Brick Township will join the Hazard Mitigation Elevation Industry in hosting educational seminars about hazard mitigation and structural elevation Saturday.
The seminars – which will be held Saturday morning and next Wednesday evening – are free to attend and no registration is required. They will be strictly educational in nature, organizers said, and there will be no sales materials or pitches as part of the program.
"We are working hard to provide residents impacted by Sandy with as much information as possible, such as the FEMA Information Fair," said Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis, in a statement. "These seminars are a continuation of our efforts. Seminars like this are invaluable because citizens need information to be able to make the decisions they are going to have to make."
According to the statement issued by the township, the Sandy disaster has resulted in hundreds of thousands of flood damaged buildings. Floodplain ordinances require that structures in a floodplain damaged over 50 percent be hazard mitigated in conjunction with their rehabilitation in order to reduce future damage from flooding.
Structural elevation is a recognized flood hazard mitigation method. Due to the lack of significant numbers of building elevations for flood hazard mitigation in New Jersey, compared to other states, there is a lack of knowledge among the public in how the process works, hence the value of such seminars.
"It is critical that property owners educate themselves about how the structural elevation process works and the equipment the industry professionals use in order to reduce the risk of hiring non-qualified contractors/individuals soliciting business in the area and to increase property owner confidence in this process," said Roderick Scott, an employee of Ducky Johnson House Movers and representative of the industry who will conduct the seminars.
The seminars will be held on Jan. 19 at 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at Drum Point Elementary School, 41 Drum Point Road and on Wednesday, January 23 at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Lake Riviera Middle School, 171 Beaverson Boulevard.
I plan to attend the seminar tomorrow to see what is happening. Air, Land & Sea Environmental Management Services, Inc. (732) 295-3900 is already working with contractors in Keansburg to manage any environmental permitting associated with rasing structures. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Sea level rise has gone up 2.25 inches since 1992. That may sound small, but it's really not. Looks like everone will be going up or we'll all get whacked by our insurance companies.
Jersey Strong
In the long run, I could imagine that lot's a real good hearted residents who live in Cherry Quay and Bayshore will be forced out because they will not be able to afford insurance. It should be made clear that the ONLY reason why we had such a catastrophe was because the barrier island was breached. It was breached because of rising sea level and the lack of a consistent policy in protecting dunes and the importance thereof. Let's pray that we don;t get a nasty Nor'easter any time soon.
http://pointpleasant.patch.com/articles/point-boro-fights-fema-flood-map
- that would only mean to BARROW MONEY from the Goverment..?? to only pay it back..! What doesn't anyone understand-? If your on a FIXed income - there is no way to pay back anything..?? Your better off NOW to walk away from your home.. file a chpt 13 and WALK... let the town go Bankrupt,, for loosing town residents. The the Town can file with the government to help restore it's losses = it's the only way to help the township it's self.. Lets face it,, over a 150 homes destroyed,, another 10,000 people confused caught in between,, What about those who live in the same developments as these damaged homes - who wants to live there - better yet - who wants to buy there ..? ,, As far as I can see it, any home in any development with in a 2 block radious of a FLOOD ZONE is goning to be valued at $100K or less,, if your owe more than that - you'll never be able to sell it,, Chances are, today- if your current tax rate is $6000.00 on your house - expect it to go up to $8,000.00 in a few months.. cant pay it ?? - OH - WELL -- see ya at - Sherriff- property TAX sale ( plenty of Lakewood investors will be there buying up in bulk) - either way - your going to either forclose or file bankruptcey...
so here's a good one, you had a home worth $300,000.00 [in a V or A zone]according to Brick over inflated TAX values. now you've just had flood damage "caused by water/rain/wind-super storm" not a hurricane..[what ever]- follow this... You've had 2 cars lost $25K, your home torn appart and hopefully repaired correctly at a cost of $100,000.00 in dammages,,, total out of pocet SANDY expense - $125,000.00 [ if, you had an umbrella policy ?] well, your not 50%,, OOPPS - sorry - you do not quallify.! HOWEVER - by FEMA code - if you try to sell your home - OOOPPSIE - you can't get a CO to sell - you MUST raise your home another 13 feet.. at a cost of $50,000 - 75,000.00 well - math is math - a duck is a duck; this means - this will cost me - between $175,000 - $200,000.00- what happend to the 50% ?? when it's all said and done- it will cost me a lot more than what the home is worth,,.? If I can sell it,, then I'll rent it "quietly".. - it's sad,but it's only a matter of time before people are pushed, to the point of no return, once a person feels that he or she has lost everything - they just give up hope, and give up. Once people start falling behind on their taxes and threatened with a TAX sale,vacate - watch public react, if someone commits suicide because of this. Watch the media pressure then. people need real help-people are trapped.
I'm a Snow Bird,This is an election year, if you decide to run,, I wish you the best - Sincerely - I'm being honest - all political nonsense a side- "plenty of time for that later." You will have one hell of a job in the years to come. I hope that you find qualified people to work with you on this - people who are loyal, follow orders, directions and focused. What I mean by Qualified - I'm not talking about the persons income, success stories or education level - I don't care if he-she has been bankrupt in the past - due to underemployment [as long he or she's always been gainfully employed] -working class. What I care about is, that you have people who can relate to others, have the Compassion, the Integrity, Intelligence, individuals that during this storm; you saw everyday - no matter the part they played in - volunteers or paid professionals - they were there. That to me- shows Dedication and Integrity for the job given. With that, you might have a fighting chance and win this election. Real people know how to survive, People with money- degrees- can always make excuses - reasons- then give up and walk away. Brick needs to know how to survive, we are going to need someone who can lead and develop that. We are still at the begiing stages people. Think long term. and whats best for everyone. Have Town votes every so often to make those choices - give those who live here and staying here a chance to make a choice.
The new models should take this into consideration also, however elevations are going to be harder to disagree with since it involves not only storm data from NJ but data for the entire east coast and the statistical probablilty that those storms would impact the Jersey coast.
I think the first real change was when James Lee Witt was put in charge of FEMA during the Clinton administration, and for the first time it wasn't a Washington Bureaucrat or a former military person. For the first time, it was someone who came from the states and spent most of their career in the states. And so he brought a very state-centric position. And it was also the first time a former politician was put in charge of FEMA. He ran for office seven times in Arkansas, and he brought a very political mindset to FEMA. One of his famous quotes was: "Disasters are inherently political events." And I think that created the opportunity to start using FEMA as an entity that could get involved in things in a way that would have political outcomes. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/how-a-smart-conservative-would-reform-fema/264367/
I just read about the elevation seminar today - you may want to think about who is conducting it according to the Mayor Brick is appealing the new FEMA flood maps - and he also advised that people do not rush and make rash decisions about elevation, etc.
PS: it's not just non-primary residences, but properties that have had repetitive damage, that will have to be mitigated.
Maureen