Politics & Government

Buyouts Best Option, Congressman Tells Flood Zone Residents

The congressman and other government officials visited a Woodbridge flood zone meeting this week.

Congressman Frank Pallone told Woodbridge flood zone residents on Monday night that of all the options in front of them, buyouts are definitely the best and fastest route to go.

Pallone, along with Senator Joe Vitale, Assemblyman Craig Coughlin and Mayor John McCormac spoke to the Woodbridge Flood Zone group about the issues they are facing in the wake of Sandy and what direction they should take.

Pallone referenced the buyouts happening in Sayreville right now and told Woodbridge residents that if they qualified for the state buyout program it could move very quickly. However, if they went the mitigation route it could take years, he said.

“If you can do the buyout, you’d be better off,” he said.

According to Coughlin, the state is currently in its first round of buyouts and Woodbridge is slated for the second round. So far, roughly 400 Woodbridge residents have applied for the Blue Acres program, which will work with the state to buyout homes in affected areas.

Blue Acres works with the state to acquire properties in floodways for recreation or conservation purposes. The more homes that can be bought out with the Blue Acres through the state will make the land more absorbent if the floodways do rise.

“Woodbridge is in a good place,” Coughlin said in terms of where they stand for buyouts. Though, he mentioned that the state will not buy ‘checker board homes’ or homes that are scattered.

Several residents brought up the issue that they are interested in buyouts, but some of their neighbors have given up on their homes or do not understand they need to take action now. In this case, one resident asked how much of the neighborhood has to agree to a buyout for the state to be interested.

“There’s no clear definition on how to define a neighborhood,” Coughlin said, referencing his meeting with the DEP.  “The idea is to group as many homes as possible together.”

Residents expressed concerns about homes that neighbors have walked away from or went into bankruptcy and Coughlin said those homes could be sold to the state in a buyout just like a regular short sale or foreclosure through the bank.

Coughlin added that when the will look at repeated storm damage and percentage of damage per home when considering a buyout.

Even though Pallone suggested buyouts as the best option, he went through all three major options the Woodbridge Flood Zone residents proposed to him at this year’s street fair.

He discussed a mitigation project through the Army Corps and stated that the problem with that type of project is has to be authorized and it takes it awhile to get to that stage before work can actually be done.

McCormac added that if a buyout does take place, it is much less likely that any type of federal flood control project will happen in the same area.

Trisha Burrough of The Land Conversancy Group, which is an organization the township hired to help residents when considering the Blue Acres program, mitigation, tax appeals, etc. was also available for questions at the meeting.

She, along with the mayor, encouraged residents who applied for Blue Acres following Irene to send an additional application in just to be safe.

Burrough will be visiting residents to discuss the options at hand. She stated that The Land Conversancy Group is vey well positioned with Blue Acres and that they will make the best case for each resident.

This week, FEMA released updated Flood Zone maps, which McCormac said would be posted on the Township’s website once available for the public.

For more information on the Woodbridge Flood Zone group, visit their website.


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