Flood-Damaged Homes to be Acquired by Township

The Parsippany Township Council unanimously approved the plan to buy homes that were substantially damaged in the 2011 tropical storm that came in Hurricane Irene's wake. The vote came during the body's Tuesday night meeting at Town Hall.

The move executes a grant agreement between Parsippany and the N.J. Office of Emergency Management to make use of disaster relief funds under the Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Under the agreement, the town will use about $5 million in FEMA funds and additional money from the Morris County Flood Mitigation Program to cover the cost of purchasing the uninhabitable homes.

The county program will release $1.676 million in county grant funds to provide a 25 percent match for the FEMA contribution, according to Jennifer McCulloch, the program's coordinator.

"FEMA pays municipalities 75 percent of the cost, and this will cover the other 25 percent," McCulloch told Patch last June. "Parsippany can begin to prepare to move forward." 

The houses will be razed and the land beneath them will become perpetual open space for the township.

The properties to be acquired are:

• 67 Hiawatha Blvd.
• 3 Cherokee Ave.
• 4 Cherokee Ave.
• 30 Cherokee Ave.
• 35 Cherokee Ave.
• 32 Lake Shore Drive
• 35 Lake Shore Drive
• 40 Lake Shore Drive
• 53 Lake Shore Drive
• 67 Lake Shore Drive
• 71 Lake Shore Drive
• 92 Lake Shore Drive
• 104  Lake Shore Drive
• 1 Minnehaha Blvd.
• 59 River Drive
• 63 River Drive
• 68 River Drive
• 128 River Drive
• 57 Rockaway Blvd.
• 3 Wilbur Ave.
• 18 Huron Ave.