The State Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee toured the damaged areas of Union Beach and Highlands today before convening their scheduled hearing at the Henry Hudson Regional High School in Highlands.
State Senator Joe Kyrillos, who represents the Bayshore in Trenton, issued the following statement following the hearing:
Touring the damage today in Union Beach and Highlands gave my colleagues in the Senate a good visual of the destruction this storm wrought on our district and Monmouth County as a whole. However, the testimony from members of the community who are putting their lives back together best illustrated the anguish and exhaustion our friends and neighbors are going through. I thank members of the Committee for coming out to the Bayshore today.
They also got to see the best New Jerseyans have to offer: neighbors helping neighbors, residents rebuilding with dedication and courage, and the generosity of charities such as the Robin Hood Foundation that announced today their contribution of hundreds of thousands of dollars to relief efforts in Sea Bright, Highlands, Keansburg, and Union Beach.
As FEMA continues to assess the damage and make plans to compensate victims and help them rebuild, I encourage them to remember words of the residents who came to Highlands to testify. The perception that the New Jersey shoreline is only for wealthy vacationers who live elsewhere is a false one. This area is full of hard-working, middle class families whose homes have been in their families for generations and will have a difficult time rebuilding what they’ve lost even with flood insurance. It is incumbent upon us to work together and ensure they are able to rebuild their homes to the condition in which they existed prior to the storm, or help them find a new home elsewhere if rebuilding in certain areas is too dangerous. Only then will their lives truly be made whole after this unique event.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon said that the tour and the hearing dispelled any notion that some legislators have heard from their consitituients that FEMA and the State are bailing out exclusively well to do and second home owners on the shore who should have known better than the build near the water.
“This one was different,” said O’Scanlon, “properties were never touched by previous major storms and hurricanes were destroyed this time. Hard working familes whose homes have been passed down four generations lost everything. Every town is different and it is appropriate that the Committee came and meet the people of the Bayshore.”
Highlands Mayor Frank L. Nolan gave FEMA a “D” when asked to grade the federal agency by Senator Jeff Van Drew. “Do you say B?” ask Van Drew. “D, as in not good,” responded Nolan.
Nolan gave the FEMA personnel on the ground an A+, saying his issues are with the agency’s bueracracy and red tape.
Nolan also announced that the Rainbow Foundation has pledged $200,ooo for Highlands recovery.
Councilwoman-elect Tara Ryan asked the committee to keep up the pressure on the National Park Service to open Sandy Hook by this summer, citing the park’s importance to the Northern Monmouth economy.
A growing group of Jersey Shore musicians lead by producer Rick Korn and musical director Michael Mancini are raising money and the spirits of Jersey Shore residents with a concert to support the Rebuild The Jersey Shore efforts on Sunday November 25 in Highlands at the Seastreak Ferry terminal, 325 Shore Drive, at 2 p.m.
The Rebuild The Jersey Shore Band And Friends includes members of the Asbury Jukes, Glenn Alexander, Tony Seguso and bass player Tony Tino. The expanding list of artists scheduled to perform in the Hope for Highlands Concert includes Bob Bandiera, Bob Burger, Lisa Bouchelle, Lisa Lowell, Layonne Holmes, and saxophone legend Tommy LaBella.
Admission to the concert is free. Food and beer will be sold by local restaurants and merchants at the “Taste of Highlands” food court, with profits going to Highlands survivors. There is a $10 parking fee at the Seastreak parking lots in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, which will also go to those impacted by Sandy. Seastreak will provide free ferry service to the concert from Atantic Highlands. There will also be ferry service from New York leaving from E 34th and Pier 11. A $65 fee will include the round trip boat ride, food and the concert. Excess proceeds will go to support Highlands’ Sandy survivors.
The money raised through the concert will be administered by “Hope for Highlands”, a fund set up through the non-profit Highlands Business Partnership under the direction of Mayor Frank Nolan and Councilwoman Rebecca Kane. The Hope for Highlands Fund is designed to go directly to the people and businesses in Highlands that need it most.
“Highlands, like so many devastated small towns up and down the Jersey Shore, was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Sandy”, said Nolan,” This half square mile middle class fishing village, has been devastated with severe damage to over 1200 of its 1500 downtown homes and almost all of its businesses.”
Highlands, the first stop on the Jersey Shore, is known for its spectacular restaurants, Sandy Hook, Historic Twin Lights and its fishing and clamming industry.
“The loss of these homes and businesses has had a ripple effect on the community beyond the norm because many of the residents worked and lived in the town”, said Borough Administrator Tim Hill, “An economically challenged town before the storm, this community is now faced with not only the loss of their homes but many have also lost their jobs.”
Limited Service Out Of Highlands Only. Commuters To Enter Highlands From Linden Ave/Route 36 Only
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno comes through with additional police support
Seastreak LLC will resume ferry service between Highlands and Manhattan on Monday November 5 on a limited schedule.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, Mayor Frank Nolan, Police Chief Joseph Blewet, members of the Highlands Borough Council and representatives of Seastreak met this afternoon to resolve the community’s security concerns. Nolan told MMM that Seastreak has agreed to provide additional security lighting and that Guadagno promised 6 additional law enforcement officers to manage the flow of traffic while protecting the residents and their property.
Downtown Highlands was under 8-10 feet of water during Superstorm Sandy. Only borough residents and their accompanied guests have been allowed past the police check points at the entrances to the riverside side community since the storm ended.
Seastreak ticket holders must abide by the following restrictions:
Access to and from the Highlands facility will be limited to Linden Avenue only.
A checkpoint will be in place which will limit access to ticket holders only, so please have your ticket ready to show at the checkpoint to keep traffic flowing as you arrive into town.
Seastreak will have ticketing staff at the checkpoint for customers who need to purchase tickets.
Seastreak encourages carpooling.
With the limited access to and from the Highlands facility, please allow ample time to arrive on time for your departure.
“I’m happy to see that even in their darkest hour the residents of Highlands, specifically Mayor Nolan, stepped up to help others,” said Guadagno, “this is what makes New Jersey great.”
Nolan’s home was destroyed in the storm. He and his family are temporarily living in the shelter in town.
Seastreak announced the following limited schedule:
Departures from Highlands will be:
6:00am, 7:00am, 8:00am and 8:55am
Returns from East 35th St. and Pier 11 will be:
4:15pm E.35th St./4:40pm Pier 11
5:10pm E. 35th St./5:30pm Pier 11
6:30pm E. 35th St./6:45pm Pier 11
7:30pm E. 35th St./7:45pm Pier 11
The ferry service hopes to have their Atlantic Highlands location operating by mid-week
Congressman Frank Pallone told residents of Highlands that the devastation they’re suffering through is the worst that he has seen as he has toured his district.
In introducing the congressman to the residents attending an Emergency Information Meeting, Mayor Frank Nolan said that Pallone had been instrumental in getting federal assistance through FEMA to come to town.
Pallone pledge his support in rebuiling the community.
Following the public information session, Pallone met privately with members of the governing body to discuss funding for emergency housing for displaced residents.
Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan and Police Chief Joseph Blewet announced to an Emergency Information Meeting this afternoon that the borough’s restrictive access to downtown Highlands will continue for the foreseeable future and that as of now commuters will not be allowed to enter the town on Monday for ferry service to Manhattan.
Highlands has been closed to non-residents all week since the evacuation for Hurricane Sandy. Police check points are in place at the two entrances to the community…at the base of the Captain Joseph Azzolina Bridge and at the corner of Waterwitch and Linden Avenues…no one without identification with a Highlands address or accompanied by a Highlands resident are allowed beyond the check points.
Blewet said there had been “a dozen or so” looting incidents reported and that the check points would continue until power is restored to the community. The Highlands Police Department is being supported by officers from the State Attorney General’s office, the State Police, and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.
Nolan told MMM that Highlands would need at least three additional police officers inorder to allow commuters into town or the full restoration of power to the borough. Highlands is not yet on JCPL’s schedule for power restoration, according to the information they provided the Christie Administration.
Seastreak LLC, the ferry service that operates out of Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, sent an email to the customers on November 2 announcing that Nolan “will lift the public access restrictions” and that service would resume on Monday November 5. The same message emailed was posted on the company’s website.
Jack Bevins, the Seastreak manager in charge at the Highlands Connors location told MMM that the company was indeed planning to resume limited service on Monday. He said the Highlands OEM Director David Parker had given him permission, subject to a conversation with Blewet. “This is the first I’ve heard there was a problem,” Bevins said when informed of Nolan’s and Blewet’s announcement. He immediately left his crew that was restoring access to the fleet to speak with Blewet.
In Atlantic Highlands, Mayor Fred Rast and Harbor Commission Chairwoman Jane Frotton laughed at the notion of Seastreak operating out of their harbor on Monday. The company’s announcement said they “hoped” to be able to resume service in Atlantic Highlands on Tuesday. Rast and Frotton said the barge would have to be replaced and parking at the Senior Housing cleared before commuters would be allowed into Atlantic Highlands. Tuesday appears to be a pipedream.
Highlands resident Derek Gordon street kayaking after this afternoon's storm. Photo credit: Brian Cobb
The center of town, which is both residential and business, is at a lower elevation than the shore line. During a storm, water comes from the Sandy Hook Bay/Shrewsbury River and storm water comes rushing down to the below sea level downtown from “the hill,” the highest elevation on the east coast of the United States which includes parts of Highlands and the Monmouth Hills section of Middletown. During a big storm at high tide and a full moon, downtown Highlands looks like Venice without the charm and romance.
Councilman Chris Francy convinced the rest of the governing body to have T&M Associates, the borough’s engineers, design a flood mitigation system that includes new pumps and pipes to get the water out of town and back into the bay/river. The project is said to be “shovel ready” and will cost roughly $4 million dollars. The governing body is applying to FEMA to cover $2.2 million of the cost. Congressman Frank Pallone is on board to advocate for the project with FEMA. At a town hall meeting on Monday night, Francy, Pallone and Mayor Frank Nolan said that Highlands is currently number three on FEMA’s list of such projects in New Jersey but that only two will be approved. Pallone is working to get Highlands bumped up on the list and secure the funding. That might be good for Highlands and bad for a community along the Passaic River.
The governing body is set to vote on a resolution tonight that will put the project on the ballot in November as a non-binding referendum. The referendum would ask the voters consent to fund the entire project without FEMA money.
Fresh off her 2010 defeat at the hands of Congressman Frank Pallone, former Highlands Mayor Anna Little blamed the fact that she lost in her hometown by 55* votes on the lack of sophistication of her constituents and colleagues on the borough’s governing body.
Little told Politickernj her Highlands loss “was likely to involve some borough employees” who would could be effected by a layoff plan she had agreed to support. One month after the election, lame duck Little killed the layoff plan by voting with the Democrats on the governing body over the objections of her fellow Republicans.
“The council is not politically savvy,” Little said, “They were running too.”
“I think there’s some feeling that I left them behind, too,” she said. “I’m their mayor, and I’m off doing something else. (But they don’t understand), everything I do outside of Highlands will relate back to Highlands.”
Little was the only Republican on the ballot in Highlands who lost in 2010. Republican Frank Nolan was elected Mayor to replace Little. Shaun Golden was elected Sheriff. Rob Clifton and Tom Arnone were elected Freeholder. We’d give you their numbers in Highlands, but the County Clerk’s Office hasn’t gotten around to posting the official election results of 2010 and 2011 on their website.
* News reports at the time indicated that Little lost Highlands by 76 votes. When mail in and provisional ballots were counted the loss was by 55 votes.
Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan at Wyndmoor Condos 12:30 AM September 3
Yesterday afternoon JCP&L Government Affairs Rep Roberta Sheridan told Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan that tonight’s first crew would be dispatched to Highlands at 10PM to restore power to the Wyndmoor Condominiums.
Nolan held a public information meeting for Highlands residents Friday evening. There were about 100 residents there, 40 from Wyndmoor. Meals had been provided earlier in the day at the community center. Too bad showers couldn’t be provided. Nolan relayed JCP&L’s commitment to a respectful, yet frustrated and skeptical crowd .
At 11:30 a JCP&L rep, Jackie, told Nolan that the crew was in Union Beach heading to Highlands. Nolan headed to Wyndmoor where he found residents Dick McCormick and Ray Goddard waiting. McCormick had been waiting since 9:30.
Ray Goddard, Mayor Frank Nolan and Dick McCormick, a 12:15 AM September 3, waiting for JCP&L's crew to arrive at Wyndmoor Condos to restore power for 125 families
Wyndmoor has 125 electrical customers. At 11:12 PM on Friday, JCP&L posted that only 79 Highlands customers were without power.
Goddard sent me at text at 11:27, “no trucks at Wyndmoor.”
The trucks showed up at 1:17 AM. The power finally went on at 7:20 AM.
Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan and a JCP&L lineman, 1:30 AM, September 3, 2011
Declaring that it was not a partisan issue but an individual decision, Highlands Mayor Anna Little again joined the two Democrats on Highlands Council in approving a amendment to the Highlands PBA contract, over the objections of her Republican successor, Council President Frank Nolan, and her Republican predecessor, Councilman Rick O’Neil.
In introducing the resolution to the public, Little distributed the statement she posted on her facebook page over the weekend.
Little said that the new agreement would result in a saving of $500,000 to Highlands taxpayers vs. a net savings of $34,000 had the resolution failed, which would have resulted in layoffs of three police officer. During her remarks, Little admitted the numbers in her statement were her “beliefs” and the result of assumptions regarding police overtime of $18,000 per month provided by the Police Chief. She admitted that her numbers had not been certified by the Chief Financial Officer.
Little addressed the penalties in the new agreement only after Nolan brought them up. Nolan asserted that Little’s calculations were off by at least $300,000, which she disputed. Nolan argued that the council should not accept the penalities knowing that there will very likely layoffs necessary that will trigger the penalites. At that point Little scolded Nolan for speaking out of turn regarding Executive Session matters that council had not agreed to make public.
