Dec 9, 2012. Haven’t the people of OG waited long enough? Blogfinger photo ©
In December, before Ralph delCampo, interim COO of the OGCMA, led an Ocean Grove/Neptune Township delegation to FEMA headquarters in Washington, he said that finally we will get a yes or no answer and thus could move ahead with the boardwalk restoration project, “one way or another.”
When he returned, he felt that the meeting with top FEMA officials had been successful in explaining the importance of our boardwalk as a public thoroughfare and in convincing them of the unique relationship between Neptune Township and the OGCMA in terms of doing what’s best for the public welfare.
Well today, we learn that Mr. delCampo did succeed in “winning the appeal” because FEMA announced that the OGCMA is “eligible for assistance” in funding the boardwalk project. This means that there will be no more talk about our boardwalk being ineligible due to a recreational designation.
However, it seems we now have a murky situation instead of a definitive answer. In order to find out if any Sandy “restore the shore” money will be earmarked for the Grove, the CMA will need to obtain “clarification” regarding what additional steps might stand in their way. So Mr. delCampo will not be getting the yes or no answer he sought.
Having gotten over a large hurdle, the CMA will probably be facing more bumps in the road. The CMA officials are pleased that they have “won” their second appeal, and they view it a positive ruling, but now they must reconsider their entire strategy, since FEMA sent that letter today without enclosing a check.
This new FEMA designation for our boardwalk will set a precedent which will be helpful in the future if there are more disasters, but, for the short term, it might cut off some alternative funding ideas that could be short-circuited now that FEMA is still in the game.
Meanwhile, the OGCMA will do everything in its power to fulfill the promise to get the Middle Beach Boardwalk done by summer.
As for the citizens of Ocean Grove, how about swamping the Governor, Rep Smith, our Senators and anyone else you can thing of with letters asking them to exploit this ruling and demand funding for OG. We’ve been treated unfairly for too long.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
ROD STEWART with CHER: “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”
NJ News Commons “Local Beat” (Montclair University School of Media and Communications) had this to say today: (They also included links to both our pieces on this subject in their “news round up.”)
“Blogfinger, the indie news site of Ocean Grove, claims it has the exclusive on a reversal by FEMA: After Ocean Grove’s application and first appeal to FEMA for disaster aid to rebuild the boardwalk failed, FEMA reversed the denial after a second appeal.
“This David and Goliath story has finally turned for the people of Ocean Grove who pleaded for fairness from the Feds and sets a precedent for the future,” writes Paul Goldfinger, editor and publisher of Blogfinger. “It speaks for the power of the people in our democracy to complain enough that a mountain can be moved. But, wait….where’s the money?”