Residents of South Seaside Park need to be prepared to be out of their homes at least four to six months, Berkeley officials said on Tuesday evening.
"I was in a room today with the attorney general and the colonel of the state police and none of them could answer that question," Berkeley Township Police Chief Karin DiMichele said to Dave Haldane of Roberts Avenue. Haldane had come to the Berkeley Township Council meeting to get some guidance on how long he should plan to rent a place to live while he is unable to live in his home.
"Figure on at least four to six months," DiMichele said. "It's going to take at least that long."
In the first few days after Hurricane Sandy tore through the Jersey Shore, estimates were given that the barrier island from Bay Head to Island Beach State Park would be out of commission for six to eight months because of damage to the natural gas piping. Officials from New Jersey Natural Gas denied those reports, saying it was too soon to tell.
On Tuesday night, Mayor Carmen Amato said officials from the gas company said the gas main that feeds the entire barrier island suffered major damage. (At the Seaside Heights Borough Council meeting on Wednesday, Mayor William Akers said the 12-inch main ruptured where Sandy broke through the island near the Mantoloking bridge.)
"The gas main is above the ground now" in Mantoloking, Amato said, due to erosion caused by the storm.
In addition, there is significant work to be done to the electrical infrastructure, said Berkeley Sgt. George Dohn, of the township's assistant emergency management coordinators.
"The salt water has rusted all the bolts" on the utility poles, Dohn said, and the township hopes to get JCP&L to replace those as well.
"The work is extensive," DiMichele said.
JCPL has turned on the street lights. Our electrical box passed but my husband had to race to the Building Inspectors office with 8 pieces of paper before JCPL would restore the power. That was two days ago and when my husband returned no JCPL so we live with a small generator and freeze. In the beginning no food or even coffee and people to comfort the distraught. It was London after the blitz but no one visited other than the President of the Town Council, Jim Byrnes, and our beloved mailman, Ed, who brought me a sandwich and coffee when he was off duty and wouldn't take a dime, Fema no longer does much of anything: it's a loan program and while you pay them back, you must continue to pay your mortgage and ever increasing property taxes. It's becoming more attractive to just walk away from Berkeley Township which unlike Ocean Gate, has received the support of everyone from miles around. Berkeley just doesn't talk about Good Luck Point so not a church bus from anywhere has shown up.
If we had a Mayor who worked full time we could save the money paid towards pay, pensions and benefits by eliminating the Town Administrator's job completely and filling it instead with a full time Mayor. Employment is way down in NJ and it would seem only fair, never mind prudent, to limit civil "service" jobs to one per nuclear household. And if the remaining left over jobs are real, let them be granted by merit to the unemployed who qualify or to any citizen who has the proper credentials. The payroll of our civil "servants" and their ludicrous pensions are bankrupting this State by letting the in crowd hold down as many jobs as they can find and by sitting on Commissions that also pay big bucks. Why ask those who do actually work a full day to cough up more and more money to fund the greedy amongst us?
Electrical Service Restoration November 20, 2012 IMPORTANT UPDATE Electrical Service Restoration The Borough of Seaside Park, in coordination with the Borough’s OEM, the Building and Construction Department, the Borough Engineer, and JCP&L have developed a procedure to protect and ensure the highest possible degree of safety for all of its residents and businesses when the electric lines are energized. This effort will minimize any possible fires produced by a sudden electrical surge in the electric system that were under water during the storm. JCP&L will begin re-stabilizing electric service to Seaside Park residents beginning on Monday, November 26, 2012.
•Once the removal process is completed, JCP&L will start energizing the Borough street by street. •If your electric meter was not removed, power will be restored in the sequence established by JCP&L. •Re-installation: If your meter was removed and you know that the electric service was NOT subject to the above, please contact the Building Department at 10 Allen Street, Toms River, to arrange a site visit; once the inspection of the panel is completed, the Building Department will generate a re-installation card for JCP&L. Please allow a minimum of three to four days after the site visit for the re-installation of the meter. If your panel was under water, please contract a licensed electrical contractor to inspect your electrical system. Once that is completed, please contact the Building