent interview with Mayor Ken Paris, he provided an update on Conrow Road.
“Two years ago, we received a $255,000 grant from the Department of Transportation,” Paris said. “We just received a second grant for $250,000 and with all of that, we will redo Conrow Road in 2020 and remove the median island near Fairview Boulevard.
“I know a lot of people have been upset or complaining about the backup that happens around 4 or 5 (o’clock). We’re going to get rid of that so you can drive right up and use all three lanes.”
As council continues to decide which additional roads need attention, projects will be divided into different tiers and more details will be publicly announced.
To end the work session, the council authorized the engineer to go out for bid on new baseball netting at Delran Community Park, awarded a contract for updated sound and recording system in the courtroom, reviewed the Burlington County Hazard Mitigation Plan, and approved a shared service agreement with Riverside to use Public Works equipment.
