‘There is an ongoing water problem’

Pennington is working to develop a stormwater management strategy policy to help mitigate stormwater issues within the borough.

“I’m planning to refer it to the Public Works Committee and the Environmental Commission in order to get their input and also get our professionals input,” Mayor Jim Davy said. “As you know, stormwater has now become an issue and so we need to figure it out and be thoughtful about the process.”

Davy explained that the borough has identified hotspots some that had been discussed by residents at the Borough Council meeting on Sept. 5.

“…the strategy also involves engaging the Watershed Insititute with regard to that regional stormwater assessment; it is looking at those hotspots assessing the problem, identifying pinch points, engaging partners (Mercer County, state, New Jersey Department of Transportation [NJDOT] coming up with some mitigation ideas and fixing the problems as much as we can.”

“We need outside external funding for some of these fixes, particularly [Abey Drive], and also perhaps through some site planning for stormwater management on upcoming applications that might be coming through the Planning Board.”

Councilman John Valenza noted that this is a watershed wide issue right now.

“We know where these hotspots are in our municipality,” he said. “You don’t address the spots. You address the total watershed to try to alleviate concentration in those spots.

“You would never fix an individual property because it is just going to push water onto neighboring properties. You have to fix the whole problem.”

Dino Spadaccini, manager of Old Mill Square, LLC, which owns property at 147 West Delaware Ave. containing borough businesses – Ashton Whyte, Uncle Ed’s Ice Cream, and Shear Hair Dezigns – was one of the residents who raised concerns during public comment on his area’s stormwater issue.

“We have a serious issue there,” he said. “I basically act as the default basin for that area of town for those of you unfamiliar with it.

“Just to give you an idea as some of you may know my family has owned it since 1974 but in 2012, we had a complete loss.”

He shared that in 2012 the property was uninsured, and they made a reinvestment of $750,000 out of their own pocket into the property.

“We have since had similar losses in 2018, 2021, and 2024. This is a recurring loss situation that the borough didn’t create, and I didn’t create it,” Spadaccini said, of the water issue.

“It is a county and state problem since they have not kept up with the infrastructure. I need to go through you [borough officials] and need you to act as an advocate with both the county and state to get this resolved.

“There is an ongoing water problem,” Spadaccini continued. “I cannot sustain many more losses. My insurance carriers are starting to look at me no longer wanting to insure me on this.”

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