Main Street in South River is part of a redevelopment initiative that will also include Reid Street and Whitehead Avenue. MICHAEL NUNES/STAFF South River will seek state funding for an investigation into ways of redeveloping sections of town damaged by superstorm Sandy.
The Borough Council voted unanimously June 8 to apply for $250,000 in Post Sandy Planning Assistance Grants from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
There are several key areas of the borough that the council singled out as needing further study. These areas include upper and lower Main Street, the Whitehead Avenue corridor and Reid Street, and several areas adjacent to the South River. These areas have their own rehabilitation programs run by the borough.
Lower Main Street, Upper Main Street, the waterfront and the Whitehead Avenue corridor would receive $50,000 each under the grant for the study of redevelopment projects.
Other areas, such as Reid Street and a property on Whitehead Avenue, would receive $25,000 each in grant assistance for the same reason.
“We’ve got to study and evaluate what we can and can’t do,” Borough Administrator Frederick Carr said. The borough was hit hard by the 2012 superstorm, which caused an estimated $3.9 million in damages.
A loss of $268,840 in property tax revenues in 2014 was attributed directly to the storm, according to the borough.
Borough officials expect to receive the state grants sometime next year.