Area officials describe difficulties following Hurricane Sandy

POINT PLEASANT—“The future of the Republican Party is in this room,” said New Jersey Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno to a gathering of New Jersey Young Republicans at the Whites Sands Hotel here on May 18^th for the annual New Jersey Young Republicans Convention.

It was the first time the group has hosted their annual conference at the Jersey Shore and the theme of the meeting was governing during a crisis and recovery. It was the first time the annual convention was held in Ocean County in nearly twenty years.

In addition to Lt. Governor Guadagno the Young Republicans were joined by Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher, Brick Township Mayor Steve Acropolis, Point Pleasant Beach Councilman Stephen Reid and Stafford Township Council President Henry Mancini.

The delegates at the conference were given face time with a panel of Ocean County’s mayors and municipal council members who shared their recent experiences with governing during and after Hurricane Sandy to the group.

Mayor Acropolis, when asked by the young republicans what was one of the biggest challenges he faced as Mayor in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, he replied, “Trying to get people back in their homes. The biggest problem is that once our town once took federal dollars, it seems like we’re no longer in charge of our town. The federal government came in and put in regulations and requirements.”

The Brick mayor has been an outspoken opponent to the way federal agencies performed during and after the storm.

On a more political note, Acropolis gave advice to those in the audience with future political aspirations. “If you have any interest in getting into politics or running for elected office, start now, don’t start two years before your election,” he said. “Just lead a good life because you can’t build your resume two years before you run for office. Be a good citizen, so when you decide to run, you already have your resume.”
 

BRICK – The New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) hosted a weekend community design program starting on April 27th at Emma Havens Young Elementary School on Drum Point Road, here, to help develop a plan to rebuild Camp Osborn in Brick Township, which was devastated by a fire after Hurricane Sandy.

The program, formally known as a Sustainable Design Assessment Team or SDAT, combined local resources with the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of professionals to create a viable solution for rebuilding the Route 35 community. The volunteer participants included architects, planners, engineers, landscape architects, attorneys, officials and stakeholders.

“As architects, we have the ability to not only rebuild structures, but entire communities,” said Jack Purvis, president of AIA-NJ. “In an effort to help rebuild one of our local communities, which was devastated by fire as a result of Sandy, we’re using an SDAT as tool to help mobilize local support and foster result-driven cooperation. This fast-paced, exciting program will help us design and rebuild Camp Osborn in a sustainable way as quickly as possible.” Read More

Photos-  Top: AIA Rendering of Camp Osborn.  Middle: Camp Osborn on fire by Sean Furey.  Bottom: Camp Osborn days after Sandy, still smoldering by Patrick Day, NYOnAir.

Topic focused on obesity surgery first; hurricane recovery second

by Phil Stilton

SEASIDE HEIGHTS – In an unannounced visit here, Governor Chris Christie sat down on May 7^th with NBC anchorman Brian Williams to talk about his ordeal as the Governor of a hurricane ravaged state.

The interview, recorded for Mr. Williams’ Rock Center variety news program, was conducted outside the Beachcomber Bar & Grill on the boardwalk, one of many businesses impacted by Hurricane Sandy last October.

When aired on television the following week, much of the start of the nearly 11-minute segment instead revolved around laparoscopic gastric band surgery the governor had in February. The program host began the segment telling viewers he and NBC had planned to interview the governor for many months about the conditions of the hurricane ravaged state in which he presides, but the topic was quickly changed to the pop tabloid topic of the week…Read More

by Kathleen Koch and Phil Stilton

SEASIDE HEIGHTS – What do three Democrats from the “Deep South” have in common with a Republican mayor from the Jersey Shore? They all know what it’s like to have a hurricane devastate their communities, and on Friday, May 17th, they all came together in here.

Seaside Heights Mayor Bill Akers hosted the delegation from Mississippi who came to meet with local mayors and officials and discuss the long term effects of Hurricane Katrina on their cities, including former United States Congressman Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), Mayor Brent Warr (D-Gulfport, Miss.) and Mayor Eddie Favre (D-Bay St. Louis, Miss.). All were elected officials when Hurricane Katrina struck their state in 2005.

Rep. Taylor, who lost his home in that Category 3 storm, tried to introduce legislation to reform the insurance industry to give homeowners more security after national disasters, but his bill never made it to the Senate floor for vote. The divide was between congressmen who represented coastal communities and those who did not. With Taylor’s 2010 election loss, supporters of reform were certain the legislation would die without his support, and it did. Today, New Jersey towns face the same insurance and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) problems his state was confronted with eight years earlier.

Seven weeks before Hurricane Katrina made landfall…Continue Reading

by Erik Weber

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP – It may have been several decades since they put down their social studies notebooks and picked up their badges, but for five of the seven current police chiefs serving in Ocean County, coming back to the halls of Central Regional High School here to reminisce about their early years in front of  the cameras of contemporary television students was a bit like coming home again.

The five – Toms River Chief Michael G. Mastronardy, Class of 1971; Tuckerton Chief Michael Caputo, Class of 1976; Ocean Gate Chief Reece J. Fisher, Class of 1985; Pine Beach Chief John M. Sgro, Class of 1987; and Berkeley Chief Karin T. DiMichele, nee Kane, Class of 1989 – arrived one by one to the parking lot of the school, once just a grass field when they all had attended, and entered a main entrance facing Forest Hills Parkway that was built years after they graduated. After photo opportunities and initial video interviews conducted by student Avery Jackson in another newer hallway honoring successful alumni, the five walked through an older part of the school – trading old stories as they passed the rows of lockers – and entered the current location of the student television studio, which once held Industrial Arts classes.

The two other Central Regional graduates currently serving as police chiefs – Seaside Heights Chief Thomas Boyd and Seaside Park Chief Francis Larkin – were unable to attend. Lt. Kevin C. Arnold, head of the Island Heights Police Department but not yet formally promoted to chief, is also an alumni.

Settling into a row of chairs before bright lights and a group of digital videocameras, the five opened up to student and host Angela Roberts for the station’s Community Spotlight program about their reaction to the changes around the school, how they learned they had all graduated from the same school, what they remembered most about their time here, and what they could offer as advice for contemporary students.

“So, pulling up into the parking lot and walking through those same hallways again, what felt different?” asked Ms. Roberts. “What has changed since how you remember it?”

Read More of this Story: http://issuu.com/oceansignal/docs/20130524_ocean_signal/7

MANTOLOKING–On May 2nd, to much media fan fare, the iconic home in the Barnegat Bay was removed.  Last week, Crowder Gulf removed the last home from the northern portion of the Barnegat Bay, which sat adjacent to the Mantoloking Bridge, with very little media fan fare.   The Ocean Signal was on scene for the removal.

Photos by Phil Stilton / Ocean Signal.

Over 100 homes to be razed through Toms River’s PPDR program

TOMS RIVER – Mayor Tom Kelaher is pleased to announce that the Township’s demolition program will begin this Saturday. “Our residents are eager to start the rebuilding process,” Kelaher said. Hurricane Sandy damaged over 6,500 homes on the barrier island and almost 4,000 homes on the mainland. “Most of the homes had some form of flooding, but a lot of the dwellings will need to be knocked down because of structural problems,” Kelaher stated.
Toms River residents with structurally damaged homes were mailed a packet of information encouraging them to enroll in the Township’s Private Property Debris Removal Program, or PPDR. Assistant Township Planner Erika Stahl has been assisting homeowners in registering for the PPDR program, which is free to residents who have homes that have been structurally damaged. Stahl says, “Enrollment in the program must be approved by FEMA, which can take a while because there are many steps involved.”
According to Public Works Director Lou Amoruso, “We are starting our demolition program on Saturday May 17th. We will begin by taking down a structure on Seagull Lane and then move onto Beier and Nichols Avenue in Ortley Beach.”
After the first round of Ortley Beach homes are demolished, the contractor will move onto the North Beach area and also homes on the mainland.
The Township’s Demolition program will cover the cost of demolition and removal of homes, if approved beforehand. The PPDR program will also cover the removal of debris such as sand, neighbor’s dwelling or buildings, and other debris that may have floated onto another property.

By Phil Stilton
Photo by Phil Stilton

TOMS RIVER—Shortly after announcing the creation of a municipal position to help Toms River Township residents navigate through the difficult networks of red tape involved with disaster recovery, Mayor Thomas Kelaher told the Ocean Signal today that the township has hired long time resident Trevor Newman for the job.

Mr. Newman will start his job as Disaster Recovery Ombudsman on Monday, May 20^th.  Initially, he will meet with township officials and department heads to work out a plan on how the township can begin to offer assistance to those negatively impacted by Sandy who are struggling to understand FEMA guidelines, insurance policies and to help them seek out available programs they may qualify for.

Shortly after the announcement of the position was made, Mr. Newman ironically tells us that he was sitting at the Band Wagon Diner on Route 37 and was thumbing through the inaugural issue of the Ocean Signal when he read the article about the Ombudsman position.

“I saw the article and read what the mayor was saying and thought, “That’s me”, so I sent him an email and my resume and some thoughts I had.  The rest, as they say, is history,” Mr. Newman said.

Newman, 67, who has lived in Toms River for 40 years, said he worked as a front line manager for Allstate insurance in property loss for 37 years.  He is a certified adjuster for the National Flood Insurance Program.

“When Katrina took place, most of the flood qualified people were sent to Louisiana,” he said.  “What they failed to recognize there were flood damages in other places and nobody was going to those places.”

Newman was tasked by his company to devise a plan to branch out beyond Louisiana and help those affected in other states by the hurricane, handling over 1,600 claims between the end of 2005 and 2006.

He also warned that there’s no quick solution to many of the problems residents in Toms River now face.  “We have a long way to go as a town and there are an awful lot of people who don’t understand the programs and that are where the problem lies, people need to know the programs available and how to wade through the mass of documentation to get back on their feet,” he said.   “Many people have expectations that their policies can’t meet and it’s because they didn’t understand the policies that they run into those problems, which isn’t unusual.”

Part of the problem, according to Newman is the complexity of the situation between insurance companies, FEMA and other programs designed to help people.

It’s a problem Mayor Kelaher and the township are fully aware of.  “We have a lot of residents who are overwhelmed with paperwork and the process involved in fixing up your home from Sandy,” Mr. Kelaher said.  “The purpose of the ombudsman is to help residents work through the steps, and assist with insurance problems, FEMA applications and grant programs.”

Newman concurs.

“It’s a complicated program on a good day, on a bad day it’s much worse,” he added.   “My hope is that I can clarify for people what they have and where they are going and help them make the necessary applications to get them on their feet.”

Newman said one of the ways he hopes to help people is by helping them properly fill out the right paperwork and in the right order to ease some of the pains sometimes associated with the recovery process.    He said during the process you have to be aware of everything, including municipal building codes, the permit process and the application processes for various assistance programs.

“You have to follow proper procedures to be successful,” he concluded.

Earlier today, the Union County Homicide Task Force and the Clark Police Department  issued an arrest warrant in the homicide of Joseph Galfy, Jr., which occurred in Clark, N.J. on May 12, 2013.

The  main suspect in the case was Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, a homeless man who was made famous on the internet as the “Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker”.

McGillvary is also known as Kai Lawrence, Caleb Kai Lawrence and Kai Nicodemus.

Galfy was found inside his home on Starlite Drive on May 13, 2013 after

officers were called to the residence for a welfare check. An autopsy performed the following day determined that Galfy died as a result of blunt force trauma, said Romankow.

Around 6:30 pm tonight, Lawrence was arrested at the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Philadelphia, by members of the Philadelphia Police Department.

McGillvary has been charged with the homicide of Joseph Galfy, Jr.   He will be processed in Philadelphia and returned to New Jersey in the coming days. His bail was previously set at $3 million and he will be lodged in the Union County Jail in Elizabeth.

“I am grateful for the overwhelming response and dedicated effort by the public and law enforcement that led to this arrest,” said Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow. “I believe that everyone is a little safer with this person off the streets.”

Investigators learned earlier in the day, McGillvary had cut his hair in an attempt to alter his appearance, and was  seen at a light rail station in Haddonfield.

The Union County Homicide Task Force worked with local, state, and Federal officials to locate McGillvary.