The Toms River Township Council adopted a Resolution on Monday February 12, 2013, supporting United States Senators Lautenberg and Menendez in their effort to give homeowners the right to appeal their flood designation under the Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps (ABFE) instead of waiting until the revised maps are issued in August of 2013.

  A copy of that Resolution can be found here.  The Township firmly believes that property owners should be able to challenge these designations as soon as possible in light of the financial hardship residents are experiencing. 

On February 4, 2013, Township staff participated in a conference call with FEMA staff and representatives from the Governor’s Office of Disaster Recovery for the purpose of continuing an ongoing dialogue concerning the Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps and the Township’s concerns with respect to the ABFE maps.   Following the discussion, the Township formally advised FEMA that as a result of the adoption of the ABFE maps by Governor Christie and the State of New Jersey and as a result of our discussion during the FEMA Informational Workshop at Toms River East High School on Saturday 1/26/13, the Township has reassessed our position with respect to requesting further study and analysis by FEMA of the ABFE maps further for the possible expansion of the “Velocity” zone in the Ortley Beach section of Toms River Township.  Based on what we have learned and the fact that the current advisory maps have now been adopted by the State of New Jersey, the Township does not wish to pursue the specific request to FEMA for further analysis and study of the ABFE maps for the possible expansion of the “Velocity” zone in the Ortley Beach section any longer.

FEMA representatives have advised the Township that the ABFE maps are “conservative” and that the current designation in Ortley Beach as shown on the ABFE maps is not likely to change.  For that reason, the Township will continue to concentrate on and reaffirm our request to FEMA for the reduction and/or the elimination of the Velocity zones on the mainland, Ocean and bayfront areas in Toms River.  It is our sincere hope that the Velocity zones, which pose such a financial hardship on the resident of Toms River will be reduced and/or eliminated once the final modeling takes place and that information will be included on the revised maps due out in August of 2013. This request includes the reduction of all Velocity zones in the Township that are not justified by the current scientific analysis or the wave action analysis currently being performed by FEMA as part of the map revisions process.