With superstorm Sandy now in the rearview mirror, all 53 emergency management directors in Monmouth County have identified projects to better protect municipalities from future storms.
Several emergency management officials attended the Oct. 27 Bayshore Emergency Management Association (BEMA) meeting to discuss the Monmouth County Hazard Mitigation Plan, which was released as a draft last month.
Preparing hazard mitigation plans is a prerequisite for pre- and post-disaster funding and could help municipalities qualify for grants.
Margaret Murnane, deputy coordinator of the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management (OEM), said the plan contains input from all 53 municipalities and is a culmination of projects and lessons learned from superstorm Sandy and other weather events.
“I think it is both a wish list and what happened after Sandy,” she said. “If we did not have this plan, we would not even be eligible to apply for any of the funding.”
Middletown OEM Coordinator Charles Rodgers said that, without the plan and its previous iteration in 2009, municipalities would have had difficulty capturing federal funding for mitigation projects.
“Each one of our municipalities has their own plan. Without this book in a storm like Sandy, we would not get paid,” he said.
Under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, each municipality is required to submit a local plan to the county for approval.
The county plan contains several appendices that include the status of past mitigation projects; historic and public infrastructure and assets; municipal risks in the case of different natural disasters; and new action projects identified.
The mitigation plans for each municipality are contained in an Action Plan appendix labeled Appendix 1.9.
Examples of new mitigation projects include the installation of temporary or portable pumps in areas of Middletown to prevent flooding; acquisition of 28 chronically flooded properties on Brookside Avenue in Ocean Township; and installation of a new bulkhead and tide valve on Washington Avenue in Rumson.
Most municipalities listed approximately five to 10 projects, including an estimated cost, priority level and potential outside funding source.
Adam Hubney, Atlantic Highlands OEM director, said municipalities that do not identify certain projects risk missing out on potential funding.
“If you don’t have something in the plan — something I would say is very obvious that needs some attention — there is a possibility that the municipality might not be funded if there was damage created and it is not identified in your plan,” he said.
“This is not a catch-all, but for the most part, it is supposed to be a plan that you work for. That is what this plan is to me. It is a work in progress.”
Rodgers also said grants are often competitive, pitting municipalities against each other.
“There is only so much money out there, and it only goes so far,” he said. “Sometimes it’s like they throw some names in a hat, and that’s what they come up with.”
Some of the 20-plus residents who attended the meeting at the Atlantic Highlands Borough Hall voiced frustration about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the lack of private funding that has trickled down to several communities impacted by Sandy.
Hubney said the plan is a living document and will be updated in the next five years.
“In another five years, we will be doing another update, and the projects that we were lucky enough to get funding for will come off the list. And we will add more if we can identify more,” he said.
The rough draft was posted on the county OEM website on Oct. 21, and there is a 28-day public comment period. Comments can be made at www.monmouthsheriff.org.
The county and all 53 municipalities must formally adopt the final plan, which is expected by March.