According to a county release, the township, its water pollution control and fire districts will receive $1.27 million, $71,142 and $246,351, respectively.
by James McEvoy, Managing Editor
TRENTON — County officials have announced Hamilton Township, its water pollution control and fire district will receive nearly $1.6 million in combined funds for Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.
According to a county release, the township, its water pollution control and fire districts will receive $1.27 million, $71,142 and $246,351, respectively.
The more than $12 million reimbursed so far to Mercer County, its municipalities and some nonprofit agencies, is the 90 percent allowance by Federal Emergency Management Agency, and some of the awards will be delivered in stages, according to the Office of Emergency Management; various agencies continue to identify costs possible for reimbursement.
To apply for reimbursement, Mercer County and its 12 towns, along with nonprofit agencies, were required to compile detailed reports and supporting documents for costs they incurred, and the Hughes Administration, along with the state-appointed liaison, was charged with the task of submitting those applications to FEMA.
County recovery efforts, according to officials, are focused on FEMA’s definition of “Public Assistance,” which is associated with property damage and expenses by government agencies and certain nonprofit organizations. FEMA assistance that is available to individuals is a separate federal program.
According to county officials, in addition to the ongoing effort at recovering expenses due to Hurricane Sandy, Mercer County has received funds for mitigation as a result of the storm. These funds are available to take lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy and undertake projects that would minimize or “mitigate” the impact on citizens and property should another storm of great magnitude strike.
In addition, the county received $1.02 million, in addition to $328,000 in mitigation funds under the Hurricane Sandy Mitigation Energy and Infrastructure Grant Program.
Also awarded funds were Mercer County Community College, Mercer County Special Services School District, Mercer County Technical Schools and ARC of Mercer, which received $19,659, $13,909, $28,527 and $7,995, respectively.
”Week after week, our Office of Emergency Management has worked to recover the costs associated with Hurricane Sandy,” Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes. “Those costs involve the measures we took to protect lives and property as well as the tremendous costs associated with debris removal and property damage experienced by county and local government agencies, as well as many nonprofit agencies that were affected.”
According to the release, the county solicited project ideas from local government agencies as a result of their experiences from Hurricane Sandy, and as a result received $1.9 million in mitigation funds for those mitigation projects. The funds will go toward, among other things, generators for potential shelters, resource center development and public works and first responder facilities. The funds will also be applied to a countywide update of the hazard mitigation plan the county maintains on behalf of the local municipalities.