Keep your fingers crossed.

Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. is hoping that residents of South Seaside Park, Pelican Island and neighboring Seaside Park will be able to return to their homes by Dec. 20, if all goes well.

"My goal is to get our residents home before Christmas," Amato said.

Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele is drafting a repopulation plan for the two sections that will have to be submitted "through the chain of command," the mayor said.

The plan must first be approved by the Ocean County Office of Emergency Management, then the State Office of Emergency Management, and finally by Gov. Chris Christie, he said.

"We have had our engineering department review the infrastructure and they have deemed the roads safe," Amato said. "Our sewerage authority has notified us the sewer system is operational. Shore Water Company has notified our engineering department the system is operational and the water is safe."

Township police, public works and the inspection department have been providing service to the areas since Superstorm Sandy and the fire and first aid companies are prepared for residents to return, the mayor said.

Jersey Central Power & Light has restored power to the area and New Jersey Natural Gas will complete meter rebuilds by today, Amato said.

"We have worked very diligently to get to this point and we are very optimistic that we will receive approval," he said. "In coordination, Seaside Park will be submitting a similar plan with the same target date. This make sense to repopulate at the same time."