Manasquan Borough Awarded $4 Million Grant to Help Pay for Superstorm Sandy Clean-Up

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Manasquan Borough Awarded $4 Million Grant to Help Pay for Superstorm Sandy Clean-Up

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FREEHOLD, N.J., Jan 7, 2014 | comments

Manasquan Mayor George Dempsey outlines Congressman Smith's work in fighting for Sandy recovery assistance at the November 2013 groundbreaking of a beach reconstruction project. Smith and the mayor walked through residential and beach areas in the days after the storm.
Construction workers, borough council, Mayor Dempsey, Congressman Smith and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers toss the first official sand of a project that will ultimately see the pumping of 1.5 million tons of off-shore sand back onto the beach.
Mayor Dempsey and Congressman Smith on beach listen to USACE Chief of Coastal Restoration and & Special Projects, Anthony Ciorra as he explains how the pumping and construction will proceed.

Manasquan Borough has been awarded a $4 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help pay for clean-up costs from Superstorm Sandy.

    “I was in Manasquan in the aftermath of the storm with Mayor Dempsey and it was a scene of destruction—crumbled homes, wrecked businesses and impassable streets everywhere,” Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said. “This funding is critical. No small town like Manasquan Borough can absorb these costs without help from the federal government.”

    “I am so glad we reached out to Congressman Smith because his office did phenomenal work and got the money from FEMA that we couldn’t get,” said Mayor George Dempsey. “The Congressman was down here a few days after the storm; we walked the beach together and he was truly concerned.”

    This award will provide $4,052,255 in Federal funding to Manasquan to pay for massive loading, hauling, and disposal of debris as a result of Hurricane Sandy. The funding is in addition to over $960,000 previously awarded by FEMA. To date, Manasquan has been awarded $5.01 million to help pay 90 percent of $5.57 million in clean-up costs for work performed between October 29, 2012, to March 6, 2013.

    Manasquan used a combination of township employees and hired contractors to transport and dispose of 19,729 cubic yards of vegetative debris; 82,349 cubic yards of construction/demolition debris; 768 tons of concrete; and other debris materials. In addition, the work included about 625,000 cubic yards of sand which was relocated from public areas to the beach for dune repairs, and the sifting and hauling of an estimated 550 cubic yards of sand and the removal of leaning trees. The debris was properly disposed of in permitted sites.

    In November, Congressman Smith held a groundbreaking ceremony in Manasquan with Mayor Dempsey, borough council and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to kick-off a $25 million beach reconstruction project funded by the federal government through the Army Corps’ Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies program. Dredging will take approximately 125 days to complete. The project will pump roughly 1,500,000 cubic yards of sand onto Manasquan, Sea Girt, Spring Lake and Belmar beaches.

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