BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer
About $2 million to $3 million in federal funds could be coming to Monmouth County from Washington, D.C., to help restore sand to storm-ravaged beachfronts, including possibly those in Monmouth Beach and Long Branch, according to one area legislator.
In the company of officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6), announced the coming infusion of cash intended to replenish beaches in both municipalities as well as others in the county that sustained significant erosion during the Oct. 25 nor’easter.
Should Congress vote to provide the funding, the Army Corps will choose which county beaches are most in need of sand replenishment, according to Pallone, who also toured damaged beaches and waterways in Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach and Spring Lake on Nov. 1, exactly one week after the nor’easter.
“Congress is expected in the next two weeks to approve funding of $2 million to $3 million for replenishment of beaches in Monmouth County, but the Corps will ultimately decide which are the most critical areas to place the sand,” Pallone said after concluding his tour.
“Approximately 20 to 30 feet” of beachfront was drained by the storm from Long Branch’s shoreline, according to a release issued by Pallone’s office.
The Army Corps, represented during the beachfront tour by Anthony Ciorra of the New York district office, has stated that beaches in Long Branch, along with those in Monmouth Beach and Spring Lake, will need sand replaced on their beaches next summer, the congressman’s release stated.
Back in Washington, a conference committee composed of members of both the House and Senate is working to reconcile separate Fiscal Year 2006 Energy and Water Appropriations bills passed earlier this year in the two chambers, Pallone’s office stated.
The committee is set to issue a final report on those bills, which will also show how much funding the county is eligible for toward beach replenishment, Pallone’s press release said.
During the tour, Pallone and Ciorra were also joined by John Garofalo of the Coastal Engineering Division of the state DEP.
While in Sea Bright, the trio was joined at the municipal beachfront in the center of town by Mayor Jo-Ann Kalaka-Adams, Council President Maria Fernandes and Councilmen William “Jack” Keeler and Thomas Scriven.
After the congressman acknowledged some loss of sand at the municipal beachfront, borough officials directed Pallone, Ciorra and Garofalo down Surf Street to the flood-prone, five-street area along the Shrewsbury River where waters also rose over bulkheads during the nor’easter.
At the corner of Beach and Front streets, adjacent to the river, a large “pond” left over from the storm, greeted the borough officials and their visitors, Fernandes said.
“The water just sits there,” Fernandes said. “We showed them the water marks on the houses.”
The Army Corps has been studying the area, which has a high water table, to come up with solutions to the frequent flooding since 1998, Fernandes noted.
“No promises were made” by the officials according to Fernandes, but the Army Corps is expected to continue its studies of the area and issue a report advising the borough what to do about the flooding, Fernandes said.
Nonetheless, apart from waiting upon the federal or state governments to step in, the borough will take the initiative to deal with the flooding from the river, Kalaka-Adams and Fernandes both said.
Even while anticipating the Army Corps’ recommendations, Fernandes advocates assigning borough engineer David Hoder to research a “five-year” plan to come up with ways to alleviate the flooding, which also impacts Surf, Center and New streets during heavy rains.
Pallone, meanwhile, said in a post-tour press release that a “flood control proposal to address these flooding problems along the banks of the river is now in the feasibility stage.”
Though she appreciated the officials’ visit to the borough, Kalaka-Adams indicated that she would have preferred they had instead toured the oceanfront along the North Beach and South Beach sections, which actually sustained more erosion from October’s storms.
The centrally located municipal beach is the widest spot along Sea Bright’s entire shoreline and the highest point in town making it less likely to erode, Kalaka-Adams explained.
“North Beach and South Beach are the most prone to erosion,” Kalaka-Adams said.
To protect residents living on streets along the riverfront, Kalaka-Adams said earlier this week that she has asked both Pallone and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to lobby for federal funds to purchase a ladder truck for the Sea Bright Fire Department and more equipment for the Sea Bright First Aid Squad.
The ladder truck is particularly needed to access anyone caught on the upper floors of the homes along the riverfront, especially when severe flooding occurs, Kalaka-Adams noted.
Staff at Pallone’s office have agreed to set up a date between the congressman and the borough later this month, the mayor said.

