By Teresa Edmond
Staff Writer
Suburban Trends
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
 
The municipality will request another $400,000 from the state to confront the housing needs of nearly two dozen displaced Upper Ringwood residents and the gaping sinkhole swallowing up another homeowner’s property, Acting Borough Manager/Borough Clerk Kelley Rohde announced at the Oct. 2 Borough Council meeting.
 
This $400,000 Small Cities Grant from the state will be a follow up to the $238,000 Small Cities Grant the borough received in 2006. According to Rohde, this amount has been closed out, meaning the borough spent that money for improvements in Upper Ringwood area including Sheehan Drive. Municipal officials sent the state and federal officials sent the state and federal government necessary documentation indicating the money was used for intended purposes, she added.
 
The state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) awards Small Cities Grants to qualifying municipalities for various housing rehabilitation and repairs of public facilities.
 
Last February, the state told municipality officials they can’t use the $238,000 Small Cities Grant to remediate the sinkhole sitting on the property of Sheehan Drive residents Roger DeGroat, but only to fence it off and test drill it.  This is because the sinkhole is located on private property, and the $238,000 could only be used on public properties.
 
In the borough’s case, the $400,000 would be earmarked for remediating the sinkhole and helping out residents who had to leave their homes at 23 and 27 Van Dunk Lane behind almost two years ago.
 
The displaced residents had to leave their homes at 23 and 27 Van Dunk Lane because the borough discovered these homes stood on unstable grounds, created from old mining shafts. Upper Ringwood is not only an old iron-mining ground, but also a federal Superfund site where Ford dumped toxic waste in the 1960s and 1970s.
 
Even though the borough will apply for the $400,000 Small Cities Grant, the borough anticipates matching at least half that amount. The municipality is relying on the $200,000 left over from a previous Economic Development Grant to pay for the displaced residents’ rents, Rohde said.
 
Originally, the DCA bestowed the Economic Development Grant upon the borough to improve the borough’s industrial section. The borough used some of this grant until the state Highlands Act’s passage in 2004 restricted the borough from further developing its industrial section. The Highlands Act regulates development in the Highlands Region to preserve the water resources.
 
DeGroat and the displaced residents didn’t attend the Oct. 2 council meeting. Resident Anita Yarossi asked the Borough Council if these residents knew about the meeting ahead of time.
 
In response, borough officials said residents were well informed about the Oct. 2 meeting. Rohde mentioned the locals were told about when they were in the office, and Councilman John Speer said they were told again at the Sept. 23 Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting.
 
Held monthly in borough hall, CAG meetings update the Ringwood community, government officials, legal representatives and environmental advocates on the Upper Ringwood Superfund site cleanup and testing.
 
According to DeGroat, it was up to the residents to decide whether to go to the meeting. He said he didn’t show up because it conflicted with his schedule that night.
 
“We had all the right in the world to go there, and no one told us not to come,” he said. “But if I could have made it, nothing (about the plight of the Upper Ringwood residents) would have changed by doing that.”
 
Rohde said that applying for the $400,000 Small Cities Grant is the “first step,” as the grant also needs to be awarded to the borough and the borough must reach agreement with the private property owners, lenders and insurance companies.
 
If the state does not OK the application, borough officials will take a different avenue to help the residents, Rohde said. But state officials already know the municipality is seeking the $400,000 Small Cities Grant.
 
“This application is continually being worked on by our consultant and it’s being modified as necessary,” Rohde said.
 
Robin O’Hearn, Skylands CLEAN executive director, said she supports the borough’s decision to apply for the $400,000 to help the displaced residents and DeGroat, calling this a “good start” in setting up a “permanent” solution in addition to the $238,000 Small Cities Grant.
 
“I’m hopeful that unlike the $238,000, which was received in 2006 to great fanfare and a visit from Governor (Jon) Corzine and (DCA) Commissioner Susan Bass Levin to Mr. DeGroat’s sinkhole, this money will actually find its way to the residents and address the problems,” she said.
 
O’Hearn pointed out that Upper Ringwood locals deserve equal treatment and respect in the face of losing their homes during circumstances beyond their control. This includes mortgage, housing and help in protecting their home equities, she added.

©2008 North Jersey Media Group