Politics & Government

Do you think Millburn is Prepared for Another Irene? [POLL]

Over the last year, the township has taken steps to prevent flooding throughout town but businesses were told to prepare with sandbags.

Over the last year, in an attempt to keep the township dry, township officials hired an engineering firm to study the town's flooding. Essex County repaired the Diamond Mill Pond Dam in the South Mountain Reservation and Mayor Sandra Haimoff has been working with the Mayors Council on Rahway River Watershed Flood Control.

Yet, business owners in downtown Millburn say they are not optimistic about what would happen if a storm like Irene were to hit again.

"We were told to get ready for for another storm with sandbags," one of the owners of Tinga, David Fishman, said. "Nothing has been done to change the problems that occurred."

Find out what's happening in Millburn-Short Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The township's business administrator, Tim Gordon, said, in a recent interview, preparing for flooding in town is the hardest thing on his agenda this year. 

According to Gordon, he wants to have, "some public works employees’ supervisor and these block captains [key residents in flooding areas] to develop a rapport so when water gets to a certain level in backyards they'd be able to alert their counterpart in the public works department."

Find out what's happening in Millburn-Short Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Millburn's Fire Department said, it is still making changes to prepare for another storm at Irene's magnitude. According to Roberts, the department has replaced pumps, changed response policy and arranged for pre-action meetings before any predicted events. 


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