Congressman Chris Smith and Monmouth County Shaun Golden prepared to survey Hurricane Sandy damage. file photo
Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ4) announced that FEMA will be reimbursing the Borough of Belmar and the South Monmouth Regional Sewerage Authority (SMRSA) 90%, instead of the standard 75%, of the cost of repairs to infrastructure damaged by Superstorm Sandy. Belmar is slated to receive $1.74 million for repairs to marina buildings, bridges, docks and other facilities, in addition to the $9 million already granted for their boardwalk replacement. SMRSA will receive $2.083 million to relocate and replace a pump station.
“As someone who has been going to Belmar since I was a young boy, I can easily envision how these improvements will change the Belmar waterfront which was nearly unrecognizable to me when I first saw it days after Superstorm Sandy hit,” said Smith. “Boardwalks and marina facilities are the critical for many Jersey Shore towns and rebuilding them and restoring them is essential to recovery.”
The Belmar grant will help fund nine construction sites, four of which are completed and the others underway.
When Sandy made landfall last October, displacing 120,000 from their homes, NJ Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable said his department took immediate action to provide shelters and assist towns with their budgetary problems…
Yesterday Senator Rand Paul attacked NJ Governor Christie suggesting that the Governor’s landslide victory last week was the result of the federal aid package sent to NJ following superstorm Sandy.
I occupy the unique combination of positions of Republican Assembly Budget Officer, long term fiscal conservative who has warned of New Jersey’s irresponsible spending polices for years, long-term advocate for reforms like pension benefit and collective bargaining reforms – and my District (13) covers the area of the bayshore hardest hit by the storm.
Unlike Senator Paul, I can state unequivocally – and based on first hand experience – that Governor Christie’s popularity wasn’t purchased with federal aid. It was earned by tireless, extraordinary leadership on multiple crisis fronts from the moment Christie won election in 2009. He inherited a state on the verge of insolvency, requiring reform solutions – pension and benefit, arbitration, property tax, budgetary – that no governor in the history of the state ever dreamed of tackling.
Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan, Jets owner Woody Johnson, and Douglas Eagles, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County.
The NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced yesterday that they are awarding $1.5 million to New Jersey youth serving agencies for repairs to recreational facilities and equipment that were damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
The announcement took place at the headquarters of the Puerto Rican Association for Human Development in Perth Amboy, in a play room that has recently been renovated with the first $100 thousand distributed of the $1.5 million dollar grant.
The funds are being distributed through the NY/NJ Snowflake Youth Foundation, the newly formed non-profit arm of the Super Bowl Host Committee. The mission of the NY/NJ Snowflake Youth Foundation is to transform after-school facilities for youth in New Jersey and the New York metro area. They are focused on assisting these locations that provide school-age boys and girls with safe and supervised recreational, educational, and character-building activities.
Jets owner Woody Johnson, Co-Chair of the Super Bowl Host Committee and great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson, was on hand for the announcement, as were Al Kelly, President and CEO of the Host Committee, John Lumpkin, MD, Directo r of the Health Care Group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, State Senator Joseph Vitale, Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz and Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan
The Monmouth County communities of Belmar, Highlands and Manasquan will be beneficiaries of the grant. In Belmar and Masasquan, outdoor recreational facilities of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County will be refurbished. In Highlands, the indoor building and the playground of the Robert D. Wilson Memorial Community Center will be renovated.
Elsewhere in New Jersey, youth recreational facilities in Seaside Heights, Moonachie, Rahway, Toms River and Hackensack are slated to receive financial support.
Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger By Erin O’Neill and MaryAnn Spoto In churches and firehouses, at a school and a community center, in a rebuilt restaurant and a private home still in need of work, Gov. Chris Christie commemorated the anniversary…
House passed bipartisan bill 354-72 eight months ago
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the eve of the first anniversary of the most powerful natural disaster to hit the Northeast, U.S. Cong. Chris Smith told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell the time has come for the U.S. Senate to act on a bipartisan bill passed by the House in February to help put houses of worship—many of which were severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy and yet continued to serve ravaged coastal communities—on the same playing field with other non-profit organizations seeking disaster assistance.
Governor Chris Christie will spend tomorrow, the one year anniversary date of Superstorm Sandy destroying much of New Jersey’s coastal and inland waterway communities, traveling the state to honor residents, first responders and volunteers for their strength and resiliency over the past year, as well as to highlight the significant strides New Jersesyans have made in recovering from the historic storm.
In Monmouth County, Christie will make stops in Union Beach, Belmar and Sea Bright.
During his first Monmouth County visit at 2:30 PM, Christie will be accompanied by First Lady Mary Pat Christie to visit the Ciangiotta residence at 46 Scholer Dr., one of over 100 homes that have been or are being rebuilt by volunteers from Gateway Church of Christ, with funding from the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund that Mrs. Christie leads and other charities. Pastor Carl Williamson declined to say what is on the agenda for the Union Beach visit other than greeting residents and volunteers. Mayor Paul Smith said that Mrs. Christie’s charity has already contributed $1.5 million to recovering Union Beach residents and that more contributions are expected.
At 4PM, Christie is scheduled to meet and greet students and community members at St. Rose High School in Belmar. The school was “hammered” by Sandy, according to Mayor Matt Doherty who said the school was filled with fish and turtles after the storm. “The Governor’s visit to Belmar is an indication of his commitment to the Jersey Shore’s recovery,” Doherty said.
At 7:30PM, the Governor will attend a potluck dinner and bonfire at the Sea Bright Fire House, followed by a meet and greet with patrons of Angelica’s Restaurant, which is opposite the firehouse on Ocean Ave, at 8:30.
Christie will also be making stops in Bergen, Essex, Middlesex and Ocean Counties throughout the day.
