MIDDLETOWN — Six months past superstorm Sandy, the Township Committee is at work on a number of changes in anticipation of a wave of residential rebuilding projects.
On May 6, the committee discussed changing township building codes to allow flood-damaged properties that don’t currently conform to development standards to be elevated in line with federal flood regulations.
“When a substantially damaged, nonconforming residential structure needs to be rebuilt, and we think there will be a lot coming soon, under the restoration ordinance right now they wouldn’t be able to increase the height of their structure,” said Amy Sarrinikolaou, assistant director of community development.
“So we would like to fix that.”
Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante also announced a forthcoming project to renovate the township’s conference room, which was used in the aftermath of the Oct. 29 superstorm to coordinate emergency services and other operations. The project, which Mercantante said would go out to bid later this month, will include a new hi-tech conference table that incorporates phone and computer systems and would enable officials to better utilize the digital GIS (geographic information system) and respond more effectively in the wake of future storms.
“Hopefully it will be seldom used,” Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said.
Mercantante also announced that the township received dedicated easements from two coastal property owners. These will enable the Army Corps of Engineers to begin work on a substantial dune-engineering project in the coming months.
The new dunes, which Mercantante said will run from Pew’s Creek to Keansburg, will accompany a nearly $100 million Army Corps-sponsored flood control project in the Port Monmouth section of town, slated to begin sometime in 2014.
“Projects like that are slow-moving,” Mercantante said, explaining that the Port Monmouth flood control work may not be completed for at least six years.
“Other than that, all people can do is flood-proof their houses and raise their properties as best they can.”
With federal mitigation projects already pending, Mercantante said the township is working to help residents repair their homes and to protect them from future storms by improving local regulations.
One ordinance, slated to be introduced at the committee’s May 20 meeting, would decrease the permit fees for a private or commercial generator in town.
“We have had a lot of applications … But every generator request requires five separate permits, five separate inspections. They are more complicated than you think,” Mercantante said.
“So, we did think we could lower the fee.”
Under the new fee structure, residents could use a 45-kilowatt generator, which Mercantante said would satisfy most residential needs, for a fee of $150. Other generators used for businesses and larger operations would see fees reduced by at least $200, Mercantante added.
Even as the township implements changes to aid in the rebuilding process, residents in flood-ravaged sections such Port Monmouth, Belford and Leonardo are still waiting on additional aid before they can move forward.
“I think that people are still, for the most part, in a holding pattern dealing with their insurance,” Mercantante said, explaining that many residents are waiting to apply for a share of the $1.8 billion in federal grant funding recently announced by Gov. Chris Christie.
“The Community Development Block Grants were just announced, so a lot of people are counting on that to fill the gap between their insurance and their actual costs, but the applications aren’t available yet. So people can’t proceed with major work on their house until they can apply for those monies,” he said.
Without any specifics on the grant application process, Mercantante said he and other town officials could only guess how long it may take before those funds reach the residents who need them.
“We’ll certainly help people if they want help filling out their applications,” he said. “But I don’t even know what the application looks like. I don’t know if it’s one page, 100 pages. I have no clue.
“It’s really hard to say,” he added. “But for people who have to elevate their houses and then repair, I would say it would be months before the first person sees any money. Four or six months wouldn’t shock me.”
In the meantime, Scharfenberger said, Middletown officials will continue to try to make the rebuilding process easier on those still struggling to pick up the pieces.
“Whatever we can do to help make it easier on the folks who have to deal with this, we should do,” he said.