Wall Township Officials Say They'll Look Into Flooding Problems

By Denise Di Stephan

Wall Township officials are promising local residents plagued with flooding problems that they will look into the issue with the township engineer.

So far the flood water isn’t coming into the living space of two Wall families who voiced their concerns to the Wall Township Committee on Wednesday night.

But it’s too close.

David and Maureen Pathe have lived on Laurel Avenue for the past 30 years and they’re getting tired of watching their garage and basement get flooded.

“This is an ongoing problem since the day we moved in,” Maureen Pathe told the Wall Township Committee.  “Yes, I know we live in a low-lying area. The center of the road is seven inches higher than our property. But this is not Mother Nature. This is an engineering problem.”

“In 2007, we sent an email with photos and signatures to Matt Zahorsky,” David Plathe told the mayor and committee members, referring to the township engineer.

He said their street and surrounding streets are not draining sufficiently, so every time work is done in the area, or when there is heavy rain, water floods into their garage and basement and into their neighbors’ properties.

“Matt Zahorsky said it’s a $1 million job, I’m not sure I believe that,” Plathe said.

“Can we get another set of eyes on this?”

Paula Radel said the rainwater has flooded her driveway on Sea Girt Avenue, which backs up to Laurel. 

“The town came out and looked at the road and said it’s not their problem,” Radel said.

Radel said later flooding outside her house has been a problem since she moved in in 1999, but got worse more recently when her next-door neighbors filled in their yard.

“They had to fill it in because of the flooding,” she added.

Committee member Ann Marie Conte told the residents complaining about flooding, “We’ll look into it. This is the first we’re hearing of it. We do apologize.”

Committee member George Newberry said most of the township was developed before the 1980s and simply does not have a modern sewer and storm drain system throughout that works sufficiently to handle rainwater and runoff.

He said he would visit the properties with Zahorsky and Bob Hendrickson, the township’s Public Works Director.

“I hope there’s something we can do,” he said. “This is simply not acceptable.”

Maureen Plathe told Patch later that she and her husband had been reporting the flooding problems to Zahorsky since 2007.

“He led us to believe they (council) knew, but they’re saying this is the first they’ve heard of it,” Plathe said.

Township Administrator Jeff Bertrand said the township is working on the flooding issues.

He said later that there is a storm water drain system along Sea Girt Avenue, which is a Monmouth County road. But it’s unclear if a pipe could be connected from Laurel, a township road, to Sea Girt to help the drainage flow, he said. He said the township officials will continue to look at possible ways to alleviate flooding in the area.