Manville has requested up to $300,000 from Somerset County as part of Federal Emergency Management Agency 2016 Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant that will allow it to buy flood-prone property.
MANVILLE -- Relief may be forthcoming for residents of the borough's Lost Valley neighborhood near the Millstone River and surrounding areas.
The Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders voted this week to provide the required local match for a program that will assist in buying out flood-prone properties in the borough, it was announced Thursday in a news release.
Manville has requested up to $300,000 from the county program to be used as matching funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency 2016 Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant, according to the release.
"Major storms, such as Hurricane Floyd and Hurricane Irene, have continued to wreak havoc on residences in low-lying areas of Manville," Freeholder Mark Caliguire, the county's Open Space Advisory Committee liaison, said. "At the county level, we feel it's our responsibility to help in whatever way we can, so we're pleased to be able to cover the cost of the 10-percent local match that's required in order for Manville to receive FEMA funding.
"This current county program is especially important given the recent decision by the Army Corps of Engineers to snub Manville's request for flood control projects."
The Army Corps of Engineers recently presented the results of its $3.1 million feasibility study to alleviate flood damage in the Lost Valley neighborhood and downtown.
After compiling data over a 13-year period, the Corps concluded that nothing can be done to alleviate the flooding that meets federal funding cost-benefit standard of saving one dollar in damage for every dollar spent on flood control. Flood-control measures include everything from building levees to dredging rivers.
There are more than 300 homes and businesses in the area, according to the Corps.
State closes on first Manville buyout
Manville will receive funding from FEMA for the acquisition of flood-prone properties that have sustained damages in prior flooding events qualifying them as either repetitive or severe repetitive losses, it was stated in the release. The cluster of homes acquired through buyouts will be demolished and preserved as open space, creating buffer areas for future flooding.
Borough officials requested its required FEMA 10-percent local match from Somerset County through the county's Municipal Flood Mitigation Funding Program for the borough's purchase of the properties, which will be owned and managed by the borough, according to the release.
The goal of the Municipal Flood Mitigation Funding Program, established by the Board of Freeholders in 2012, is to assist municipalities in the acquisition of residences that have experienced severe, repetitive flooding, or homes that have sustained substantial damage of greater than 50 percent, it was stated.
To qualify for the county program, applicant municipalities must have applied for or received funding from FEMA or the NJ Blue Acres program, the release stated. Funding through the county program will be determined by the Board of Freeholders and will be based on other funding approved or obtained.
Under the program, only county municipalities, not individual homeowners, are eligible. Only privately owned, Somerset County residential properties will be considered.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.