The Keyport Borough Council has approved funding to repair and elevate the boardwalk damaged during the superstorm. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR The Keyport Borough Council has approved a contract to repair and elevate the boardwalk at Fireman’s Park, which sustained extensive damage from the superstorm.
The contract, which was approved unanimously at the Aug. 19 council meeting, authorizes the payment of $279,232 to Bird Construction for the replacement and elevation of the boardwalk at the park, located along the waterfront on West Front Street, as well as about $3,200 for the addition of a bait table for use by fishermen.
Trevor Taylor, borough engineer, said raising the boardwalk is necessary due to damage from the superstorm. He said a portion of the boardwalk sags and falls below the water level at high tide.
“The one complication that we’re looking at is raising the elevation of the existing boards,” Taylor said. “[It only needs to be raised] a couple of inches to be above the high-tide line.”
The cost of returning the boardwalk to its original condition will be 90 percent reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but the addition of the bait table will be paid for in full by the borough.
“We have bait cutting stations on the fishing pier, but not the wooden boardwalk area that is used primarily for fishing,” Council President Joy-Michele Tomczak said. “We find that people are cutting bait on the wooden bench area, leaving a mess, and it is an amenity we can provide for a reasonable add-on cost to the project.”
Elevating the boardwalk would not preclude the borough from receiving the FEMA reimbursement, Taylor said.
The project would restore Fireman’s Park to its prestorm condition, with repairs to existing structures and only modest improvements.
If the park was redesigned or if largescale mitigation projects were included in the repairs, the costs would not be eligible for FEMA reimbursement. “While we have explored numerous options down there, any sort of mitigation or improvements … would be 100 percent the borough’s cost,” Councilman Kenneth Howe said. “And just to replace the wooden part [of the boardwalk] with a concrete promenade would cost close to $1 million.
“If we choose to do nothing, we get nothing. If we choose to improve, we get nothing,” he said. “So we’re kind of stuck in the middle.”
If the park were damaged by a natural disaster again after being replaced without mitigation, the borough would be eligible for assistance, Taylor said.
Township officials also discussed the prospect of extending water service to the park, which was included in Bird’s full proposal.
“Currently there is no water service [at Fireman’s Park],” Taylor said. “There’s a water main in the sidewalk on Front Street, and we’d have to extend the water service from Front Street to the boardwalk.”
According to Taylor, Bird would have subcontracted the water main work, prompting the council to reject that aspect of the contract and pursue more favorable estimates.
“I think we should look at [the water main] separately,” Tomczak said. “We can discuss it with DPW or we can go out for quotes.”