Sunday, May 19, 2013
PBS show about renovating and elevating Sandy-flooded homes
- PATCH'S HOUSE & HOME
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Sunday, May 19
An eight-episode series of 'This Old House' focuses on several local homes rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy. The PBS' show will first air in October. PBS announced the show worked on an 1880s cottage in Bay Head, a 1950s Colonial in Point Pleasant, and a prefabricated new house in Manasquan. Side stories will also feature restoration projects in Mantoloking, Long Beach Island, and Ocean Grove and other local projects along the beach and the bay. Here is the complete announcement from the show producers: Months after Superstorm Sandy devastated shorelines on the East Coast, affected homeowners are still determining how to rebuild in a landscape of provisional FEMA regulations, delayed building permits and continued weather risks. During …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Island Beach will not be included in Army Corps of Engineers' dune and beach replenishment program
South Seaside Park resident Donald Whiteman's family has lived on the barrier island section of Berkeley Township for seven decades. And they know a washout from a storm when they see one, going all the way back to the Hurricane of 1938, he has said at more than one Berkeley Township Council meeting. Whiteman again urged township officials at the May 5 meeting to pressure the state Department of Environmental Protection to include Island Beach in the Army Corps of Engineers dune and beach replenishment program. "Residents in South Seaside Park who stayed during the storm recognized there was more than one breach," he said. "Island Beach had about five washouts." Whiteman was one of those who rode out the storm. He noticed problems at the …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Boardwalk to be done by Memorial Day weekend
Shortly after Point Beach announced it had not received a dime of FEMA money, FEMA announced it's sending the oceanfront town $2.1 million to help pay for the rebuilding of its Sandy-ravaged boardwalk. Eight days after Point Beach officials at a council meeting bemoaned the lack of cash flowing from FEMA, FEMA made its announcement. On Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez (both D-NJ) today announced that Point Pleasant Beach will receive more than $2.1 million to reimburse the town for the cost of repairing and rebuilding the boardwalk. The allocation reimburses the town for 75 percent of its written request to FEMA for the cost of the boardwalk repairs and rebuilding, said Point Beach Business …
Park now opened from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Island Beach State Park has returned to pre-Superstorm Sandy hours and more of the park has been opened to visitors, state Department of Environmental Protection Commission Bob Martin said. “We are keeping pace with the Christie Administration’s goal of having all of our state parks, including Island Beach State Park, fully operational for the peak summer season,” Martin said. “Having this popular destination getting closer to normal operations is emblematic of the state’s drive to have the Shore open for business this summer.’’ The park is now open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for all guests. Fishing access has also been extended to 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The DEP recently awarded a $268,000 contract to a New Brunswick-based Tekton Development Corp…
Monday, April 29, 2013
Many storm victims have become Sandy zombies
They are easy to spot. They don't smile much. They look tired. They are tired. They are numb. They are the Sandy zombies. They are fried emotionally and physically from half a year of battling to go home, if they still have a home to go to. I am a Sandy zombie. Is it possible it's been half a year since that horrific day and night when Superstorm Sandy blasted the Jersey Shore and changed some lives forever? Six months since we left our Bayville home with three terrified cats and made our way to family in Toms River? Six months since we've been living in a basement? We knew Sandy was going to be bad, even when we evacuated at noon on Oct. 29. Trees were already toppling in Pine Beach, taking down power lines. But we didn't know then we …
Friday, April 26, 2013
Representatives from state and federal agencies will be on hand to answer storm-related questions
Berkeley and Lacey residents who need help dealing with Superstorm Sandy can get some answers today, when the state sets up a "mobile cabinet' at the Berkeley Township Recreation Center. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the center at 630 Route 9 South in Bayville, said Sean Conner, a spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie's office. Representatives from state and federal agencies will be on hand,including the Governor’s Office of Constituent Relations, the Department of Banking and Insurance, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Community Affairs, the Business Action Center, FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP.) They will assist residents and discuss ongoing recovery and rebuilding efforts. Residents …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Board of Freeholders unanimously introduce 2013 budget; public hearing on May 1
Ocean County's equalized tax base dropped $10 billion after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Jersey Shore last Oct. 29. The county's tax base fell from $100.2 billion in 2012 to $90.2 billion in 2013, largely as a result of the massive storm that devastated the barrier island and some mainland sections, Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. said. The county tax rate will jump 3.7 cents for each $100 of equalized valuation. But using some of the 2013 county open space tax funds will pare the increase to 3.2 cents, he said. "The tax rate and base work hand in hand," Bartlett said. "We are not going to raise any more in overall tax." Bartlett made the remarks before the freeholders unanimously approved the introduction of the $386,188,713 budget, …
'Miracle of Route 35' video released by engineering firm that oversaw the closing of the Mantoloking breach
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Daniel Nee
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Thursday, April 4
Arora and Associates, a Lawrenceville-based consulting civil and structural engineering firm, released a video Wednesday that contains stunning footage of the Mantoloking breach created by Superstorm Sandy. The video chronicles the efforts of the company's employees to engineer a solution to closing the breach, shoring up the island and rebuilding Route 35 and the base of the Mantoloking Bridge intersection.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Alex's Inlet Bait and Tackle counting on fundraiser to stay open
For Marc Palazzolo, owner of Alex's Inlet Bait and Tackle in Point Pleasant Beach, the government's promise to help Sandy-ravaged businesses is just a fish tale. So he's relying on his friends and customers to help him keep his bait and tackle shop afloat on Inlet Drive, where Sandy sent the ocean barrelling into homes and businesses, leaving a soggy heap of debris and financial ruin in its wake. Five months later, Palazzolo, like so many other business owners at the Jersey Shore, is still struggling to open for good. Last week, he was finally operating on a limited basis, but the "open" sign on the door threatens to drop off the nail, like a fish wriggling off a hook. "I thought we would need $15,000 to $20,000 to clean out and re-open…
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The long slog to recovery is taking a toll
Show me the way to go home. Five months? Has it really been five months since the monster Superstorm Sandy roared into Ocean County and changed the landscape for all time? Has it really been five months since we fled our Bayville home and moved into my son and daughter-in-law's basement? I remember hoping in those first dark weeks that we might be back in time for Christmas. We are still out. It took awhile for reality to sink in. It took some time to realize that recovery, for many, won't happen quickly. And for some, it won't happen at all. I met a woman who lives on Cove Road West in Bayville at the township's informational session on home elevation recently. She moved into her house about 15 years ago and happily began making it a home…
Kevin
7:26 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
Where are these houses I would love to drive by them more ›