Attn Gov. Christie: What’s wrong with this picture taken recently in the historic town of Ocean Grove? Paul Goldfinger photo looking south.©
At today’s Candidates Day in Ocean Grove, there was some talk about the Boardwalk situation. One candidate for State Senate, Michael Brantley, and one candidate for State Assembly, Kevin McMillan are Committeemen in Neptune Township, and both promised that Neptune would do everything possible to obtain funding for the Grove.
Senator Jennifer Beck told the audience at the event that both Governor Christie and Congressman Smith are working behind the scenes to get financing for us. She promised that our representatives in Trenton (Beck, Casagrande and Angelini) are keeping up the pressure.
But the most interesting conversation I had on this subject was outside, after the meeting, with Senator Beck. I asked her how come our private owners (the CMA) are denied funds, while the private businessmen of Seaside Park are quickly getting rebuilt. “It doesn’t seem fair,” whined I.
Senator Beck responded by saying, “You never call me. You should call.” (It’s my mother all over again) She then set me straight on this question–the one that I have been torturing all of you with on Blogfinger.
She explained, “There are two piles of Federal money: FEMA and HUD. HUD turned over a large sum to the state, but, so far, the state has not tried to access those grants for the Grove. They have continued to pursue the FEMA approach which has its own rules—rules that we are quite familiar with in the Grove. But HUD has different criteria for grants, and it is those rules that apply in Seaside Park.”
So, charges of double standards have, for the time being, been squashed on Blogfinger. Sen Beck reassured me that everybody involved in our situation—local, state, CMA, and federal—are convinced that Ocean Grove will get funded, “one way or another” and that “we will have a boardwalk for next summer;” especially since the recovery funds are for Sandy damage, unlike the Seaside grants. Both piles of money were supposed to be for Sandy damage, but the fire destruction was somehow defined in a way to qualify for Sandy money.
Sen. Beck said that” the Governor will NOT let us be one of only two towns to be denied. He is fully engaged in this conversation.”
She then had to leave saying that she has to work on the budget. She and her personal assistant strolled away, I think to find some decent coffee.
Anyhow, maybe, for awhile, we shouldn’t yell at the Gov. for not walking on our grassy/sandy strip.
—Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
What about Wesley Lake and the North End watershed drainage area? The lake and its drainage should have received Federal funding as a storm mitigation project. Why this important area of the grove gets no attention and funding for drainage, dredging and repair eludes me.
That’s all well and good, but why can we not just get the HUD money? Is it not a double standard if we are left pursuing the repeatedly denied FEMA money, with zero chance of ever getting any, while Seaside goes straight to the top of the line for HUD money? What if, after all this delay, there is no HUD money left because its exhausted or government shut down or whatever? We are still being screwed around with, I think.
On another point, will the CMA get reimbursed for all of the money it has spent to date — which is well over $1.3 Million? I believe FEMA pays 90% of total costs. And some of our repairs were done”quick and dirty” to reduce cost (e.g., the garage door on the storage garage next to the beach ticket office — that door was unbent but still looks bad). Will those “quick and dirty” repairs be redone?