Friday Deadline for Point Beach Hazard Mitigation Grant Applications

Any Sandy-flooded residents in Point Beach who want to apply for a Hazard Mitigation Grant have to submit applications by Friday.

The funding is to help residents afford the cost of elevating their homes to heights called for in the Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in December, said Lori Thompson, grants manager at T & M Associates, the town's engineering firm, at Tuesday night's Point Beach Council meeting.

Friday is the deadline for residents and property owners in Point Beach to submit their applications to Thompson, who is accepting them for the town. The town then has a March 22 deadline to submit them to Ocean County.

The county will submit applications to the state Office of Emergency Management which will submit them to FEMA.

The grants are competitive and there is no guarantee that any applicants will receive funding.

Anyone receiving funding through the Hazard Mitigation Grant program will be bound by deed restrictions to have flood insurance for as long as they own the property, Thompson said.

Property owners applying for their primary homes and whose homes have been substantially damaged tend to be "ranked higher" in the competitive process of issuing grants compared to those applying for secondary homes or whose properties were not substantially damaged, Thompson said.

Thompson said for those who may not know all of the information called for in the application, they should simply complete the sections asking for name, address and "resident location." She said she can help complete some of the other sections if necessary.

For more information, contact Thompson at (732) 671-6411 extension 1440 or lthompson@tandmassociates.com.

Applications must be submitted by email or mail to lthompson@tandmassociates.com or T&M Associates, 11 Tindall Road, Middletown, NJ 07748 ATTN: Point Pleasant Beach FEMA HMP, by Friday.

For more information on the grant, see the home page of the municipal website.

Point Beach had announced a few weeks ago that it would participate in the grant program.