Controversy over Location of Fort Nassau is Stopping Brooklawn from Making Improvements

By Sara Martino

News Correspondent

Brooklawn officials have been trying for years to receive permission and funding from the state to start stream bank improvements along the waterfront.

Borough Engineer Chuck Reibel told Borough Council last week that while attending a NJ Department of Environmental (DEP) meeting, he was told that the area in need of the stream bank improvements was the site of Fort Nassau.

\”The State Historical Society was notified by the DEP concerning Brooklawn\’s request for improvements and their opinion was that Brooklawn is the location of Fort Nassau and the area possibly could not be disturbed,\” he said.

Fort Nassau was a Dutch settlement built in 1623 on the eastern bank of the Delaware River. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, the fort was located near Gloucester City in 1626 and was used for the trading with the Lenni Lenape Indians.

In another historical account, the site had been a subject of much controversy and is recorded as being at the mouth of Big Timber Creek in Brooklawn, just west of where Big Timber Creek, Little Timber Creek and the Delaware join.see history of Fort Nassau

During the early 1600s, the Delaware was known as the Nassau River.

There was also another location for Fort Nassau that was built in 1614 on the Hudson River in New York. It was destroyed by floods and was a long distance away from Brooklawn. Soubasis asked council members to contact the Gloucester City Historical Society for their knowledge of the fort location.

Riebel also said the NJ Wetlands Department has found a rare aquatic plant on the edge of the bank slopes. Councilman Gerald Granstrom said he has seen more than plants along the waterfront.

\”There is a lot of trash including syringes, hospital waste and other unsanitary items that wash up on the bank,\” he said.

A study costing up to $20,000 may have to be conducted in the stream bank area to determine if the location is truly the site of Fort Nassau, and if the aquatic plant would be considered endangered.

Upon completion, permission may be given to start the improvements that would stop erosion along the shoreline.

\”The Borough could be liable for some of the costs,\” Riebel said.

Granstrom also said he observed some activity in the closed Amoco gas station on Route 130.

Mayor Soubasis said the owner is trying to sell the property because he cannot get out of his lease and is selling small items in the store on the property.

In other business, the governing body approved four resolutions; the refund of overpayment of taxes, setting employee salaries for 2007, liquor license renewals and support of \”Click of Ticket\” mobilization.

Councilwoman Theresa Branella inquired about the number also reminded everyone about the \”Town Wide\” yard sale Saturday, June 2 at the cost of $5 for participation. Make checks payable to Theresa Branella. For information, call 456-0750 extension 162.

An ordinance was approved on first reading that would raise the registration fee to $200 per year for rental properties. The present cost is $100.

Once the ordinance is enacted, landlords will have to provide floor plans of the properties at registration.