Union Beach residents look over the rubble of a townhome shortly after superstorm Sandy. The Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force has released a comprehensive planning strategy that focuses on rebuilding stronger, smarter and more resilient communities. KEITH HEUMILLER/STAFF Monmouth County officials and nonprofits throughout the state are lauding the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force’s recently released rebuilding strategy, which will guide tens of billions in federal funds toward collaborative, resiliency-based planning initiatives throughout the region.
Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long, one of many local leaders to provide input to the task force, said the guidelines set forth in the report will allow municipalities to work together in building smarter, stronger communities.
“It takes a regional approach to rebuilding and flood control,” she said. “I think that it’s a strong set of recommendations. … If some of the things in the report had been in place before Sandy, we wouldn’t be having these conversations.”
The task force, chaired by U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, was established under a presidential order in December and charged with guiding the use of federal resources in the rebuilding process and coordinating with stakeholders at every level.
After months of collaboration with area officials, businesses, nonprofits, community groups and more, the task force released a comprehensive rebuilding strategy on Aug. 19 that focuses on a broad range of challenges, including vulnerable infrastructure, escalating flood insurance rates and the needs of small businesses.
The 200-page report lays out dozens of recommendations for federal agencies, state governments and municipalities, with an eye toward maximizing the effectiveness of taxpayer-funded recovery dollars.
Some recommendations call on the federal government to provide better planning resources and data to communities — such as a planning tool for sea level rise— that would enable them to target development and mitigation standards for many years down the road.
“The key to rebuilding stronger is to understand the risks that you face,” said Chris Sturm, senior director of state policy for nonprofit policy group NJ Future. “There is a growing understanding of sea level rise, and Sandy showed us that is something we need to pay attention to.”
Long said the focus on regional planning is especially useful for smaller municipalities, where targeted projects can help protect a significant number of properties without negatively impacting neighboring towns.
For example, Long said a “storm-surge barrier at the mouth of the Shrewsbury River” could solve elevation conflicts between Sea Bright and the Highlands.
To support such collaboration, the task force has worked to develop New Jersey Local Resilience Partnerships — voluntary associations between groups such as NJ Future to promote regional collaboration and improved recovery efforts.
With funding from the nonprofit New Jersey Recovery Fund, Sturm said NJ Future and others will be hiring planners to work directly alongside communities and help them understand their risks, apply for grants, and develop a concrete vision for the future.
The task force also discussed its Rebuild by Design competition, which started in June and tasks teams of experts from around the world with designing innovative, tailor-made planning projects for communities throughout the region. The top five projects will ultimately be funded with federal grant dollars.
Freeholder Thomas Arnone, director of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, said the county will provide oversight, guidance and a “second or third eye” for towns seeking specific mitigation projects or planning changes, but its main focus is on preparing and managing the most comprehensive emergency management response possible.
While happy with the report’s recommendations, Sturm said she hopes it would push state and federal officials to develop more long-range planning tools or provide towns with the resources to perform comprehensive risk- and needs-assessments on their own.
Many Sandy-impacted towns, she said, are still struggling to get residents back into their homes, restore their business districts and deal with significant losses to the local tax base.
Without the kinds of assistance and policy changes recommended in the report, Sturm said, many towns don’t have the resources to look beyond the immediate future. And some potential long-term solutions to repeated flood damage, like federal buyouts, can directly contradict many towns’ immediate financial needs.
“I think towns need help sorting out that short-term impact from the costs they could face when the next storm hits,” she said.
The report also points to more tangible goals, such as making area electric grids “smarter and more flexible” and streamlining insurance payouts to policyholders in the wake of a disaster.
The full report of the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy can be accessed at www.hud.gov.