State says 140-150 homes may be bought out
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Perhaps 140 to 150 homeowners in Manville could know relatively soon whether they will get a government buyout of their flood-prone properties.
Twice that number of people heard a top state environmental official describe how the process will happen at a meeting Wednesday, Jan. 15, at Manville High School.
Richard Boornazian, an assistant commissioner in the DEP, said, “Everyone in this room won’t qualify for a buyout in this round,” but noting 140 or 150 homes “is not a trivial amount.”
”We have the dollars to buy out your homes in Manville,” he said.
The government has allocated $300 million buyout perhaps 1,300 homes. Of those, 1,000 would be in areas directly affected by Superstorm Sandy in October 2012, and 300 in other non-affected areas.
Manville is one of the first “non-Sandy” areas in which the state is looking to invest its buyout money, Mr. Boornazian said.
Mayor Angelo Corradino said Tuesday that Manville stood on the verge of securing one-half of the total allocation of buyout money for non-Sandy-related communities.
”This should give most of the residents who qualify for a buyout the opportunity to decide if they want to sell their homes,” he said.
The first step is for anyone who may be interested to submit a three-page Blue Acres form (which were handed out at the meeting and are available at borough hall) with other data, like deeds, photos of damages, surveys and title insurance policies. If a homeowner has showed interest already and filed a form, he or she doesn’t need to submit again, Mr. Boornazian said.
”I need to know we have willing sellers,” he said.
By the second week in February, he said, the state should have a map of the three flood zones in which they would consider an application for a buyout.
Tentatively, the three are:
• In Lost Valley, frequently flooded by the Millstone River.
• Another is along the Royce Brook.
• Adjacent to the Raritan River on the north side of the borough.
If homes are in the designated flood areas, applications will be targeted by the state within 30 days and sent along to FEMA, which could take 60 days to review and agree. Three-quarters of the money comes from FEMA, and the other 25 percent from the state Blue Acres fund. The borough will not incur any costs of the buyouts and all aspects of the process will be handled by DEP.
”We should be able to determine by the end of February who is in,” Mr. Boornazian. That would include the time that the state submits names to the federal government.
If a homeowner is in a designated project area, he or she will be invited to the next meeting in about 90 days, he said.
Mr. Boornazian said he was looking to buy out a whole street or neighborhood, concentrating funds on contiguous properties where the program can have the most positive impact.
Homes with severe and repetitive losses want to be on the list, he said.
”My mandate is too get Jersey residents out of harm’s way,” he said.
There be red tape and paperwork — this is government, Mr. Boornazian said. There is a checklist of 54 items for a successful application, he said, and the process takes a while, but no other state does it better or faster, he said.
If a application is accepted, the program would buy out at 100 percent of an appraised rate, Mr. Boornazian said. The only money a homeowner might have to lay out is for an attorney at the settlement table (he suggested $500 to $600 was an appropriate rate), to clean up any environmental hazards (like leaking oil tanks) on the property or to pay for an alternate appraisal to counter the state’s offer.
The process isn’t negotiated like a free-market sale. The state will hire an appraiser who will come up with a market value figure based on the value of the house before Sandy market values for damage, not pre Irene.
The owner could hire someone who could arrive at a different value. A third appraiser would decide.
”I will not negotiate down from your appraisal,” Mr. Boornazian said. “If you are not a willing seller, I won’t force you out.”
He said he wants everyone who starts in the program to finish.
He praised his work force of “the best workers in the state government” and said it would review and put applications before the federal officials. He said a case officer would be assigned to each property owner and be diligent in pursuing them to hold up their end of the work.
They’ll know the “emotional turmoil you’re going through,” he said.
He said homeowners would have 30 days to decide once they receive a written offer. If they accept, they will have 60 days to settle, he said.
If a home is in foreclosure, tell the state worker assigned to the file, and they can help negotiate with the bank, he said.
One of the criteria the state is looking for is cooperation and support from local officials. That was “absolutely” the case in Manville, he said.
”They begged us to come to Manville,” he said, despite the fact that fewer homes would mean reduced property tax ratables, which finance local government.
Mr. Boornazian insisted that the state hasn’t “forgotten about Manville.”
Councilman Richard Onderko asked Mr. Boornazian after the meeting if the flood designations would cover every part of the borough, not just the Lost Valley. He was told it would.
”I am happy for the residents who can get out of harm’s way through this Sandy buyout program,” he said. “However, at the same time I have a sense of sadness for the future of my hometown if nothing is ever done to reduce future flood water levels here in Manville. The residents who stay deserve to see immediate action by our state and federal government to reduce the threat this decade. It’s long overdue.”One woman said her house was surrounded by abandoned homes and wondered if that would affect her. It should not affect the value put on her home, Mr. Boornazian said.
Statewide the state has made 272 offers to buy out so far, he said, but there have been only 22 settlements.
Projects already funded include 196 homes in Sayreville, 76 in South River, 89 in Woodbridge.
Mayor Corradino credited “a lot of hard work” between himself, Councilman Mark Gregor, Frank Jurewicz of the regional flood commission, Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke and DPW Director Phil Petrone in meetings in Trenton and at Borough Hall. Talks started right after the money from Sandy was given to the state, he said.
At the Jan. 15 meeting, the mayor publicly commended the 16th District’s state legislative representatives: state Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman, and Assembly members Jack Ciattarelli and Donna Simon.
Sen. Bateman told the audience that “buyouts are the best solution for some of you.” He said Manville has been through enough and called the borough “tested strong.”
Mr. Ciattarelli said he recognized that buyouts would be a difficult and emotional process, and Ms. Simon assured the crowd, “It’s a matter of fighting until we get what we need to get. . . we’re here for you guys.”