Belmar Receives Over $10M in FEMA Funding

Over the course of the past three weeks, Belmar has received more than $10.3 million in FEMA funding for rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy, bringing the total the borough has received to $13.6 million, Mayor Matt Doherty said.

The FEMA funding comes in the form of reimbursements for spending the borough conducted while recovering from the storm – specifically, $8.6 million towards the rebuilding of the boardwalk and $1.7 million received for debris removal, Doherty said.

“These payments are the fruition of months of working closely with FEMA, Governor Christie’s Office and the New Jersey State Police," said Doherty. "These payments allow us to pay down the bonding we needed to do to recover and rebuild from Hurricane Sandy, minimizing the financial impact to our residents."

There is about $9 million outstanding that the borough is owed, the mayor explained. Generally, the borough is to be reimbursed for 90 percent of its storm-related expenditures and bonding.

"We completed that recovery work in faith that the reimbursements from FEMA would follow; today I am pleased to say that the funds are finally rolling in," said Dohert, thanking several officials, including Rep. Frank Pallone and Chris Smith, and Gov. Chris Christie.