Thursday, May 9, 2013
Island Beach will not be included in Army Corps of Engineers' dune and beach replenishment program
South Seaside Park resident Donald Whiteman's family has lived on the barrier island section of Berkeley Township for seven decades. And they know a washout from a storm when they see one, going all the way back to the Hurricane of 1938, he has said at more than one Berkeley Township Council meeting. Whiteman again urged township officials at the May 5 meeting to pressure the state Department of Environmental Protection to include Island Beach in the Army Corps of Engineers dune and beach replenishment program. "Residents in South Seaside Park who stayed during the storm recognized there was more than one breach," he said. "Island Beach had about five washouts." Whiteman was one of those who rode out the storm. He noticed problems at the …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Park now opened from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Island Beach State Park has returned to pre-Superstorm Sandy hours and more of the park has been opened to visitors, state Department of Environmental Protection Commission Bob Martin said. “We are keeping pace with the Christie Administration’s goal of having all of our state parks, including Island Beach State Park, fully operational for the peak summer season,” Martin said. “Having this popular destination getting closer to normal operations is emblematic of the state’s drive to have the Shore open for business this summer.’’ The park is now open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for all guests. Fishing access has also been extended to 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The DEP recently awarded a $268,000 contract to a New Brunswick-based Tekton Development Corp…
Monday, April 29, 2013
Many storm victims have become Sandy zombies
They are easy to spot. They don't smile much. They look tired. They are tired. They are numb. They are the Sandy zombies. They are fried emotionally and physically from half a year of battling to go home, if they still have a home to go to. I am a Sandy zombie. Is it possible it's been half a year since that horrific day and night when Superstorm Sandy blasted the Jersey Shore and changed some lives forever? Six months since we left our Bayville home with three terrified cats and made our way to family in Toms River? Six months since we've been living in a basement? We knew Sandy was going to be bad, even when we evacuated at noon on Oct. 29. Trees were already toppling in Pine Beach, taking down power lines. But we didn't know then we …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Township Council unanimously approves resolution for bill that would amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968
Sam Cammarato's upscale home at the end of Teakwood Drive in the Glen Cove section of Bayville was slammed hard by Superstorm Sandy last Oct. 29. And like too many others, Cammarato - who heads the Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition - is worried about raising his house and paying astronomical flood insurance premiums. "I am absolutely petrified I will not be able to continue to pay these outrageous flood insurance premiums everyone has been talking about," he said during the public portion of the April 22 Township Council meeting. Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said he, Council President James J. Byrnes and Councilman John A. Bacchione met earlier this week with Congressman Jon Runyan to discuss a number of Sandy-related issues. One of them …
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Goal is to have entire park open for peak summer season, access to park is free until May, DEP commissioner says
More sections of Island Beach State Park are now open to the public, nearly half a year after Superstorm Sandy tore through the park's dunes and damaged facilities. Roughly five miles of beach access points - more than half of the nearly 10-mile park - are now open, state Department of Environmental Commissioner Bob Martin said. The park will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, for the first time since Oct. 29, the day Sandy roared into Ocean County. “Thanks to the hard work of park staff, partnerships, volunteers and contractors, we have seen considerable progress in the cleanup and restoration of Island Beach State Park,” Martin said in a statement Friday. “This is all part of the Christie Administration’s plan to have a strong summer…
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The long slog to recovery is taking a toll
Show me the way to go home. Five months? Has it really been five months since the monster Superstorm Sandy roared into Ocean County and changed the landscape for all time? Has it really been five months since we fled our Bayville home and moved into my son and daughter-in-law's basement? I remember hoping in those first dark weeks that we might be back in time for Christmas. We are still out. It took awhile for reality to sink in. It took some time to realize that recovery, for many, won't happen quickly. And for some, it won't happen at all. I met a woman who lives on Cove Road West in Bayville at the township's informational session on home elevation recently. She moved into her house about 15 years ago and happily began making it a home…
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Friends of Island Beach State Park's Osprey Cam is up and running
The waiting game is over. The osprey who make Island Beach State Park their home each spring and summer are returing to the park that was heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy. Their return was a bright spot after a dismal winter and early spring marred by Superstorm Sandy The Friends of Island Beach paid $10,000 back in October 2011 for the solar-powered "Osprey Cam," which runs day and night. The camera and platform were battered by the massive storm and had to be repaired. The camera was reinstalled a few weeks ago and the wait began. This morning, one osprey was spotted on the nest near the park's Interpretive Center, several miles in from the entrance, according to the FOIB's facebook page. Berkeley Patch will continue to update the …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Latest Berkeley Township informational session focused on the art of raising homes
Think raising homes is a relatively new practice in a time of increasingly severe weather? Think again. Nearly 100 years ago, homes were being elevated on Galveston Island in Texas, four years after the devastating hurricane that swept away thousands of lives. Early elevation techniques of homes on the island involved "very primitive" wood cribbing and manual jacks. But as the practice took hold and bulkheads were built around the island, lives were saved in future storms, said Roderick Scott, a hazard mitigation and historic resource specialist for Louisiana-based L&R Resources. Scott was the key speaker at an "Elevation 101" informational session hosted by Berkeley Township officials at the Berkeley Township Elementary School on …
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
State to update community on the status of the concept of constructing a new facility locally
As the closure of Oyster Creek Generating Station inches closer, the township and state continue to work on the concept of constructing a new facility locally and will be seeking public input on Wednesday, April 24 at the Lacey Middle School. Officials from the townships of Lacey, Ocean and Barnegat recently met with the state Department of Planning Advocacy to discuss the next phase of locating a new generating facility in Lacey Township by 2019, when the operation of Oyster Creek will cease. “As far as moving forward, it’s important,” Lacey Mayor David Most said. “This is a long process and I’m looking forward to the state and the different organizations coming together looking for input from all our residents.” The state is looking to …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Identification pending notice of next of kin, Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Says
There were no apparent indications of foul play in the discovery of a body of a man in his sixties in Double Trouble State Park, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office says. "The cause of death is pending an autopsy," said Executive Assistant Prosecutor Michel A. Paulhus. "It doesn't appear to be anything criminal." Authorities from the Prosecutor's Office and the Ocean County Medical Examiner's Office were at the park off Pinewald-Keswick Road after midnight last night. Information on the area of the 8,495 acre park the body was found in and the time the man was discovered are not yet available, Paulhus said. The man's identification is being withheld until next of kin are notified, he said. Come back to Berkeley Patch later for more …
Joe
9:39 am on Saturday, May 11, 2013
Big mistake for the state to buy that property in the first place. Someone mades lots of money and the state wasted money on something they did not need. Makes ya wonder don't it? more ›