OCEAN TOWNSHIP — The township is moving forward with plans to acquire and demolish a second group of units at Poplar Village.
During its Dec. 5 meeting, the Township Council approved a resolution authorizing Birdsall Engineering to perform a cost analysis for the purchase and demolition of a second group of 32 units at the senior housing complex that has historically been plagued by flooding.
Township Manager Andrew Brannen said in an interview last week that the township hopes to secure a second grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant program.
“There are ongoing discussions about the replacement of the units that were damaged in the flood,” he said. “The township received a grant to purchase and demolish the front 32 units.
“We are in the process of making an application to FEMA for the next 32 units.”
In July the township received a $4.4 million grant from FEMAthat will fund the acquisition and demolition of 32 units on the lower end of the complex.
The complex, which is within the Poplar Brook flood plain, has flooded five times since it was built in 1970.
The heavy rains during Hurricane Irene and the week prior in August caused flooding throughout the area after water crested a 4-foot berm along the brook.
According to Brannen the analysis will cost $2,250 and give the township the ability to apply for the second grant.
“We could do the application, but there is a requirement that you have to do a cost analysis,” he said during the meeting.
According to Brannen, the 93-unit complex currently has only 40 units that are occupied. Many residents of the complex were forced to move following the storms.
He said the management of Poplar Village still has decisions to make about where to relocate the new construction.
“Right now there is discussion by the Poplar Village board, and they are trying to identify a location to put the replacement units,” Brannen said.
He explained that any new construction at Poplar Village is contingent on obtaining affordable housing tax credits.
Brannen said the township’s role is to try to help the Poplar Village project move along, but ultimately the management of the complex will direct the project.
“They are really an independent entity,” he said. “We will try to assist them any way we can, but ultimately the decision where to locate and how to bid the project out will be made by the board.”
At the meeting, the council also passed a resolution authorizing Sockler Realty Services, Hightstown, to perform a $5,500 appraisal on the first 32 units that the township plans to demolish.
Brannen said the work was scheduled to begin last week and will conclude by the end of the month.
The stipulations of the grant call for the township to receive a 75 percent reimbursement for all costs related to the purchase and demolition of the first 32 units.
According to Brannen, the township has been meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers to discuss flood prevention methods.