City Officials Must React to FFMP
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 10:12 AM EST

Jon Carver of Lambertville
I have been reading with great interest the letters to The Beacon editor regarding the New York City reservoirs and the action needed on the part of the public to stop them from flooding the Delaware River.
While the public has been asked to act here, and I have, I am confused about the silence from the City of Lambertville, its mayor and its elected and appointed officials on this very decisive issue.
Many river communities have taken a stand to restrict the Delaware River reservoirs’ capacity to no greater than 80 percent to stop manmade floods from occurring in their towns.
In fact, Stockton’s mayor, Steve Giocondo, recently wrote to his counterparts in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, asking these leaders to take action against the Delaware River Basin Commission’s dangerous Flexible Flow Management Plan proposal, which will have us flood regularly.
And our neighbor across the river, Solebury Township in Pennsylvania, has formalized its opposition to the FFMP on its township Web page.
Solebury’s mayor is encouraging residents to lobby against the DRBC’s proposed plans for the reservoirs and the Delaware River — www.soleburytwp.org/newsArticle.aspx?a=103.
Given that Lambertville has had three devastating floods in less than three years, I would have expected Mayor Del Vecchio and our City Council leaders to be at the forefront of this fight to stop manmade floods on the Delaware River.
Sadly, they have not.
Lambertville’s city fathers’ silence on this issue is apparent and noticeable. It shows a disregard for their constituents and the consequences of flooding in Lambertville experienced by all of us.
As taxpayers, we all must demand civic leadership on this issue because it is costing us dearly each time a flood occurs — cleanup and removal, municipal overtime, decreased property values, blighted property, lost tax revenue, lost business revenue, disaster assistance, infrastructure repair, environmental remediation, etc.
Call Mayor Del Vecchio and our council members and ask them to join leaders in neighboring towns to oppose the proposed Flexible Flow Management Plan.
Jon Carver
Lambertville