Gov. Chris Christie discussed the possibility of buyouts for homeowners in Sayreville and South River at a March 21 town hall meeting in Middlesex Borough.
Elaine Konopka, of Weber Avenue in Sayreville, asked Christie about the possibility of buyouts for her neighborhood and others that have flooded multiple times over the past few years.
“I beg for a buyout,” Konopka said. “This is hard for everyone on our street. We lost our whole street.”
Christie told the crowd that flood-prone neighborhoods in Sayreville and South River “are at the top of the list” for buyouts because of the “flooding and destruction” that occurred during superstorm Sandy last October. Certain neighborhoods in these towns have flooded up to three times in the past three years. “I remember the destruction clearly,” said Christie, who visited the battered neighborhoods in Sayreville on Oct. 31, two days after Sandy. “We need to get those houses out … so when it floods, all that’s flooded is a soccer field.”
If a home is purchased with government funds, the land will be dedicated as open space and cannot be built upon again.
Christie requested that $250 million of the federal aid coming to New Jersey be reserved for buyouts. This would allow for 1,000 flood-ravaged homes to be purchased and razed for $250,000 each.
“Now the money is coming, and we are going to be in Sayreville with buyouts, I guarantee it,” Christie said. “It’s one of the places that we are targeting because of the destruction I saw firsthand, because of what I felt from that neighborhood when I walked around, and because of the contact members of my administration have had with your neighbors since then. [We noted that] there is a real appetite for buyouts.”