FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Christie Administration Announces Post-Sandy Planning Grant to Little Ferry Borough

Grant Will Help Sandy-Impacted Local Government with
Long-Term Recovery and Resiliency Planning


Trenton, NJ – New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III today announced the award of a $92,500 Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grant to Little Ferry in Bergen County. The borough will utilize the grant award to prepare comprehensive long-range plans designed to enable the community to become resilient in the event of future significant weather events.

This is the second Post-Sandy Planning Grant awarded to Little Ferry, which is located on the Hackensack River and suffered substantial Sandy-related damage. The Borough was awarded its first planning grant in October 2013, and used the $27,000 grant to complete a Strategic Recovery Planning Report, which serves as the Borough’s primary guide for actions it takes moving forward to recover from Sandy and reduce its vulnerability to future storms.

“We applaud Little Ferry for being proactive in planning for the long term and developing ways to make their community better able to withstand potential future natural disasters,” said Commissioner Constable, whose Department is administering many of the Sandy Recovery programs for the State. “As one of the first local governments to be awarded Phase 2 planning grants, Little Ferry has demonstrated its commitment to finding solutions to the very specific challenges they are facing.”

Located largely within the Meadowlands, Little Ferry suffered severe damage during Superstorm Sandy. The tidal surge which topped the berm in the Meadowlands inundated approximately 80 percent of the Borough with water, leaving a wake of destruction in its most vulnerable residential areas.  Within these areas are homes and small businesses serving community needs.

The Borough’s Strategic Recovery Planning Report identified projects which will be funded by the Phase 2 grant. These include:

  • Streamline the Planning Board and Zoning Board application and approval process;
  • Use the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s known contaminated sites list to identify sites whose clean-up and re-use would create the most economic and environmental benefit to Little Ferry;
  • Create streetscape design standards for Liberty Street, Main Street and Washington Avenue that will address aesthetics, circulation and flood mitigation; and
  • Analyze alternative routes for extending Riser Road, looking closely at impacts on flood water storage areas and evacuation routes.

 

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 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.

CONTACT:
Lisa Ryan
Sean Conner
(609) 292-6055