CORRECTED: New Muhlenberg SED Open House Monday evening

Grand Opening of the new $2 million ER at the
Muhlenberg campus is set for Monday.

 
CORRECTION: The Open House for the community is from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. The earlier one is for invited guests only.

The new Satellite Emergency Department (SED) at the Muhlenberg campus will host an Open House, Monday, November 23.

 
Visitors will be able to tour the new facility and learn about treatment options by JFK available to Plainfield and other communities it serves.

The new ER, which occupies the first floor of the old Kenyon House at the corner of Park Avenue and Randolph Road, replaces the state-of-the-art facility in the former hospital building which JFK wants to see developed.

Though the plan to replace the former hospital with 600 new apartments has not been brought up lately, I don't think that means JFK has abandoned the idea altogether. Meanwhile, I wonder about the tax implications of the Morristown settlement with Atlantic Healthcare for our local situation -- though, again, we have not heard anything about this from the city.

Be sure to read Dottie G's post on the new SED's opening (here), where she reavches out to thank the many people who have fought in support of Muhlenberg over the years.

If you're planning on going to the open house, the lot across Park Avenue from the building is available for parking.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Oil train blast danger in Plainfield?

Map shows a portion of the Plainfield County Club
lies in the 'yellow' oil train blast zone.

 

A city employee once told me that oil trains run through Plainfield overnight on the Raritan Valley Line.

I disputed the story, but was never able to confirm it one way or the other.

Oil trains are much in the news these days (Teaneck held a vigil last night, see here) because the Bakken crude that is shipped by rail is highly flammable and the pressurized tank cars in which it is shipped can rupture, setting off tremendous and deadly explosions (see more here).

So I listened closely when the Hudson Riverkeeper came on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show Thursday to discuss oil trains and the dangers they pose.

In the course of the discussion,  it was said that a website exists to show how close any community is to a so-called "blast zone" by simply typing in the ZIP code.

Since Gov. Christie keeps the routes of these oil trains throughout New Jersey a state secret (unlike other states), I wondered what I could learn about Plainfield and oil trains from the website.

The website (see here) does NOT show oil trains running on the Raritan Valley Line. Whew!

But, the rail line that runs through South Plainfield and Edison does carry oil trains. The map shows a red blast zone and a yellow one-mile zone that passes just south of West 7th and Clinton and also includes a portion of the Plainfield Country Club.

I suspect the real reason the Christie administration refuses to share the information on oil train routes is the pressure it would face from residential communities if they knew what was rolling through their backyards.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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A reminder on refugees from Middle East terror

Depiction of the Flight to Egypt, from a capital
in the Cathedral of St. Lazarus, Autun, France,
carved by Gislebertus 900 years ago.

Just in case Christians forget their primal connection to refugees from Middle East terror, here is the story of Mary and Joseph's flight as refugees to Egypt from Herod the child-slayer --

Matthew 2:13-16 (New Revised Standard Version)

13Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

16When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Cedar Brook Park improvements get bumpy start

Engineers for Union County discuss Olmsted plans
showing active sports use on the area under review.

Soccer enthusiasts lined the meeting room.
Pictured (l. to r.) Commissioner Larry Quirk, Chairman Bill Michelson,
and planner Scott Bauman.

 

Union County officials were perfectly prepared for a meeting to discuss proposed improvements for Plainfield's Cedar Brook Park.

Trouble is, it was the wrong meeting. The attorney and engineers making the proposal would have been right on target with, say, the Planning Board. But Tuesday evening's meeting was with the Historic Preservation Commission, which has quite different concerns and authority.

As resident Gerri Heydt put it to the County representatives well into the meeting -- the Historic Preservation Commission is concerned with "mitigating the effects" of adaptations to uses by the public.

The meeting got off on a shaky start when a Commission member asked the engineers to please orient the Commission and the audience to the area where the work was actually going to be done.

This is a common mistake I see at land-use board meetings. In fact, so common I am surprised someone doesn't tell applicants that the very first thing they need to do is give some spatial orientation to viewers by citing street locations or nearby landmarks. It is a simple step that would improve everyone's experience of the hearing manyfold.

The engineers discussed all the work to be done, from drainage improvements, the size and orientation of two new soccer fields, removable protective fencing, improved lighting and handicap access for the area which lies near the rear of the JFK-Hartwyck facility.

The adequacy of restrooms was discussed, as well as efforts to reduce or eliminate light spillage on surrounding residential areas.

But the engineers seemed flummoxed when asked what color the light poles would be, or whether the proposed poles could be somewhat lower than the 80' in the plans.

The Commission became extremely attentive once the engineers produced plans of the original Olmsted layout and demonstrated that active use (with ballfields) had been accommodated in this same area since the earliest days of the park.

To my mind, those plans were the county's trump card (and not the crowd of soccer enthusiasts they produced to fill the meeting room), and it should have been played first, not near the end of the meeting.

I have found that the Historic Preservation Commission -- though it can sometimes get really, really lost in the weeds -- is reasonable when approached properly.

In this case, the issue at hand is -- to my mind -- not only about trying to make the proposed changes as unintrusive as possible, but also to make recreation more equitable in the community.

Demographic changes in Plainfield over the last two decades are being shown in the immense popularity of soccer.

In addition to the fields under consideration, use was made for several years of the area between Randolph Road and Stelle Avenue, where there were an additional two soccer fields unitl the grass reached to point it could not recover from the sustained use.

The open area on Kenyon Avenue behind the high school is also used for soccer, as well as the field adjacent to Maxson and Woodland Schools.

In the West End, there is another heavily used soccer field at Green Brook Park (also a county park), as well as two informal areas in that park that are used for soccer.

In addition, the city has a soccer field adjacent to Rushmore Playground that is used evenings and weekends throughout the season, as well as Milt Campbell Field on East 3rd Street.

The pressure for more soccer space will not let up any time soon, and an equitable recreation environment must include addressing this need.

The county's plans are a step forward in this direction, but should be fine-tuned to meet the Historic Preservation Commission's concerns. The proposal will be continued at the HPC's December 15 meeting, 7:30 PM at City Hall Library.

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Pondering parking

Out of order meters mean less revenue for the city.

 

Parking in front of Plainfield's City Hall Monday afternoon, I noticed a handwritten note on the windshield of the car behind me.

As I went to put quarters in the meter we shared, i noticed what it said: "Meters not working". So I saved 50¢, but it got me to thinking about parking generally, especially since I hear through the grapevine that the city got no responses to the RFP for a parking deck feasibility study on East Second Street.

One thing the late Mayor Al McWilliams was fierce about was making sure parking revenues were maximized. Noticing the number of (some apparently permanently) non-operating meters around town, along with some that have mysteriously disappeared (as on East Front where one seems to have disappeared for no apparent reason after recent street work), I wondered whether there has been a drop in parking receipts over time.

But there are plenty of other parking issues to look into --

• The condition and use of the public lots behind Front Street. Use of these has increased dramatically over recent years, especially with charter schools and active storefront congregations locating on Watchung Avenue between Front Street and the city line. But their maintenance lags their use.
  
  
• The public lot at Central and West 2nd. This lot also snakes through to Front Street between Pueblo Viejo and the fish market. PSE&G is currently using a corner as a staging area for its Second Street project, but that will come to an end at some point. The lot is not well-maintained or striped, even though there is permit parking and tickets are issued. In addition, the old Sear building and its new addition will be adding to permanent spaces in this lot, as will the apartments over the Red Cross building which is being renovated. Yet Messrs. Dunn and Sanders covet the lot for affordable housing.
  
  
• The Park-Madison parking deck. Will we ever resolve the issue of letting residents use the deck after-hours and weekends, as called for in the original development agreement? The steam seems to have gone out of the city's efforts to get this resolved. Why?
  
  
• Lot 7. This lot next to Scott Drugs on East 7th Street is sort of an orphan. Once filled with the cars of DYFS workers on a daily basis, it now sits weed-filled and forlorn most of the time. Will it get more use when Arkad Development completes the reovation of the DYFS building into apartments and shops?
  
  
• North Avenue parking at the train station. Though this area is currently disrupted because of ongoing work replacing the NJT overpasses on Watchung and Park Avenues, it seems to me that a lot of revenue is consistently lost because the striping is so faded people don't know where the spaces are to park.
  
  
• Netherwood Station area. On the North Avenue side, the streets are parked up all day long. This has been a neighborhood issue in the past, but does it need to be looked at again? And on the South Avenue side, the situation is similar, and now faced with new apartments across from the station (including an "illegal" floor the owner added). Though there is a lot for its use next to the fire station, will it be sufficient?

Besides all this, there are the advances in technology that make it easier to meter larger areas with fewer meters.

In Newark, the area around the Newark Museum has for several years now had meters that monitor four spaces, reducing the time and effort of parking employees to maintain and collect coins.

In Westfield, the lot near Trader Joe's uses a central meter that covers the entire lot and issues time-stamped receipts. This makes it really easy for parking employees to monitor the situation.

In Montclair, for years now the town has issued parking stickers for residents wishing to park on the streets overnight because that was becoming an issue that needed to be managed. Has Plainfield also reached that point?

Seems to me there are enough parking issues in Plainfield that maybe the next RFP should cover a study of parking citywide, looking to solve a lot of problems in addition to a deck's feasibility.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Historic Preservation Commission takes up Cedar Brook Park improvements

Union County's Cedar Brook Park is on the State
and National Registers of Historic Places.

 

Plainfield's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) does its work mostly quietly and off the center stage -- working with residents in the historic districts on matters affecting the exterior appearance of their properties.

This usually means porches, windows, roofs, fences and such.

But, in addition to the historic districts, the HPS has responsibility for overseeing changes to the appearance of landmarked properties outside the historic districts.

Under new business, Tuesday's meeting will take up the largest landmarked property in the city, as Union County officials present a proposal for improvements at Cedar Brook Park, which is on the State and National Registers.

Designed by the famed Olmsted firm, Cedar Brook Park is one of the Union County parks they were commissioned to design in the 1920s. A portion of the site was formerly the town garbage dump.

Union County is proposing to construct two synthetic turf fields at the heavily used park, as well as spectator bleachers, lighting and fencing.

The public is invited to attend the presentation and may ask questions concerning the proposal.

The Historic Preservation Commission meeting is Tuesday, November 17, at 7:30 PM in City Hall Library. Parking and entrance at the rear of the building.

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Dust Bunnies: Toliver to PMUA, OPRA abuse, more

Dust bunnies may seem harmless, but cause people with allergies
great aggravation.

 

A few "dust bunnies" for today -- bits of news too small for a full post, found when cleaning up the Plainfield Today desk.

Toliver gets a gig. So, the buzz is that former PMUA commissioner and husband of First Ward Councilwoman Diane Toliver, Alex Toliver has a new gig at -- the PMUA. I am reminded of the last high-profile appointment to the solid waste agency, when the late Councilor Bob Ferraro, who had sued the city for creating the agency got a gig as an inspector, complete with a car for riding around. Don't know yet what Mr. Toliver's duties are.

OPRA abuse. A certain someone who often comes to the mike at Council meetings and has had a grudge against Recreation since the Robinson-Briggs crew got the heave-ho, has a stack of over a thousand pages of documents prepared in response to her OPRA request this past summer. It took many hours to prepare, for which the applicant was not billed. She has not coughed up the cash for the docs, so the cache sits waiting. OPRA abuse?

A Joe Black Baseball League twofer. I am told that the Joe Black League failed to report an incident at Milt Campbell Field this past summer when a parent jumped a referee. Though the parent was calmed down, it is said the referee threatened not to do any more games. However it was resolved, it was not reported the Recreation as rules require.

The other bit of news is that the season's trophies were ordered at a local supplier, but never picked up or paid for. Hardly any way to treat a small business, right?

For more about dust bunnies and some surprising places you might find them, check here.

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Free concert at Crescent Sunday

The NJ Intergenerational Orchestra presents a free concert
Sunday afternoon at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church.

 

New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra (NJIO) debuts its season in Plainfield with a dramatic program, titled From Tragedy to Triumph, on Sunday, November 15th at 3:00 PM at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church. Admission is free.

Savor the music of NJIO’s Intermezzo and Symphony Orchestras. Admire the musicality of talented 13-year-old Heechan Ku, a winner of NJIO's annual Young Artists Concerto Competition as he performs Lalo’s virtuosic Cello Concerto.

NJIO’s Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director Warren Cohen, will play intense pieces by Beethoven, Kalinnikov, and Lalo.

The Beethoven Coriolan Overture is a dramatic and terse work that suggests the tragic outcome of its story. Vasily Kalinnikov's 1st Symphony is a brilliantly melodic score in the best Russian tradition, where memories of Borodin and Tchaikovsky are wedded to a wholly original harmonic imagination.

The orchestra will accompany cellist Heechan Ku, a NJIO's Young Artists Concerto Competition Winner, on the Lalo Cello Concerto, a colorful compendium of glittering orchestration, virtuoso cello figuration and clever, memorable melodies.

The Intermezzo Orchestra, conducted by Gavin Davies, will play "Let Nothing Ever Grieve Thee," the beautiful motet by Brahms. The orchestra will also perform five Schubert waltzes, orchestrated by Graham Cohen, an award-winning composer, violist and coach in NJIO.

Our cello soloist, eighth-grader Heechan (Alex) Ku began playing the cello at the age of 8. He attends Tenafly Middle School and began studying at Juilliard Pre-College in New York City this September. Mr. Ku has won many prizes, including First Place in the International Grande Music Competition. He has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall. The 13-year-old cellist currently studies with Clara Kim.

About NJIO

New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra, now in its 22nd season, has been recognized as a national leader in intergenerational excellence through its unique approach to teaching musical performance and as a model for intergenerational orchestras across the country.

Not only do the intergenerational members play together, but they also mentor each other. In addition to providing free concerts and outreach to the community, NJIO has been invited to perform at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and at the United Nations, and was a finalist for the Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence. NJIO welcomes new members of all ages and abilities each concert period to one of its several orchestras - no auditions needed!

NJIO is committed to ensuring that all programs and concerts are accessible to everyone. For more information regarding the concert or to inquire about patron services, please contact Mary Beth Sweet at (908) 603-7691 or by email at info@njio.org, or visit NJIO’s website at njio.org/.

This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and by a HEART Grant from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Funding is also provided by The Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, The Merck Foundation, The Lillian Pitkin Schenck Fund, the Plainfield Foundation, Investors Foundation and The Stanmdish Foundation.

At Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, Watchung Avenue at East 7th Street. Parking in the church lot on First Place, on the street, or in Swain Galleries lot.

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Library photo contest exhibit opens Saturday

A winner from the 2014 Photo Contest,
the Plainfield Station in winter.

 

For ten years, the Plainfield Public Library has held an annual photo contest, inviting local photographers -- amateur and professional -- to submit photographs of Plainfield people, places and activities.

This year's theme is "Plainfield: Taking Care of Business", presenting photos of Plainfield businesses and people at work around the Queen City.

The show's opening revception and awards presentation is set for Saturday, November 14, from 10:00 AM to Noon in the Library's Anne Louise Davis Gallery. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

The 2015 competition met with the enthusiastic response of 17 contributors who submitted 79 images of Plainfield. The photographs help build the Library's local history photograph collection.  All entries have been digitized and  added to the Library's archive, which consists of over 50,000 area photographs taken from 1865 to date.

Winning photographs and selected entries will be on exhibit through December 31, 2015.  Images from the first nine exhibits may be found on the Library's website at: plainfieldlibrary.info/.

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Veterans remembered at Plainfield observance

Officials gather at the Veterans Memorial to lay a wreath.

 

Veterans, officials and residents gathered at the Veterans' Memorial at Plainfield City Hall on Wednesday to mark the 97th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I and to honor veterans for their service to their country.

A brief, simple and moving ceremony took place at the granite memorial, with City Administrator Rick Smiley laying the wreath and Director of Administration and Finance Ron West bringing greetings on behalf of Mayor Adrian O. Mapp who was attending a meeting out of town.

The ceremony included recognition of the leadership of Plainfield's combined veteran's organizations, presentation of the colors by the Police Division Honor Guard and a 3-volley gun salute.

It closed with the playing of taps by an unidentified trumpeter in a slow tempo and the most soulful rendition I can ever remember.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Mayor Mapp promises progress on flood maps program

Approximate area of flood zones shown in blue
in map that used to be distributed by DPW
with leaf pickup schedules. (Click to enlarge or print.)

Flood control project by the Army Corps of Engineers after the 1973
flood helps channel water from the Cedar Brook onto
flood plains at Cedar Brook Park, as with the soccer fields
above near Stelle Avenue, shown after a 2011 flood.

Nearly a hundred property owners turned out Tuesday evening for a report on Plainfield's flood maps hosted by Mayor Adrian O. Mapp at the Plainfield Public Library.

Representatives from consultant Hatch Mott McDonald, with backup from the city's engineer, discussed the firm's progress on studying issues with Plainfield's flood maps.

Two important revelations were made, which were news to me.

First, the reason that flood insurance premiums have gone up dramatically is that Congress has cut subsidies to the program. Once heavily subsidized, the flood insurance program has move upwards in recent years to a risk-based fee structure.

This has impacted long-term owners, but new purchasers of homes where the insurance is mandated are paying even steeper rates, it was learned.

Flood insurance is required by lenders if a mortgage is to be given on a property listed as being in a flood zone. Homes without mortgages, or those whose mortgages are paid off, are exempted from the insurance requirement -- however, they are on their own in case of actual flooding.

The second important revelation was that there are actually three different flood maps involved -- FEMA, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The FEMA maps are the standard by which insurer's decisions are made, and they were last updated on a countywide basis in 2006.

There is a persistent rumor that Plainfield "has not updated its flood maps", as reported by some property owners. I began to wonder if this is a ploy by the insurers to deflect criticism, as the HMM consultants insisted that the only basis used for insurance purposes was the FEMA maps, and that they were updated countywide in 2006.

Encouraging news was that the Army Corps of Engineers mapping project for the Green Brook catchment area is using modern, state-of-the-art technology that exceeds the standards of both FEMA and the DEP.

This project, when completed in the summer of 2016, will provide a basis for Plainfield to pressure FEMA on the 100-year flood boundaries on which insurance premiums are based.

HMM said their work so far has indicated at least three areas currently in the flood zone which should be questioned. The upcoming Corps of Engineers study should help property owners in those areas.

Residents forcefullyexpressed their frustration at being stymied in their efforts to have flood insurance rates reduced. There were also suspicions of insurance rate inueqities as various residents reported different premium amounts.

It was suggested, though, that the disparity may be based on the differences between the properties. For instance, a home with a finished bsement, say with a family room in it, would pay a different premium from a home built to sit higher, like a bi-level.

The size, age and construction of the property would also influence the premium, the HMM presenter said. Mayor Mapp reinforced the idea by comparing the insurance one would pay on a BMW versus a VW,

Mayor Mapp promised the residents there would be another meeting as the study progresses and that the city would post the consultant's PowerPoint presentation to the city website and provide updates on study's progress.

There was a suggestion in his remarks that he would lobby our Congressional representative Bonnie Watson Coleman to lobby on Plainfield's behalf with FEMA.

All that is good news for Plainfield property owners located in flood zones.

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Veterans Day observance this morning

The bronze tableau at the base of the
flagpole at 7th and Watchung commemorates
those who served in World War I.

Plainfield's annual observance of Veteran's Day takes place today, November 11, at 10:30 AM, beginning on the steps of City Hall.

Join our veterans, friends and neighbors in remembering those who have served their country.

When I was a kid, the day was known as "Armistice Day," named after the armistice -- or cessation of armed conflict -- that concluded World War I. That armistice was agreed between the warring nations to come on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. The day is also celebrated in Canada, where it is known as "Remembrance Day".

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More on Councilor Tracey Brown's angry rant

Putting a nametag on Councilor Brown's rant.

I said yesterday (see here) I would post more on Plainfield City Council member Tracey Brown's angry rant to Mayor Mapp via text message.

Here, once again is Councilor Brown's text message to Mayor Mapp --

"Hello, Just discovered that you allowed one of the most successful coaches in the history of the Plfd. Rec. to be Fired after election.what a disgrace. I regret the day I talked city council members into voting yes for your appointment of Roni Taylor. She is the biggest disappointment to this city and the youth of this city since, well anyway. I have the gift of discernment, you allow her to treat people with total disrespect. She can smile and do evil to people that you approve. What a mistake I made. Because you have made her the untouchable golden child it will backfire, trust me. God will not allow evil to win. You said some horrible things about Bill in planning ,but when the people who support you disapproved you changed your mind and inconsiderately left council hanging. Well people who support Mr. Cathcart will also speak out, but they live on the other side of the tracks so I am sure their opinion does not faze you. I have set back an observed what I thought was corruption in your admin., always knew you were going to bless your supporters and family., but this is truly the straw. I do have the gift of discernment and instead of trying to get and prove your man made power, you need to ask  God to search your heart. Not looking for a response. What a disgrace."

And here are some questions that bother me --

Factfinding. I simply cannot comprehend that Councilor Brown flew off the handle without checking the facts of the matter. She did not call Mayor Mapp. She did not call Rec Superintendent Taylor. She took the word of Mr. Cathcart, who has an interest in portraying himself in the best light.

And then to claim the "gift of discernment" on top of it all. Without doing any checking out of the matter?

That seems to me to qualify as hubris or pride -- one of the seven deadly sins. I am reminded of a remark of St. Augustine: "It was pride that changed the angels into devils."

Good vs. evil. Turning policy disagreements (personnel matters -- whether the hiring of one person or declining to hire another) into matters of good vs. evil seems to me another manifestation of pride.

Placing these disagreements in the realm of good vs. evil is usurping God's role. Who are we -- any of us -- to do that?

Heavens to John Milton!

Other side of the tracks. Brown tries to put down Mayor Mapp by claiming Cathcart supporters -- who "live on the other side of the tracks" -- have opinions that do not faze him. But wait, Brown lives on the same side of the tracks as Mayor Mapp. What?!

How does such angry and taunting language help move Plainfield forward?

Or perhaps moving Plainfield forward is not Councilor Brown's goal?

Corruption. Brown has the nerve to say she sees corruption in the Mapp administration, yet has not spoken out publicly.

Just as she never spoke out publicly against the corruption of the Robinson-Briggs administration (think of the unnecessary bodyguards, or the $20,000 swindle for the Al Sharpton appearance, for instance).

I guess it all depends on whose ox is being gored.

Bless your supporters and family. What does this mean? Personnel decisions? Where was Councilor Brown when Robinson-Briggs hired crooks, incompetents and drunkards as top administrators? Or set up a Youth Commission (with a budget) turned over to a pal and her kids? Or made appointments to an Hispanic Affairs Commission that crashed and burned without comment?

Is this jealousy rearing its ugly head?

Another of the seven deadly sins.

Councilor Brown goes down a dangerous road when she views civil government through the lens of a struggle between good and evil. That is Manichaeism, a Persian religion, and not Christianity.

A minister of the true Gospel should know better.

And Brown wants to run for Mayor?

Gimme a break.

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Flood map meeting tonight

John Louise and crew rescue First Ward resident
after flash flood this past summer. (Image: Star-Ledger.)

Correction: The presentation is in the Anne Louise Davis Room of the Plainfield Public Library, not City Hall Library as originally posted. -- Dan

Residents of Plainfield's First Ward in particular will be interested in the presentation on updating Plainfield's flood maps this evening at City Hall Library.

Representatives of Hatch Mott McDonald, the engineering consulting firm, will make a presentation on Plainfield's flood zones, to be folllowed by a period for public questions.

If and when Plainfield's flood maps are updated and a remediation plan put in place, residents subject to the flood insurance requirement will be eligible for rate reductions. Some may even be freed from the flood insurance requirement altogether.

Plainfield's current flood zone map shows a great deal of the First Ward as included, along with properties that are near the (now underground) Cedar Brook floodway.

The meeting gets under way at 7:00 PM tonight in the Anne Louise Davis Room of the Plainfield Public Library, Park Avenue at West 8th Street.

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