Council Pres: Sandy Impacted Infrastructure, Tax Assessments

The following Council Corner column was submitted by Toms River Council President George Wittmann:

Toms River Township has been quite busy for the first four months of 2013.

The main driver is trying to clean up and repair facilities and infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Sandy. We have awarded contracts for the replacement of roads and bulkheads, repairs to parks, and replacement of the Ortley Beach boardwalk and beach facilities.

In addition, the township awarded a $6.6 million contract to remove debris and homes from private property under a FEMA sponsored clean-up program. Ordinarily, the township would be prohibited from performing this type of work on private property, but this FEMA program allows us to do the work. We have over 250 homeowners that have signed up for this program to date.

One issue that continues to be in the forefront is the building of a new dune and beach by the Army Corps of Engineers. The township staff has worked hard to prepare easement documents and side letters to allow this work to occur on private property. The township has made significant progress in this area, and we are optimistic that most private owners who read the easement documents will, in the end, agree to grant the township this easement. In the cases where owners refuse to grant these easements, the town will implement Plan B which I am not prepared to discuss in this Council Corner.

The benefit of this dune to the township cannot be overstated as it will include a dune that is 22 feet high with a 100 foot beach in front of it, and the dune width from the toe on the beach side to the west side will also be approximately 100 feet. The dune will be continuous and provide protection to the barrier island as well as to the mainland waterfront property owners. 

The township intends to ask FEMA to perform a new analysis of the flood zones and flood designations once this dune is in place. It is our belief that the construction of this dune will reduce the number of homes in a "V Zone" and also lower the base flood elevation. Under the "new" FEMA Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps, 5,847 homes were placed in the "V Zone," versus 614 homes that were in a "V Zone" under the old maps! We also continue to question the ABFE flood designations and elevations, as they are, in our opinion, wrong and need to be adjusted, irrespective of the dune construction. All you have to do is look at the number of homes that are six or seven houses off the water to see that the "V Zones" are overstated! 

The township has sent out the new property assessments post-Sandy, and by the time you read this article, your new assessed value should be in your hands. The drop in property values is dramatic to say the least, and it amounts to an approximately $5 billion loss in assessed value for the township. This is unprecedented and is a drop of almost 30.23 percent in one year. The township is hoping to receive a Federal Community Block Development Grant for this shortfall and will be introducing a draft budget on May 14.

We understand the frustration of the public regarding the pace of reconstruction, but the township is doing its best to reconstruct the infrastructure and also follow the rules promulgated by FEMA at the same time. Unfortunately, until the new flood maps and funding criteria to help homeowners that need to raise and rebuilt their homes are issued, we will see continue to see limited reconstruction.

As always, this administration thanks the citizens of Toms River Township for their patience and optimism as we move forward in all future endeavors to restore the township to a level of living we have enjoyed in the past!