ENGLEWOOD NJ – The City’s independent auditor stated on the public record that the City Council had failed to appropriate $3 million in the federal funds it was awarded in 2021 to remediate flooding. As the Council continues to permit overbuilding, and ignores public opinion, the City is now forced to divert this money to other projects in the last 2 months of the year, putting in question why nothing was done before it is too late.

In 2021, Englewood received $3 million dollars from Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Three years later, not one dollar has been spent on fixing critical infrastructure issues to protect our downtown and homes from ongoing flooding putting residents in harm’s way, year after year. Recent storms that brought flood waters rushing like a river through the center of town or homes once again destroyed by floods might have been prevented if the City had acted in a timely manner.

During the October 15, 2024 City Council meeting, the municipal auditor, Robert Haag of Lerch, Vinci, and Bliss LLP, testified that none of the “Rescue” money had been spent and more importantly may not be able to used for flooding since the funds must be committed by the end of 2024 or Englewood will lose these federal dollars. Two months is not sufficient time to sign contracts since engineering studies and related preliminary work must occur first leaving the City no choice but to redirect these funds to other projects.

The overlay zone ordinance and the 2024 master plan call for a doubling down on building thousands of apartments in our neighborhoods that will only exacerbate the flooding situation. And now, as reported here by Englewood One Community, yet another opportunity to mitigate a key infrastructure issue has been lost.

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