New Milford to Receive $1.2 Million from FEMA for Voluntary Home Buyouts, Police Promotions

Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez announced Tuesday that FEMA has earmarked more than $21 million in grant money for flood mitigation projects in New Jersey. 

FEMA will provide $1.2 million for voluntary home buyouts in New Milford and $1.5 million in Westwood. 

Lautenberg, Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which funds this FEMA grant program said in a statement, “As we work on long-term flood solutions, these federal funds will prevent damage to the most flood-prone residents and create needed open space. We will continue to fight for federal funds for disaster relief programs to help protect New Jerseyans from future floods.”

Menendez added, "I’ll continue to work to secure funding to protect New Jersey’s flood-prone homes.”

****

At Monday's meeting, the Mayor and Council recognized the Jr. Knights football team and their coaches for their undefeated Super Bowl championship season.  

In front of a standing room only crowd that overflowed into the corridor, Mayor Ann Subrizi administered the oath of office to six seargents who were promoted to the rank of lieutenant after which Chief Frank Papapietro handed each man his new gold shield.  

During the ceremony, Papapietro also recognized Ret. Lieutenant Bruce Raffo for 30 years of service to the town.

During the same meeting, the council voted 4-2 to deny the appointment of Mark Hettinger, Jr. from seasonal to full-time employee status with the Department of Public Works. 

In a surprise turn of events, Council President Howard Berner sided with Duffie, Grant and Ashley and voted "no" to the appointment.

****

New Milford's Tax Assessor, Maureen Kaman, sat down with Patch to talk about the since April 1st is the deadline to file a tax appeal with the County Tax Board. 

During a , Kaman told the mayor and council that since the 2004 revaluation the housing market has sharply declined, taking property values with it. She explained that based on recent sales, the decline in the housing market has caused a sizeable disparity between the assessed value of property and the true market value and recommended that the borough perform a hybrid reassessment as a means to create stability and reduce the number of appeals. (Kaman said there were 123 appeals last year.) 

****

Under the direction of Walt Pevny, New Milford High School's Digital Photography class collaborated with the Advanced Desktop Publishing students to publish some of their original work in this issue of "From Our Perspective: Digital Selections from the Students of New Milford High School."  

****

. New Milford resident and Patch blogger, Jeffrey DelVecchio, received final notice to remove his chickens from their backyard coop. Those of you who have been following the plight of the chickens know that DelVecchio has started a petition to change the ordinance that prohibits the keeping of chickens. Stay tuned.

****

The results of Patch’s inaugural Readers’ Choice poll are in, and the winner of “favorite Italian restaurant in New Milford” is Roman Pizza & Restaurant, which garnered 51 percent of the vote. Coming in second at 20 percent was Lieto Italia Restaurant.