December 20, 2013 - Sandy Recovery - Christie Administration Announces Post-Sandy Planning Grants for Woodbridge and South River
Christie Administration Announces Post-Sandy Planning Grants for Woodbridge and South River
Grants Will Help Sandy-Impacted Local Governments with Long-Term Recovery Planning
Trenton, NJ – In the Christie Administration’s ongoing effort to promote sound, sustainable long-term recovery from Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III today announced the award of Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grants to two more Middlesex County municipalities to develop long-range plans to become resilient in the event of future significant weather events.
The DCA committed $28,000 to Woodbridge and $10,000 to South River, both of which lost significant tax revenue due to Superstorm Sandy. In their applications, the municipalities demonstrated how the grants will enable them to plan for greater community resiliency.
“The grants will enable Woodbridge and South River to develop Strategic Recovery Planning Reports to serve as the local government’s primary guide for actions they take moving forward to recover from Sandy and to reduce their vulnerability to future disasters,” said Commissioner Constable, whose Department is administering many of the Sandy Recovery programs for the state. “They will also assist these towns in identifying ways to encourage sustainable economic growth.”
Grant money can be specifically put towards community development and neighborhood plans, development of design standards specific to flood hazard areas, and development of codes, ordinances, standards and regulations necessary to implementing plans for resiliency and mitigation.
To date, the DCA has received grant requests from local governments for $4.5 million of the $5 million program fund. Edison Township received a $30,000 Post-Sandy Planning Grant in the first round of awards announced October 1.
The Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grants are funded through Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery monies provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The $5 million program is available to each of the nine counties most impacted by Sandy as determined by HUD (Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union) and all of the municipalities within those counties that have experienced a ratable loss of at least 1% or $1 million due to the storm.
Applications for Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grants are still being accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis by the DCA’s Office of Local Planning Services, which is administering the program, until all funds are exhausted.
For more information on Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grants, go to http://www.nj.gov/dca/services/lps/pspag.html.
Lisa Ryan
Sean Conner
(609) 292-6055
