Photo by Boyd Loving
Storm cleanup bills piling up across Bergen and Passaic
SUNDAY DECEMBER 9, 2012, 11:31 PM
BY DENISA R. SUPERVILLE
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Across Bergen and Passaic counties the expense of picking up after superstorm Sandy is mounting as contractors submit bills and municipal officials continue to assess what was lost and damaged in what is shaping up as the costliest natural disaster in the state’s history.
The costs are expected to range from millions in Little Ferry and Moonachie, which were flooded when a tidal surge sent the Hackensack River over its banks, to hundreds of thousands where the damage wasn’t extensive, but the expense of cleaning up debris and overtime for employees has added up.
Moonachie’s costs are approaching $8 million, nearly as much at the town’s annual budget and $2 million more than officials expected to raise in taxes, while Little Ferry is looking at having to spend $3 million to buy vehicles and generators and remove mold from public buildings and mountains of trash piled up along curbs.
That could result in a $3.50 a month increase in municipal taxes over the next five years for the owner of a home assessed at $350,000, the borough average.
“It’s not the final number,” Little Ferry Councilman Thomas Sarlo said last week. “We hope, and anticipate, that we will not need to budget any further than the $3 million, but the exact cost hasn’t come in yet.”
While the costs are higher in areas that were deluged by floodwaters, officials in other parts of Bergen and Passaic counties said they, too, had to shoulder heavy overtime costs, particularly for police officers who watched over empty homes that had been evacuated, patrolled darkened streets during the lengthy power outage and monitored fallen trees, electrical lines and gas queues, and for department of public works employees who cut tree limbs and cleared roadways.
Governor Christie has projected that the damage and recovery will cost the state around $36.9 billion. Preliminary estimates provided by Bergen and Passaic counties in November put public sector losses at $7.7 million in Passaic County and $31.8 million in Bergen County.
Officials in all the towns plan to request reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for storm-related damage and they hope to get back at least 75 percent of what they spend.
“The problem is that you are not going to see the money until well into next year, but it will certainly be a help,” said New Milford Police Chief Frank Papapietro, who serves as the borough’s emergency management coordinator.
https://www.northjersey.com/littleferry/Storm_cleanup_bills_piling_up_across_Bergen_and_Passaic.html