In Sandy’s aftermath, the battle of the beaches is coming to a head: Mulshine

On a recent weekend I drove to a spot along the beach in Brick Township to see how my tax dollars were doing. About 40 million of them are going to build a steel wall that will protect a four-mile stretch of beach running from Mantoloking southward. Once I parked, I realized there was no way… Read the rest of this entry »

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Smith Visits Monmouth On Sandy Anniversary

Congressman Chris Smith, center, meet with Middletown Administrator Anthony Mercantante, Public Works Director Ted Maloney, Mayor Stephanie Murray and Committeeman Tony Fiore (right) in the Township’s new Emergency Command Center on the 2nd Anniversary of Superstorm Sandy.

Congressman Chris Smith visited Howell and Middletown Townships on the second anniversary of Superstorm Sandy to assess the progress of recovery and determine remaining needs to be fought for in Washington.

Smith joined Mayor Bill Gato and Deputy Mayor Rob Nicastro at the Mariners Cover community along the Manasasquan River to the the sites of four demolished homes that had been damaged by Sandy and Hurricane Irene in 2011, and one remaining home that is slated for demolition. The homes were purchased by the township with state and federal funding.Disney Princess Chambre de rebond

In Middletown, Smith joined Mayor Stephanie Murray, Committeeman Tony Fiore, Administrator Anthony Mercantante and Public Works Director Ted Maloney in the Township’s Emergency Command Center from where Fiore directed the rescue and recovery efforts two years earlier in the aftermath of the storm, before touring three sites in the Township still in need of federal support.  While in the command center Smith recalled that NBC’s Andrea Mitchell showed up and asked to interview him. “I told her to interview Fiore because he was the one doing the work. She refused, so I spent the interview talking about him and the amazing work he was doing protecting the lives and property of his community.”  Fiore was Mayor during the recoveries of Hurricanes Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012.

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Beach Replenishment Project Completed In Belmar

Resident Engineer Paul Jalowski with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, discusses how the elevation of a wide beach berm reduces coastal risks to communities behind them at the site of the Belmar to Manasquan beach renourishment project with U.S. Representative Chris Smith and local officials in Manasquan, N.J. Nov 7, 2013

Congressman Chris Smith announced this afternoon that the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has completed a $25 million Southern Monmouth County beach replenishment project in Belmar.  The five mile stretch of beach including Manasquan, Spring Lake, Sea Girt and Belmar was severely eroded by Superstorm Sandy.  The project, which started in November 7, 2013 nourished the beaches to better conditions than existed pre-Sandy.

“I stood on what was left of the beaches in the days after Superstorm Sandy and the immense scope of the damage was a hard to take in,” said Smith, who worked to obtain Sandy recovery funding and hosted a groundbreaking in Manasquan Nov. 7. “The beaches and dunes which offered protection to the shore communities were washed away—leaving the towns vulnerable to future storms. Thankfully, the Army Corps of Engineers has now rebuilt the beaches in Belmar, Sea Girt, Spring Lake and Manasquan to continue the protections they provide for homes and lives.”

The project is funded 100 percent by the federal government through the Army Corps’ Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies (FCCE) account. The project pumped an estimated 1.3 million cubic yards of sand onto the shoreline.

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Flooding in Highlands

Flooding is a serious problem in Highlands.

Highlands resident Derek Gordon street kayaking after this afternoon's storm. Photo credit: Brian Cobb

The center of town, which is both residential and business, is at a lower elevation than the shore line. During a storm, water comes from the Sandy Hook Bay/Shrewsbury River and storm water comes rushing down to the below sea level downtown from “the hill,” the highest elevation on the east coast of the United States which includes parts of Highlands and the Monmouth Hills section of Middletown. During a big storm at high tide and a full moon, downtown Highlands looks like Venice without the charm and romance.

Councilman Chris Francy convinced the rest of the governing body to have T&M Associates, the borough’s engineers, design a flood mitigation system that includes new pumps and pipes to get the water out of town and back into the bay/river.   The project is said to be “shovel ready” and will cost roughly $4 million dollars.  The governing body is applying to FEMA to cover $2.2 million of the cost.  Congressman Frank Pallone is on board to advocate for the project with FEMA.  At a town hall meeting on Monday night, Francy, Pallone and Mayor Frank Nolan said that Highlands is currently number three on FEMA’s list of such projects in New Jersey but that only two will be approved.  Pallone is working to get Highlands bumped up on the list and secure the funding.  That might be good for Highlands and bad for a community along the Passaic River.

The governing body is set to vote on a resolution tonight that will put the project on the ballot in November as a non-binding referendum.  The referendum would ask the voters consent to fund the entire project without FEMA money.

There’s two problems with this scenario.

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