NORTH ARLINGTON –
North Arlington Mayor Peter Massa has appointed an eightmember committee to interview Geraldine and Truman Road residents to learn the extent of sewer backups into basements and to team with the borough engineer to communicate possible solutions to residents.
In the meantime, the borough awaits the results of a camera inspection of the sanitary sewer system in the Geraldine Road area to ascertain the reasons for the backup flows.
The committee members are residents Mark Tylenda, Craig Josloff, Lenny Aluotto, Ray Martin, Steve Delpome and Lawrence Maleszewski, along with Borough Councilmen Richard Hughes and Tom Zammatore.
Hughes said sanitary sewer problems in the area date back decades. “The sewer backups in that neighborhood are probably 40 years old. We need to determine if the problem has gotten worse over the years and, if so, how many people are impacted by sewage backups.”
Zammatore said: “I believe we first need to determine the cause and scale of the problem and then determine the best, most cost-effective solution.”
At the Aug. 14 mayor/council meeting, the borough’s consulting engineer Thomas Lemanowicz said the camera inspection appeared to show no major structural problems with the sewer line that would explain the backups.
Councilman Joseph Bianchi wondered if rain water was contributing to the problem, based on a recent visit to the area during a heavy rain storm when he said he saw four inches of rain coming off the hill across Schuyler Ave. and onto roads in the neighborhood.
Whether that’s the case or not can’t yet be determined, according to Lemanowicz, who added that efforts will be made to stem the inflow of rainwater into the sanitary sewer line.
