By Charles Layton
At it’s meeting on Monday, the Neptune Township committee plans to authorize $5.1 million in bonds to pay for hurricane expenses.
Mayor Randy Bishop said in an interview that he thinks this amount will cover most of the Township’s costs incurred during the storm and for the cleanup afterward. He said he expects most of that money to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and by insurance. “I believe that we will get a significant amount back,” he said.
But because the Township wants to proceed with cleanup and repairs now, it is willing to borrow the money in the short term.
The bonds to be issued include $1 million for the heavily-damaged marina at Shark River Hills, $500,000 for the Township’s Sewer Authority and $3.6 million for other emergency expenses. One of the biggest expenses is the clearing of massive amounts of debris — discarded household items, downed trees and other refuse. “We have, as of today, picked up as much debris from this storm as we do in one year’s time,” Bishop said.
He said FEMA normally pays 75 percent of damages incurred by a municipality, but in the case of Hurricane Sandy negotiations are underway at the state and federal level to increase that percentage, perhaps as high as 90 percent. And because Neptune has acted more quickly than many other towns, Bishop said, it has gotten better funding matches. “A portion of early funding is [reimbursed] 100 percent.”
The mayor also said FEMA may continue to help the Township long after its immediate needs have been met. It is possible that FEMA will help fund projects designed to make the Township less vulnerable to flooding in the future. “So you’ll see things that FEMA will be with us on for a number of years,” he said.
I was at the beach today. I’d say OG lost 30 to 40% of its depth. Yes, I mean that over 1/3 of our beach is gone. This is not a debatable point. At high tide, there is a huge amount less beach. It’s a bit deceptive becasue the dunes are gone, but if you look relative to the pier you can see how much beachis gone. We need to get this replenished or it will get amazingly crowded out there next summer!
Wondering… I think the reports I saw said 20 – 30 “feet” were lost, not percent. If your report is correct that would result in a lot less beach remaining. Let’s collectively hope that its feet.
A few days ago, on another Blogfinger story, I asked how much the beach was erroded in OG. I cannot come down to see for myself but own a house on Abbott. I was very concerned by a report on the news that said 20-30% of the sand on NJ beaches was carried away. I know our dunes were destroyed, but how much shorter in depth, from the boardwalk to the water, is our beach? Is there an official estimate? Does anyone have a subjective estimate?
Thank you.
Funds are distributed based on damages incurred—not based on how much property tax you pay. Ocean Grove isn’t getting as much money because it doesn’t have the same type of damage.
The Marina is owned by the Township.
The Boardwalk is owned by the CMA. The Township has no responsibility to fix it. Unlike in our adjacent towns where the boardwalk is either an actual street or owned by the township, this is the downside of everything in OG being owned by a private organization.
The best managed list of volunteer activities I’ve seen is being managed by Jersey Cares:
http://www.jerseycares.org/HOC__Affiliate_Home_Page
Go to: http://fortheshore.org/
Clean Ocean Action is sponsoring a ‘Wave of Action Day” on December 8, 2012 as part of on-going hurricane clean-up efforts. Go to the website and follow the links to register a project or to volunteer for a project. For those looking to help in our own backyard, 30 volunteers are needed to help clean up the Shark River Hills Marina.
Happy Thanksgiving.
I thinks it’s high time that us people in Ocean Grove admit that we are part of Neptune Township. Randy Bishop is the Mayor of Neptune, not Shark River Hills, not the Gables, not Seaview Island or West Neptune. Like with Ocean Grove, these are just neighborhood names but part of the larger entity. I’m sick of my neighbors acting as though Ocean Grove is somehow better than the rest of Neptune that lies west of Rt 71. If we cannot grow as a community after Sandy then I fear we have no chance at all.
Wesley Lake is almost drained. I am seeing Victorian Bones, muck, poop, cinder blocks, bicycle tires and a joke somewhere in there. Wesley Lake Commission emergency session — Helllloooooo!
The Wesley Lake wall belongs to Neptune.
What about the Wesley Lake wall? Is that Neptune or the CMA?
Gosh: Ocean Grove and Shark River Hills are both part of Neptune Township.
Anonymous: The OG beachfront, boardwalk and pier belong to the Camp Meeting. Any FEMA funds for those properties would need to be applied for by the Camp Meeting, not by the Township.
Bishop says 5.1 million is the costs for damages, for Shark River and Neptune, and nothing for O.G. Please explain.
I am wondering why the Shark River Hills marina repairs are being funded by the Township and there is no mention of funding for the OG beachfront. Is this because the land in OG is owned by the CMA? We all pay taxes to Neptune so I feel the funds should be equally disbursed. Does anyone know how this works?