County to be Reimbursed $40M for Sandy Costs

Ocean County expects to receive approximately $40 million in reimbursements for some services performed following Superstorm Sandy within a couple weeks.

The project worksheets for just debris removal are in their final stages of approval and the county will be receiving a check soon, Administrator Carl Block said at the Board of Chosen Freeholders’ pre-board meeting.

“There is movement,” Block said.

The $40 million is just a fraction of the $60 million the county has put out for debris removal. The county paid for the services of AshBritt and Louis Berger Group Inc. upfront, for some municipalities. Once the county is reimbursed, municipalities will pay their share, Block said.

Freeholder John C. Bartlett said fronting the money, without having to borrow, for municipalities was a “great thing to do.”

“We’ve been able to finance this without having to borrow any money and no municipality would’ve been able to do that,” he said. “But we are anxiously waiting reimbursement because we have written checks for $60 million.”

The ability to cover the costs for municipalities without borrowing money is a reflection of the board’s “strong fiscal management,” Freeholder Gerry P. Little said.

“We’re in pretty solid fiscal condition to be able to do this,” he said.

At the regular meeting on Wednesday, May 1 at 4 p.m. the Freeholders will approve a resolution supporting a FEMA reimbursement of 100 percent.

Currently, the county expects to be reimbursed at least 75 percent of its claims. Freeholder Director John Kelly said they could get more.

Additionally, the Barnegat Bay will be open by Memorial Day Weekend, Kelly said.

A permit with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been approved to dredge the bay and remove sediment from the lagoons, Block said.

“The cleanup of the bay is at the point where the dredging will take place so now, not only will you be safe to use the bay to go fishing, but now the waterways will be open to get the boats in and out,” Kelly said.

The permit will cover various shoal areas throughout the northern part of the bay to the northern part of Lavallette and the most eastern shore of the bay, including the Barrier Island and Twilight Lake in Bay Head.

It is estimated that approximately 400,000 cubic yards of sediment and debris will be removed from the bay and deposited back on the beach.

“That’s the final part of getting this bay open by Memorial Day Weekend,” Kelly said.