Vineland resident asks city to intervene in persistent water intrusion linked to neighbor easement

Jeffrey Maddalina told the council he is experiencing ongoing water intrusion on his property at 2495 Cavallo Drive and asked the city to help resolve what he said appears to be runoff or drainage coming from a neighboring property.

Maddalina said the subdivision includes a 20-foot easement between his property and the adjacent lot (10 feet on each side). He said he replaced a fence in 2023 and discovered water pooling under the fence and saturated fence posts; a fence contractor removed posts because there was standing water in the post holes. "I'm being asked to do most of the work and jump through a lot of hoops," he said, asking the council and city solicitor to cooperate with the city engineer and the health department, who he said are already involved.

Maddalina asked the council to apply property-maintenance codes uniformly. He noted the presence of sheds and irrigation equipment in the easement on the neighboring lot and said those structures may be contributing to the problem. He also expressed concern about the cost and disruption if properties on his street are required to connect to city sewer later; he said many homes have older septic systems.

Council response and next steps: President Spinelli asked staff to follow up and directed council members to coordinate with the resident and the engineering and code-enforcement staff. Maddalina said he had asked Code Enforcement to forward email correspondence to council members; the meeting record shows staff were already engaged.

Ending: The council asked staff to report back to Maddalina on progress; no formal action or vote was recorded beyond the directive to follow up.