PRINCETON: Towns receiving emergency funds

By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
   Princeton Borough and Township have received $118,355.24 from the federal government to offset expenses from a devastating Nor’easter that struck the area on the weekend of March 13, 2010.
   Reimbursements are paid at 50 percent and 75 percent, said Mark Freda, emergency services director for Princeton Borough. “It’s some formula FEMA has,” he said. The organization is the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
   The Princeton Fire Department received funds from the Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP). This 50 percent reimbursement program provides money for every call the volunteer staff responds to, when the rate of response is greater than 15 percent of total calls in a given period of time, he explained. During the storm there 231 calls for the fire department from noon on Saturday through noon on Monday of that weekend.
   Twenty firefighters who responded during that weekend received a total of $14,584.50 in incentive payments. FEMA reimbursed the borough 50 percent, or $7,292.25.
   ”This is to offset running your vehicle, gas and clothes that you ruin,” said Mr. Freda. “If some guy made 100 of those calls, there was a formula of what he would have gotten paid for those calls. If another guy only made 20, he wouldn’t have gotten paid.”
   ”It’s also an incentive to the firefighter to say we want you to respond to as many calls as possible,” said Mr. Freda. These plans also help attract and retain volunteers by helping them offset expenses associated with volunteering.
   The fire department also received funds for vehicle repairs that needed to be made after a tree limb fell on a truck and damaged the windshield and lights. The repair costs was $4,719.74, and FEMA helped offset that cost with a reimbursement of $2,359.87.
   The fire department did have some equipment and materials reimbursed at 75 percent, for $19,955 returned to the borough.
   Public works equipment costs, which include use of vehicles such as dump trucks and front end loaders or items like a chain saw, cost $3,365.50 and FEMA reimbursed $2,524.12 of costs.
   Public works overtime labor costs were also offset. Overtime cost the borough $4,915.15, of which FEMA is contributing $3,686.36.
   ”You’re paying the people to work their normal hours anyway,” said Mr. Freda.
   The public works department was also out repairing storm damage afterward, fixing benches on Nassau Street and fences in the parks. FEMA offeset 50 percent of these costs as well with more then $21,800 in aid.
   More than $11,200 in police expenses costs were also funded by a 75 percent, or $8,508, reimbursement from FEMA.
   Princeton Sewer Operating Committee had a lot of expenses for equipment such as generators to keep the pumps running at six stations scattered around town for storm sewer drainage and manpower hours.
   Overtime labor cost ran to $11,126.55, of which FEMA funds will cover $8,344.91. More than $19,000 in equipment costs were also reimbursed.
   The borough also received payment for Mr. Freda’s time spent with FEMA officials.
   Princeton Township received $22,963.93 in reimbursements from FEMA in a first round of payments, according to Donald R. Hansen, superintendent of the township Department of Public Works.
   The township spent more than $170,000 cleaning up the storm, said Mr. Hansen. “What’s paid is the initial part of the storm,” he said. “There’s still money coming for the cleanup.”
   The initial payment was for the first part of the emergency when the trees came down and closed 47 streets. During the cleanup, crews picked up more than 8,000 cubic yards of debris from March to June.
   ”The $22,000 is not even close to what we spent picking up the debris,” said Mr. Hansen. “They owe us a lot more money.”
   The Princetons were not the only Mercer County municipalities to receive aid from FEMA. Hopewell Borough received $22,834.84, Hopewell Township $92,907.28 and $17,747.03, Lawrence Township $15,750.92, Hightstown Borough $12,981.08 and $3,417.38, Robbinsville Township – $9,856.82 and Mercer County $57808.55 and $2833.92.
   Mercer County expects to distribute more checks as they arrive for Ewing, East Windsor, Pennington and Hamilton.
In addition, County Office of Emergency Management is presently working to get Mercer County included in the Governor Chris Christie’s request for a Presidential Disaster Declaration for the Dec. 26-27, 2010 blizzard. The County roughly estimates overall costs among towns from the blizzard to be $1.2 million.