Opinion: Manville needs 'urgent help' from federal, state governments, mayor says

The “American spirit” is fully on display this holiday season in the Borough of Manville, more than a year after a devastating storm named Hurricane Ida hit in September of 2021, causing the worst flood in the town’s history. Come visit Manville. Shop and support our local businesses. Drive around town and view the “Bright Lights” home decorating contest sponsored by the Manville Arts Council.

But there is more to know about this special town and the storm-resilient residents who live here.

Manville was born after the turn of the 20th Century as a large manufacturing facility, Johns Manville was built in what was Hillsborough Township at that time. Workers at the plant needed places to live, and over time a tight-knit, 2 square-mile town was populated with more than 3,500 homes. Today, 11,000 residents proudly call Manville their hometown.

The importance of Manville is that the manufacturing facility products and the residents that lived here helped win World War II, just one of the many conflicts’ residents went off to serve to defend our freedoms. We are a designated Purple Heart community and one of the most patriotic towns in Somerset County.

Unfortunately, over the decades since then , Manville has become “ground zero” for the effects of poor stormwater management regulations.

Since 1955, major floods have occurred that have only become much, much worse. Today, some say the cause is climate change and more intense storms, but the real contributor to Manville’s problem is overdevelopment that continues to go on all around us at a rapid pace.

The amount of impervious cover added to our watershed is well beyond the tipping point. Apartment complexes and warehouses are taking over our landscapes. Sadly, stormwater runoff from upstream communities is a significant threat to Manville.

Developers built homes in areas of town that had never flooded before. They could not foresee the future effects of upstream development and receiving more stormwater runoff from other towns. Many older existing developments upstream from Manville have no stormwater management practices in place. They simply directed their storm runoff to rivers and streams, which ends up here in Manville.

This is a man-made problem that requires a man-made solution, and it will require bold actions and lots of money to fix.

A big part of the solution is implementing stricter stormwater management rules and a county-wide stormwater utility. The utility will help generate funds to retrofit existing sites with new stormwater retention infrastructure to help reduce future stormwater runoff, thus fixing the mistakes of the past.

Governor Murphy recently had the opportunity to put the brakes on out-of-control development in our state. But he did not take the bold action required to sign the emergency executive order, developed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to put more stringent stormwater management regulations in place effective immediately.

This delay only hurts Manville’s future as increased stormwaters are going to be directed our way as development continues all around us.

However, there is good news. NJDEP will implement the new rules in early 2023 as they are hopefully fast-tracked through the normal process to avoid a court challenge by developers and become the new stormwater regulations.

Over the years, Manville has been the “forgotten town” for any flood mitigation efforts to help lower flood water levels. Manville was not included in the Greenbrook Flood Control Commission that successfully protected our downstream neighbor, Bound Brook. The Army Corps of Engineers performed a flood study of our area in 2012 and determined it would cost too much to build flood levees like those in Bound Brook. The “cost to benefit” ratio was determined to be well below the required level, with no consideration given for the quality or the potential loss of life when future floods occur.

More:Mayors, environmentalists to Gov. Phil Murphy: Bolster NJ’s flood regulations

Today, it is not just residential areas at risk of flooding. Our commercial business district goes underwater. Main Street Manville was also devastated by prior flood events. Think about the loss of future economic activity as storefronts sit empty and the revenue loss from homes knocked down from participating in the Blue Acres program.

There is currently no state aid program that sends more municipal aid our way to offset the revenue loss from over 170 Blue Acre homes already removed from our flood plains. Assemblyman Roy Freiman, who represents Manville, can champion new legislation to help our town suffering from this significant financial loss. I hope to collaborate with him and see it on his legislative agenda in 2023 and be supported by all our elected representatives in Trenton.

After significant flood events in 1971, 1999, and 2011, Manville did not receive its fair share of emergency disaster aid. Manville received less aid in 2011 after Hurricane Irene as compared to aid given in 1999 after Hurricane Floyd. Manville is no closer to being storm resilient as a result unless we receive a sizable portion of the $377 million in Hurricane Ida federal aid allocated to New Jersey. We need to break the cycle of devastating flooding with a sense of urgency, and here is how.

We need to move our municipal and emergency services to high ground. Our Borough Hall, Department of Public Works, fire, and rescue squad buildings went under flood waters during Hurricane Ida.

'Where's our help?'Manville residents frustrated over government’s slow Ida response

Manville residents anxiously sit and wait for a home elevation grant program that will pay to lift their first-floor living space above the base flood elevation. And other residents who have walked away from substantially damaged homes with collapsed foundations sit and wait for a buyout offer that can take years. We also need to develop new housing opportunities for residents who take a buyout and want to remain living in a town they love.

Unfortunately, I have been told “disaster recovery takes a long time” from state officials. As Americans, we deserve so much better treatment from our government when natural disasters occur.

Looking at flood-damaged, abandoned homes more than 15 months out is unacceptable. What do I tell property owners? Keep paying your property taxes and mortgage payments on a house you no longer occupy. It may be another year or more before the first buyout is completed with Hurricane Ida funds from the new FEMA Swift Current program. Only $10 million has been allocated to Manville so far.

We need a lot more.

The action plan for the aftereffects of Hurricane Ida was developed by the Department of Community Affairs in Trenton. It is currently being reviewed for approval by HUD. The plan has several programs with two of importance to the Manville - the Resilient Communities program, and the Smart Moves New Housing Development program. These two programs can significantly impact Manville’s future if we are allotted our fair share of the federal dollars to make Manville more storm resilient.

Hurricane Ida:Manville taking steps to reduce probability of flood damage

As the mayor of Manville, I cry out for more urgent help for my residents and business owners. We were extremely fortunate we did not suffer any loss of life during Ida, as numerous high-water rescues took place and gas explosions destroyed two homes and a business. We have suffered enough from past floods.

Now is the time to allocate millions of dollars in Federal and State aid to Manville, more than ever before. We most certainly deserve it for what we have been through. Who can we count on to help Manville so we will no longer be the “forgotten town” and to ensure us a sustainable, prosperous future?

I am very proud to call Manville my hometown and will continue to make the case that Manville is indeed worth saving. The “American spirit” on display here is Manville strong!

Richard M. Onderko is mayor of the Borough of Manville.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Opinion: Manville needs 'urgent help' from government, mayor says