Berkeley Heights Township : BH Gets $250,000 Appropriations In House Bill For West Side Drainage

Press release from the Berkeley Heights Township:

July 27, 2021

The Berkeley Heights West Side Drainage Project is part of Congressman Tom Malinowski's Community Project Funding request made in the House Appropriations Fiscal Year 2022 annual federal funding legislation.  

The projects, covering Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Union, and Warren Counties, total over $8.7 million. The legislation is set to be voted on in the House of Representatives this week.

Included was a $250,000 appropriation for the preparation and construction of the outdated drainage system in the area, and for future maintenance. The Township in the Spring submitted their application to Malinowski's office, which was a comprehensive package of project plans, Council-passed resolutions, letters of support and other documentation. Malinowski visited Berkeley Heights in early June to tour local businesses along with Mayor Angie Devanney and council members. They listened to local business owners as they emerged from COVID-19 restrictions. Malinowski also visited the Orchard Lane neighborhood affected by drainage issues on the west side of town. 

“I worked closely with municipal and county leaders across our district to identify projects that will create jobs and improve the lives of our constituents, and fought hard to get all our requests approved in the House,” said Representative Malinowski. “These projects will fix our old water and sewer systems, support law enforcement, improve our parks and pedestrian walkways, and create educational programs that support our rural economy. I will do all I can to build support for them as the bill moves to the Senate.”

Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee, each Representative was able to request funding for up to ten projects in their community for Fiscal Year 2022, and Representatives were not guaranteed that all or any of their projects would be approved. Projects were restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities were permitted to receive funding. 

 Read the entire story in TAPinto Berkeley Heights here. 

In addition, the Township received confirmation from U.S. Senator Cory Booker's on Friday, July 16, that our $500,000 Senate funding appropriations request for the West Side Drainage project cleared Booker's office and has been submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies for potential funding. The subcommittee will review the project to verify eligibility and make final decisions on awards. 

"The fact that our West Side Drainage project is being considered by both the House and Senate and our requests are making their way forward is fantastic news for our residents most affected by our drainage issues in this part of town," said Mayor Angie Devanney. "We worked hard to submit the most comprehensive, compelling applications that are most in line with project areas prioritized for federal funding. We greatly appreciate Congress considering our applications and will continue to work to obtain funding from additional sources to get this project done as we push this drainage project forward. Our residents deserve it."

This press release was produced by the Berkeley Heights Township. The views expressed here are the author’s own.