Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The owner of the first Lake Hiawatha house to be raised in this go-round says his family should be home again before year's end.
Dignitaries and Parsippany citizens gathered Tuesday morning to witness the start of a new chapter for a Lake Hiawatha family and for the township. More than a year and a half after Hurricane Irene devastated sections of the Parsippany community, and after three severely damaged houses were lifted above the 100-year flood plain last year thanks to a $7.2 million Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Hazard Mitigation Grant, three more residences are in line to be raised in the hope of allowing families to go home again. The first of those families is the Young family: Kayne, Tiffany and their two young sons. Work to raise their Irene-damaged Lake Shore Drive house, part of FEMA's second phase of elevations, began Tuesday morning. This …
Monday, May 6, 2013
'We have worked so hard to get to this point,' said Mayor James Barberio.
Nearly two years after Hurricane Irene, many in Parsippany are still displaced from their homes due to severe damage to their residences. For some homeowners, the only way to save their houses was to agree to have them elevated higher than the 100-year flood level. And while a precious few homes were raised last year, there is good news for those still waiting. The second phase of elevations kicks off Tuesday in Parsippany, said Mayor James Barberio. “This process has been endured far too long by the residents of Lake Hiawatha who have yet to return to their homes," he said. "I am glad to see progress being made and the gradual return of normalcy to the area. “We have worked so hard to get to this point.” Paid for through the Federal …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
James Barberio said the town will work with vendors to bring down their prices.
Further elevations of homes substantially damaged in 2011's Hurricane Irene will have to wait a bit. At Tuesday's Town Council agenda meeting at Parsippany High School, Mayor James Barberio announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood mitigation grants, which cover at least part of the cost of raising houses higher than the 100-year flood line, will be delayed. The mayor explained that the elevation contract went out to bid twice. "We went out to bid on two occasions, bids came in high and were rejected," he said. "We're going to move forward with negotiations with the bidders." Barberio said Parsippany must follow state and FEMA guidelines when awarding grants. "We want to let residents elevate their properties, but they…
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Paid for via federal and county flood mitigation programs, the Lake Hiawatha home will be razed and turned into open space for perpetuity.
The first flood-damaged Parsippany home slated for acquisition is now the property of the township. Mayor James Barberio presided over the Feb. 13 closing of a River Drive home. There is more to come, he said, noting that closings for the remaining 17 severely damaged homes should take place soon. These residences, rendered uninhabitable during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, qualified for a voluntary FEMA grant enabling the municipality to purchase their homes for future demolition and eventual reversion to open space for perpetuity. Monies came from matching grants via the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program and the Morris County Flood Mitigation Program. Lake Hiawatha resident Rebecca Erb is the first homeowner to relinquish her …
Saturday, October 27, 2012
With many still displaced, Lake Hiawatha still hasn't finished recovering from last year's floods.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Purchases of severely damaged homes will create new open space in Lake Hiawatha.
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 …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Recently-released state Board of Public Utilities report charges FirstEnergy affiliate with being more concerned with image during Irene.
JCP&L, since Hurricane Irene in August 2011, has said it has committed a lot of money and resources toward improving not only how the utility communicates with its customers, but also how it runs its business. The state Board of Public Utilities, however, handed down a verdict in a recent report that states the FirstEnergy affiliate first spent more energy trying to save face, according to a NJBIZ.com article. The article notes the BPU report cites JCP&L's initial two Irene press releases from Aug. 28 and Aug. 25, 2011, the latter three days before the storm actually hit New Jersey. JCP&L "gave no indication that restoration could take several days or longer. Advice to customers appeared to have secondary importance," according to the BPU …
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
A year after Irene hit Parsippany, many are still out of their homes—but government agencies and community groups haven't forgotten them.
When Hurricane Irene's tropical-storm winds, cascading rains and 100-year flood hit Parsippany in August 2011, hundreds of township residents were left with shattered lives and damaged homes—some irreparably. At the time, the thought of many of those in the helping fields was to deal with the immediate crisis, finding people shelter, providing food and services to keep victims afloat. But before long, it became apparent to many that recovering from a flood of Irene's magnitude would require much: commitment, money and time. "It's a marathon," said Rev. Donald Bragg, pastor of Parsippany Presbyterian Church. "Because of our experiences I knew that however things were handled in the shorter run, it would be a year and a half or more before …
Friday, May 25, 2012
Project Recover meeting recognizes need for patience, perseverance, support
A roundtable meeting took place at the Parsippany Community Center Thursday to support flood victims of Hurricane Irene. Crisis counselors from Project Recover facilitated for approximately 14 Lake Hiawatha residents as they told their individual stories, voiced frustrations and supported each other. A crisis counselor guiding the discussion identified only as Josephine noted that while many people are still out of their homes nine months after Irene due to communication issues with organizations providing the funding and assistance, there has been some progress. “Last meeting, a lot of people said they are having difficulties contacting the banks and the insurance companies,” she said of Project Recover's February visit to Parsippany. “…
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Two measures deal with FEMA funding for flood mitigation; a third addresses federal community development money
At its Tuesday night meeting, the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council took action to move forward on utilizing more than $7 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds awarded to the town. The council unanimously approved a resolution giving Mayor James Barberio the authority to execute a grant agreement with FEMA in the amount of $7,220,206. Those dollars are slated to go toward acquiring and elevating Lake Hiawatha buildings deemed "substantially damaged" in last summer's unprecedented floods. Another resolution passed would allow a portion of the FEMA funds to be used to hire Architectural Design Associates of Clifton to work on elevations at six severely damaged addresses in lower Hiawatha. Business Administrator Jasmine …
DD
12:31 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013
I am an owner of one of the homes that is being raised. The whole process is a nightmare. The rules FEMA places on the bidding process bloats the bids to 150%-200% of what it would cost if you were allowed to get a contractor privately. This is due to "prevailing wage" laws passed by politician brought and paid for by unions. To make it worse the town did not ask for enough grant money to cover … more ›