Column: Mayor Addresses Apparent Inequities in Federal Sandy Aid
Column as submitted by Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher
Sandy's Mark on Ortley Beach
Debris, ruined furniture and wrecked appliances lined the curbsides in Ortley Beach. / Photo by Russ DeSantis
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The following is a column as submitted by Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher regarding a recently published chart showing the amount of disaster aid municipalities have received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Toms River appears to have received less money than other areas, but Kelaher explains that is because Ocean County is fronting the funds for debris removal.
The township has received inquiries from residents over the disparity of FEMA Relief Aid being given out to shore towns, especially hardest-hit Toms River, and Mayor Tom Kelaher wants to set the record straight.
In response to the Toms River Patch article, "CHART: Sandy Relief Aid: Who's Received Money, And How Much?" it seems as though Middletown received $2.3 million in relief aid from FEMA and neighboring Brick received a total of $2 million, while Toms River received only $51,789.
"First of all, unlike some of the other large towns, like Brick for example, at the very beginning of the storm we chose to use the county's debris removal program so that we did not have to lay out the money in advance for debris removal," Kelaher said.
In the end, Toms River will pay its "share" (either 10 or 25 percent) of whatever costs FEMA does not reimburse to the county, but, Kelaher explains, "It was good business not to lay out those funds if we didn’t have to. If we had paid the contractors on our own, we would have expended well over $15 million in township funds by now for debris removal alone, and we would have had to wait for FEMA to reimburse 75 percent of that amount. Our landfill costs alone were averaging $1 million a week for cleanup, not including the contractors’ costs."
Ocean County is fronting the money for Toms River’s debris removal and the township will then pay the unreimbursed FEMA portion pertaining to Toms River’s costs. Kelaher also points out that, "Secondly, our reimbursement will be much larger and, therefore, will take longer for FEMA to verify. We are working with FEMA and our consultants on two separate reimbursements, both of which will be very large. One is for our initial 90 day costs from the storm inclusive of overtime, equipment, etc., which will be well in excess of $5 million and the other is for damage to township facilities which will be well over $20 million in the end."
There is no question that payments to Toms River will be significantly larger than the chart currently shows, but it does take longer to verify and Toms River’s reimbursement will be much higher as time goes on.
Oscar
1:33 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Thats because our Mayor is just way behind the curve then some of the other Mayors that were very active over the last few months, This guy has been asleep at the wheel whild we all suffer uncertainties. He is no leader at al.
Kimbo Sliceopizza
1:04 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Hope i get to vote him out before we secede. Oh, forgot the plan was to tear down my polling place...before the hurricane
butch cassidy
2:36 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
mr mayor not to be rude but didnt you say we were on the road to recovery? well if so i must have missed that turn.
mjmjr
12:58 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
HE WENT WEST ON ROUTE70
barbara
1:01 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
so true Jenny....think we all missed that turn...
Pat S.
12:57 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Perhaps mainland Toms River is moving along on its recovery, but has the mayor toured its barrier island lately? More than debris removal is needed.
Mr. ?
12:57 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
...."fronting the funds for debris removal". Love that word "fronting" So tax me out of my County tax pocket. Whats the difference? Kelaher makes it all sound so good. Not so. So Ash Britt was used by the county and thereby so did Toms River. How much a ton for debris removal did they charge? Search out an APP article of how Wall Twsp saved their tax payers big money.
Mark
12:58 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
The reality is that Mayor of Toms River has absolutely no clue. He is obviously in over his head and the best thing he could do is quietly retire "to spend more time with his family" preferably far away from TR!
Michelle V
12:59 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Not to change the subject, but I think the Mayor should consider discussing with the powers that be an "admission fee" to Seaside Hts. Maybe $ 10 - $ 20 / car that enters SH as a "donation" towards rebuilding the town. Now that they opened SH to tourists, most of whom are not spending any money there, (just taking pictures) it should be considered. Not to say that now that SH is open to the public, burglaries have gone up in Ortley...what a surprise.
charlotte
8:13 pm on Saturday, February 2, 2013
The gawkers are disgusting and a donation would be appropriate considering they are gawking at homes where people probably lost everything. But who will collect the money? Probably not the people that lost everything so I see no need to add to corruption coffers.
Michael Capo
12:59 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Road to recovery? The businesses in Ortley Beach still have mountains of rotting garbage in front of them and the debris removal is scheduled to end soon. What a cluster f**ck this TR administration is.
jennifer
1:00 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
mr. mayor why hasn't ocean county reserved a large warehouse so that we can receive donations like all the other counties who have warehouses filled with donations? there are donations to be had, but we don't have a place to put them so we do not receive them. ocean county is the ONLY county that doesn't have a warehouse for donations. WHY?
Halpha2
1:04 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Well why don't you cry about it saddlebags
notasellout
1:04 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
More finger pointing by our Mayor and Council. I know that I am not alone when I say that I am very tired of these so called leaders that always play the victim. Toms River is always at the front of the line when it comes to layers of excuses in time of crisis. Here's how it should work. Hire competent people who know what they're doing instead of friends and relatives who collect paychecks for doing and knowing nothing about the jobs they hold, and we wouldnt be in this boat.
Ray Cornwall
1:05 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
I thought FEMA was to be on the hook for 80% of the deductible for the Toms River High School outdoor "bubble". Are we still getting that money?
I have spoken
1:07 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Mayor....suggestion....Force the OB homeowners association sign the easements. Maybe then sections in Silverton, Snug Harbor and Shelter Cover wouldn't have taken damage.
Ortley Home Owner
3:30 pm on Monday, February 4, 2013
We learned that the taxes of "the rich people" who live on the barrier island have been paying at least 20% of the taxes for the Township. The barrier island -prior to Hurricane Sandy -did not cost 20% of the budget -for the town or the school system.
The last property valuation purposely treate the barrier island house unfairly
Now TR administration wants to blame the barrier island land owners for failing to protect the beaches. Who's failure is it really? It's the failure of the Toms River administration to aggressively pursue protection options YEARS before the storm. Creative thinking, negotiations and legal strategy was needed along with leadership.
The Toms River Barrier Island communities are devastated. Toms River staff have been mostly terrific -but there is no vision in City Hall. time for Ortley residents to demand assistance and demand a say In what happens (ie knocking down the ambulance building without community input for a plan or refusing to open the old sewage property for community park or rec center)
No more side deals or special treatment for some in ortley who agree to go along and appease the TR administration.
It's a shame what is happening and real leadership in ortley beach is needed.
Mr. ?
5:24 pm on Monday, February 4, 2013
Mayor better be concerned. Gonna need a lot of money! NJ.com- NJ budget official questions Fla . debris firm's $100 M contract.
Mr. ? 12:57 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
...."fronting the funds for debris removal". Love that word "fronting" So tax me out of my County tax pocket. Whats the difference? Kelaher makes it all sound so good. Not so. So Ash Britt was used by the county and thereby so did Toms River. How much a ton for debris removal did they charge? Search out an APP article of how Wall Twsp saved their tax payers big money.