Brick Awards $8M Sandy Demolition Contract; 500 Houses May Need to Come Down

The Brick Township council this week awarded four contracts worth $8.2 million as part of its participation in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Private Property Debris Removal program.

The PPDR program is available to communities following disasters so large areas of destroyed properties can be cleaned up all at once. Under the program, the township bids out debris removal contracts, and property owners apply to the township and FEMA to have their homes demolished or debris from their destroyed homes cleaned up. The program is only available to properties where a destroyed home or debris pose a safety risk, according to federal regulations.

FEMA will reimburse the township 75 percent of the cleanup costs, and the remaining 25 percent will come from homeowners' insurance policies and other FEMA funds to which the homeowner may be entitled. If a homeowner did not have insurance and does not qualify for additional FEMA dollars, the township will be obligated to pay for the remaining 25 percent. The township's ultimate bill for the cleanup will come from its $15 million Sandy cleanup appropriation the council approved in February.

According to Business Administrator Scott Pezarras, as many as 500 homes may need to be torn down township-wide.

Liens Debated

The PPDR program comes with few alternative funding mechanisms. Township officials said they would have favored a plan where the 25 percent of demolition costs not covered by FEMA would have been recovered through a lien on a property if the homeowner did not have insurance. FEMA regulations, however, prevent this from taking place, according to Jean Cipriani, township attorney.

FEMA regulations call for either no lien to be placed on a property, or a 100 percent lien where the township would not qualify for any reimbursement. Township council members debated the issue at a council meeting in February before ultimately deciding against placing 100 percent liens on properties.

Officials considered a number of consequences – from families being unable to rebuild their homes, to debris remaining on lots for years, to the township having to place its own liens on properties whose owners refused or could not afford to clean up debris – when the decision to participate in PPDR was ultimately made.

Councilman John Ducey said one of his chief concerns is that homeowners who take part in the demolition service could potentially turn around and sell their property to the highest bidder shortly after debris removal. He said he favored placing liens on properties for a term of a certain number of years after the demolition was complete.

"That ensures that people actually stay here in Brick, instead of having us clean property, clear property, then no reimbursement to the town," said Ducey.

Such a limited lien would "make a ton of sense," said Cipriani, but FEMA has no interest in allowing such a scenario.

Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis had maintained an opposition to liens being placed on properties since the beginning of the debate.

"If you don't make it easy for people to either demo their houses, get grant money or help them rebuild, you are putting an unneeded burden on not only the person whose house you're dealing with, but all of the taxpayers," he said. "The faster we get those houses back on the tax rolls, the more it helps all of Brick Township."

Bids Awarded

The township broke out the bids into specific services and awarded contracts to four firms to cover about 20 categories of debris removal, from the demolition of destroyed homes, to the removal of destroyed vegetation to the cleanup of sand and loose debris. There were also categories which covered the removal of hazardous material and the screening of sand.

The largest portion of the contract – $4.2 million for the demolition and removal of homes – was awarded to T. Fiore Demolition of Newark. Smaller portions of the contract were awarded to National Waste & Recycling Services, of Hamilton Township; Richard E. Pierson Construction, of Pilesgrove Township; and AshBritt Inc., of Florida.