Phase two South boardwalk repairs to begin this month
Council member voices concern over FEMA reimbursement, timeline
A contractor has been selected to begin work repairing the remaining 600 feet of the South boardwalk but questions over whether the job will be fully reimbursed by FEMA and how much the work will affect several boardwalk businesses still remain.
Reicon Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Reinauer Transportation Companies, LLC, was awarded the contract at Wednesday’s council meeting after a 4-1 vote. Reicon group’s headquarters are in Staten Island, NY. They will begin work at the end of January, according to City Engineer Joe Cunha.
Councilman John Moor provided the dissenting vote. His concerns for the project are based on whether FEMA will fully reimburse the city for 90 percent of the projected costs and whether the contractor will be able to complete the project within the 90-day time frame so boardwalk businesses affected by the construction won’t lose potential business days as the weather warms up.
FEMA OK’d the city for $4.5 million in Sandy aid funds last year for repairs to the southern boardwalk, from Convention Hall to the Casino Building. The project was subsequently split into two phases so boardwalk businesses would not be affected when the warmer weather arrived and tourists started to head to the city. Phase one, from the Casino building north to a few feet past the First Avenue Pavilion, was completed last May.
City engineers briefly considered a cement undercarriage in October for the second phase of repairs after a fire damaged the boardwalk in Seaside Park, but scrapped those plans when former City Manager Terence Reidy reviewed the proposal with the city’s FEMA liaison and determined the new method would not be approved for reimbursement since the deadline to submit new proposals has passed, Reidy said.
The city went out to bid on the project Nov. 18. Several requests for clarification from contractors about project materials forced revisions to the plan, causing further delays.
The proposal the city gave the go-ahead on at the Wednesday meeting diverges from the FEMA plan somewhat, calling for poured cement pylons, not the traditional wood ones outlined in the original plan submitted to FEMA. Cunha was concerned the vibrations from hammering pylons into the beach near Convention Hall would disrupt the structural integrity of the decades-old iconic structure.
After speaking with FEMA officials, Cunha informed city council members he was not positive but “relatively confident” the city would still be reimbursed for 90 percent of the project costs even though the same materials included in the original proposal would not be used. Cunha also said he was “pretty confident” FEMA would allow the city to delay the project another summer. FEMA officials would not give the city any information in writing on either account, he said.
“Everything has been a battle with FEMA so far,” said Councilman John Loffredo.
The city will have to pay over a half million dollars, plus the 10 percent they are already responsible for, if FEMA won’t pay for the change.
It’s a gamble with taxpayers money that Moor isn’t comfortable with.
“I gamble, I play the lottery, the racetrack, and I lose – but that’s my money,” said Moor, who is also concerned about the timing of the project and how much it will interfere with boardwalk businesses.
“I don’t like the time frame. We’re going to be into May and June and this boardwalk is not going to be done, is my estimation,” he said.
Several boardwalk businesses are part of the gamble as well. Pop-ups Eddie Confetti Ice Cream and Hoagitos won’t be able to open if there is no access to the boardwalk, and businesses in the Fourth Avenue Pavilion that do not have Ocean Avenue access will also remain shuttered.
Roy Werts, president of the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce, owns Posh Den. It is located on the North end of the the Fourth Avenue Pavilion and has no Ocean Avenue entrance. He was hopeful the council would delay the plan if there were concerns the boardwalk would not be done by the beginning of April.
“The first week in April is the start of the season, not Memorial Day, and the shoulder season is very important,” he told the Sun.
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