SEA BRIGHT — Officials have opted to create a hazard mitigation plan to inform decisions about borough-specific recovery projects.
Sarah Bowen, project manager for engineering and development firm Michael Baker International, presented a 10-month timetable for formulating the borough-specific plan at the March 12 workshop meeting.
Borough officials said the plan is separate from the one prepared for the county’s multijurisdictional hazard mitigation plan, which involved input by all the municipalities in the county.
The proposed municipal plan is being funded by the N.J. Department of Community Affairs Post Sandy Planning Assistance Grant Program.
Sea Bright Recovery Manager Steve Nelson said Sea Bright is currently the only Monmouth County town proposing its own plan. He added that Highlands just issued a request for proposals to prepare a similar plan.
Bowen said since Sea Bright has such a small footprint — 1.3 square miles — it makes it possible to focus individual measures related to flooding and stormwater management.
“We will work with the community and officials on lessons learned,” she said, referring to measures that have been taken since superstorm Sandy in 2012.
After input is gathered from the community and borough officials, Bowen said mitigation solutions and actions could begin to be formulated.
She noted that these solutions and actions could be on a small scale, such as what property owners can do to protect their homes.
A tentative mitigation solutions meeting is set for May 15, and a draft plan review meeting will be held in August.
The plan will be delivered to Monmouth County, the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for review in September, and the final plan will be up for adoption by the borough in November.
Bowen said having a local hazard mitigation plan, which is a community-driven, living document that communities and jurisdictions use to reduce their vulnerability to hazards, will position Sea Bright for Com- munity Rating System credits from the federal government and position the borough for funding mechanisms.
Read Murphy, the borough’s emergency management official, told Bowen that the borough has a stormwater drainage problem, especially on the side streets.
Borough officials said previous data and maps that were collected for studies such as the New Jersey Future Resilience Study could be given to Bowen to use in the proposed plan.
Members of the community can go to www.seabrighthmp.com for information about future public meetings.
Mayor Dina Long appointed Councilman John Lamia Jr. to be the point person to keep the council and community informed of the meetings related to the hazard mitigation plan.