By Christina Wittington, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN The floodwaters Hurricane Irene dumped on the borough may have receded three weeks ago, but at Monday night’s Borough Council meeting, the damages the flood left behind still were being assessed.
Mike Theokas, newly appointed borough administrator, presented Mayor Steve Kirson and the council with an update on progress being made with borough recovery efforts.
”Borough services are virtually close to 100 percent,” he said. “Water bills can be processed, tax bills can be paid, licenses can be issued.”
Borough administrative offices have been operating out of the Public Works building at 156 Bank St. since floodwaters caused substantial damage to Borough Hall at 148 N. Main St., headquarters of the borough administrative offices, Municipal Court and Police Department.
The back portion of the building, which housed the construction office and the Police Department, suffered serious damage.
According to Mr. Theokas, the borough is reviewing all options regarding the cleanup of Borough Hall, and officials are working closely with the Board of Health and various cleanup programs offered through the Joint Insurance Fund and various insurance companies.
”Obviously, our No. 1 concern in moving people back in there are health and safety,” Mr. Theokas said.
The Police Department has been relocated to the Lucas Electric building on Mercer Street.
According to Mr. Theokas, “Things are ongoing in the maintaining of that building. There is a lot to be done to get them back online, but they never stopped providing police services to the borough in any way, shape or form.”
Both Mr. Theokas and Mayor Kirson are anticipating the borough’s 911 system to be back online by today or early next week.
The East Windsor Police Department have been providing the borough with 911 services in the interim.
Municipal Court also has been relocated. All court operations are being performed out of Robbinsville.
”Robbinsville can be added to the very long list of municipalities, organizations and individuals that helped the borough in this process,” Mr. Theokas said.
The water plant on Bank Street started pumping its own water late last week. East Windsor Township had been providing water to the borough while necessary repairs were being made.
”We certainly want to extend our thanks to East Windsor Township. We are now pumping our own water, using one well and one pump, and things are running smoothly,” Mr. Theokas said, adding a lot of work has been done to the water plant and a lot more work needs to be done.
One borough property still in need of vital repairs, however, is the fire station.
John Archer, former fire chief and Republican candidate for Borough Council, told Mayor Kirson, Mr. Theokas and the council, “The firehouse has no running water, no hot water, no working toilets, no heat and no phones to the building, all things which are important to running a Fire Department.”
He also asked if there is a timeframe the borough has for getting these items restored.
Mr. Theokas has said the borough has started addressing these concerns.
Mayor Kirson indicated the borough did file an application with FEMA last week to arrange a meeting with its representatives to discuss the damages in the borough. The application process takes two weeks, and he is hoping to hear back from FEMA by next week with a confirmed date.
At that time, documentation will be provided by each borough department, which will be assessed individually by FEMA. This documentation is critical to help the borough get the proper FEMA funding for needed repairs.
The council also unanimously approved a resolution to allow the borough to waive permit fees for flood damages associated with Hurricane Irene. According to Mayor Kirson, the state urged municipalities to waive permit fees dealing with construction damages.
Because the state did not indicate a required date for this, Mr. Theokas said George Chen, borough construction official, will be dealing with these permits on a case-by-case basis to insure the permits are for hurricane-related damages.
The Department of Public Works also has been dealing with trash and bulk pickup.
The council also unanimously approved an extension of waiving bulk pickup fees through Oct. 3 to allow residents dealing with backlogs associated with insurance claims to be able to dispose of bulk items without incurring additional financial hardships.
The council will revisit this issue at the next meeting Oct. 3.