Posted on by

Mayor’s video series kicks off with DPW flooding fixes – Pascack Press & Northern Valley Press

Mayor’s video series kicks off with DPW flooding fixes – Pascack Press & Northern Valley Press

Mayor Michael Sheinfield released the first YouTube video in his “What’s Happening Around Town” series, which provides a tour of the local DPW facility and highlights upgrades aimed at reducing future impacts from flooding.

HILLSDALE – Mayor Michael Sheinfield released the first YouTube video in the “What’s Happening Around Town” series on Oct. 18, providing a tour of the local DPW facility and exploring upgrades to reduce future flooding impacts.

Sheinfield previously told us that he hopes to produce a series of videos to raise public awareness and provide information on important local issues and concerns. The first six-minute video features the mayor speaking with Interim DPW Superintendent Barry Peterson as he discusses recent improvements at the DPW and ends with a cost discussion with Administrator Mike Ghassali.

Sheinfield asked residents to send him comments and video ideas [email protected]. He said an upcoming video topic will be a possible new cell tower to improve cell coverage.

Flooding issues in focus

Earlier this year, flooding and damage forced the district to move office workers and light vehicles to two properties in nearby Woodcliff Lake. Over the past nine months, DPW employees have improved facilities and moved materials out of the way.

(See “Hillsdale DPW returns from WCL; ‘final draft’ at community center,” by Michael Olohan, August 24, 2024.)

In the video, Peterson says the mechanic’s area was moved to a back shed that is 2 to 3 feet higher than the building that typically floods and is closer to Pascack Brook. Peterson points out that walls are cracked due to flood damage and that additional support beams were added to support the second floor due to structural deficiencies.

He said the previous mechanic area, which was flooded, will be used for storage in the future. Two elevators will be installed in the rear garage, one for smaller vehicles such as brick dumps and police cars and one for larger pieces of equipment.

Ghassali told Sheinfield that repairing the main building by removing a wall and making repairs would likely cost $500,000 to $1 million.

He said the estimated cost of moving the garage and elevators to the four-bay garage was about $200,000. Approximately $260,000 in Hurricane Ida insurance funds was intended to cover the cost of moving the mechanic area and elevators, as well as utility costs.

Ghassali added that based on suggestions from the NJDEP and the county engineer, they would consider moving the salt shed into a building.