The Berkeley Heights Town Council on Tuesday, Sept. 15 took up a packed agenda that included a $2 million federal sidewalk grant application and adoption of a countywide flood mitigation plan.

The agenda, first reported by NJ21st, also listed two new traffic-safety ordinances, a $35,500 storm-cleanup contract and more than $30,000 in new grant revenue. Vote results on individual items were not yet available.

$2 million Mountain Avenue sidewalk grant

Resolution 282 would authorize the town to apply for up to $2 million from NJDOT's 2027 Safe Routes to School program for what the town calls "Safe Streets, Happy Feet Part II." The money would continue the Mountain Avenue sidewalk project. No municipal matching funds are required.

The grant application is due Nov. 13, according to the NJDOT program page. The federal program funds infrastructure that helps K-12 students walk and bike to school safely within two miles.

Flood mitigation plan

Resolution 296 would adopt Berkeley Heights' portion of the 2026 Union County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. The plan appeared on a prior agenda but was not acted on at that time.

The document names Chaucer, Evergreen, Robins, Springfield, Shadow, the Passaic River area and Bridge Street near the sewer plant as flood-prone areas. About 9% of the township falls in the 1% annual-chance floodplain, and another 6.2% sits in the 0.2% annual-chance floodplain. The plan lists 39 critical facilities, three of which are inside a floodplain.

The plan warns that the town's drainage system may already be too small for severe storms and could become further overwhelmed as rainfall intensifies.

Mitigation projects in the plan carry estimated costs ranging from about $15,000 to $2 million. They include a $500,000 hazardous tree removal program and a $1 million program aimed at acquiring repetitive-loss and severe repetitive-loss properties. Those figures are planning estimates, not approved spending.

Separately, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. submitted a $4 million federal funding request in April for a Passaic River Regional Flooding Mitigation Project listing Berkeley Heights as the recipient. That request, announced April 9, has not yet been approved through the federal appropriations process.

Traffic ordinances

Two new traffic ordinances were on the agenda.

Ordinance 2026-21, up for first reading, would create a two-way center left-turn lane on Mountain Avenue in front of Mountain Kids Montessori (MKM), add a 25 mph school zone from Plainfield Avenue to Deerpath Lane during morning and afternoon school hours, and ban left turns from the MKM exit onto Mountain Avenue. Final adoption is scheduled for Oct. 6.

Ordinance 2026-22 would install all-way stop signs at every approach to the intersection of Washington Street and Berkeley Avenue. The measure was first introduced June 30 as Ordinance 2026-14 but was not considered for adoption at that time.

A third traffic measure, Ordinance 2026-20, was set for final adoption. It would remove weekday restrictions on left turns from Valley Road onto Twin Falls Road during morning and afternoon hours. The restriction on right turns from Diamond Hill Road to Twin Falls Road would remain.

Storm cleanup and other spending

Resolution 292 would approve a $35,500 contract with Cascade Tree and Landscape for brush cleanup from the July 3 storm. The agenda's wording indicated the town had already engaged Cascade's services before the council vote. Funding comes from three sources: $16,603.34 from a 2024 Clean Communities Grant, $500 from the Storm Recovery Trust and $18,396.66 from Buildings and Grounds contractual expenses.

Resolution 286 would add $6,000 to the Downes Tree contract, raising the cap to $146,000, to clear trees that fell into waterways as part of flood-mitigation work.

Two grant resolutions would add $30,739.77 to the 2026 budget: $5,739.77 from the Friends of Berkeley Heights Recreation Grant Commission for a water filling station and $25,000 from the New Jersey Urban and Community Forestry Program.

The agenda also included a $1.31 million bill list, though no itemized breakdown appeared in the public packet.

The council next meets Oct. 6, when Ordinance 2026-21 is scheduled for final adoption.