Gimme shelter - Township Council Agrees To Go Out To Bid For Emergency Generator Installation

by Patricia A. Miller

When Superstorm Sandy roared into Bayville on Oct. 29, 2012, many residents forced to evacuate ended up with no place to go.

The nearest shelter - the Poland Spring Arena in Toms River was full. It's a scenario Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. doesn't want to see again.

"We are in the middle of a hurricane season," Amato said. "We want to make sure our people are taken care of."

Township Council members voted unanimously at the July 14 meeting to go out to bid for the installation costs to put a donated generator in the Holiday City Clubhouse 2 in the western section of the township.

The generator was donated by WOBM - which used to be located off Route 9 in Bayville. Jersey Rents in Bayville renovated the backup generator free of charge. It's now sitting in the public works yard on Pinewald-Keswick Road, the mayor said.

The township got some good news recently, in the form of an increased state Hazard Mitigation grant that will be put toward installing other generators at police headquarters and eventually Central Regional High School, Amato said.

Berkeley had originally been deemed eligible for a $60,000 grant, but after state officials reviewed the township's paperwork, the grant was increased to $215,400, he said.

"That's great news," Amato said.