Wall Township in Monmouth County has received preliminary approval for a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has awarded nearly $1.7 million to help pay for the extensive clean-up that resulted from Superstorm Sandy, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said Monday.

    The award provides $1,684,493.01 in Federal funding to Wall to pay for the loading, hauling, and disposal of debris as a result of Superstom Sandy. The Township utilized its own Department of Public Works workforce and equipment to remove 31,251 cubic yards of debris. Three temporary staging areas were used to store the debris until final disposal was done by the contractors. The township also rented equipment, purchased materials and hired contractors to remove 48,028 cubic yards of debris. The contractors hauled the debris to the Lertch Recycling Center, Belmar Boulevard, Wall, for final disposal. The total quantity of debris removed was 79,279 cubic yards, and cost of removal was $1,871,659.

    “Nearly a year ago Wall was among the towns hit hard by Sandy,” said Smith, who toured damage in Wall and other shore towns following the superstorm and who took a lead role in obtaining $60 billion in federal disaster relief funding for Superstorm Sandy victims. “The human costs in terms of disruption of homelife, community and commerce was near immeasurable, and for many people, catastrophic. But local workers rolled up their sleeves and went to work to reopen their town and get back on track to normalcy. Meanwhile, municipal governments incurred never-before-seen expenses added to their town budgets. This funding will help offset the financial impact on the township’s budget and local taxes.”

    “We are delighted that FEMA is reimbursing Wall Township over $1.6 million for damages we incurred during Sandy, and we really appreciate all the help that Congressman Smith’s office has given us in getting resolution on this,” said Wall Mayor Todd Luttman. “This award reimburses the Township for work that was done on behalf of Wall residents by our Township employees.”

    At a meeting in his Washington Office over the summer, Smith personally appealed to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate to approve a 90 percent federal share for FEMA funding going to Jersey towns to pay for cleanup costs—instead of the initially planned 75 percent. Fugate approved the 90 percent ratio several weeks later.

    “Fortunately, Wall is expected to receive federal government assistance covering 90 percent of the cost of this clean-up, with the town’s cost share set at 10 percent,” Smith said. “The increase in the federal cost-share will save the township an additional estimated $280,000.”