Rebuild Efforts Underway, But Parts of Berkeley Still A 'Ghost Town'

Despite several ongoing efforts throughout the area to rebuild since Superstorm Sandy, at least one Council member remarked at the regular town meeting last night that months after the storm, certain parts of the township remain "a ghost town."

James J. Byrnes said that on the Fourth of July weekend, he took his boat  toward the Good Luck Point section, and "only about 10% of the houses had all their lights on … this was Fourth of July weekend, and it was a ghost town."

Byrnes made his remarks shortly after Mayor Carmen F. Amato updated the Council and meeting attendees on several Sandy-related developments, including central region waterway debris removal and reconstruction of Route 35. 

Amato noted that the state has updated town officials on waterway debris removal from the central region,  which includes, Brick, Toms River, Lacey, and other areas. State officials are reporting that some 58,750 tons of debris, 103 vessels, four vehicles, and tons of sediment has already been removed.

Byrnes noted that debris removal also needs to be a priority on land.

"Here we are months after the storm, and we have some people leaving their houses sit empty, or they patch it just enough to get it rented," Byrnes said. "I think we should really wait a few weeks ..and then start noticing those houses that are in disrepair. People are investing a lot of money to rebuild this town, and to have an out-of-town or local slumlord keep these houses going in disrepair ... we need to start hammering them."

Amato also reported on another Sandy-related clean up effort - the Route 35 reconstruction. He discussed the details of the project, and noted that on July 9, from 4 to 7 p.m., a public information meeting will be held for local property owners at Lavallette Elementary School, which will review what the reconstruction plans entail.

On a related note, Amato also commented on the Supreme Court opinion that was issued on dune easements - which threw out a jury award received by a Harvey Cedars couple after a sliver of land in front of their home was taken for dune replenishment. Amato  noted that the township is only waiting on two associations for signatures - which are not disputing - and he said, "we are pretty happy with the ruling today."