Port Monmouth Section, Looking To Move On, Wants the Garbage Gone
Three weeks after Hurricane Sandy, small mountains of debris line some blocks in the hard-hit "wet side" of Port Monmouth.
Brainard Avenue resident Bill Young stands outside the pile he looks at everyday. Young's house was submerged in five feet of water.
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Residents in a devastated section of Port Monmouth say they have been living with the demoralizing sight of post-Sandy debris and regular trash outside their homes for weeks, and its becoming a public sanitation concern.
But township officials say their streets have been serviced. It's just that as soon as they are cleared, more garbage finds its way out to the curb.
"We've been waiting for them to pick up the trash for weeks, but they don't come back," said Robert Androvette, on Lydia Place. Outside his house was several full garbage cans neatly lined up at the curb, as well as a huge pile of waterlogged furniture and carpet from the flooded crawl space. "It's still keeping us in a 'stuck' state of mind. We just want to see it gone."
In response to residents' complaints about bulk and household trash pickup in Port Monmouth on Monday morning, Mayor Tony Fiore reached out to DPW Director Joseph E. “Ted” Maloney, who said that specialized carrier Ashbritt Inc. has already made the rounds "at least twice" for construction and household materials. Also, Bennett and Sutton Trucking are supposed to perform bulk collections for things like furniture twice a week, on regularly scheduled trash pickup days. Contracts for the specialized work was approved in a government meeting on Nov. 15.
But locals say they've seen no trucks.
"I've been looking at the same pile, from a gutted house, on Renfrew and Brainard for two and a half weeks," said Bill Young of Brainard Avenue.
"We need it picked up so we can look a little normal around here," Young said. "We've got scavengers coming through at night, people picking up stuff out of your garbage."
Around the corner, Frank DeLello of Renfrew Place said that when he gets up around 4 o'clock in the morning, he sees rodents and possum rooting through the piled-up trash and food that was left to rot in an abandoned refrigerator. In some cases, trash is seeping through garbage bags folks had to turn to because their cans washed away.
"We'd like to see it gone, as soon as possible," said DeLello. "They've got to clear this. I pay a lot of taxes."
John Geurtse of Wilson Avenue, who was out walking his pit bull on the local streets, said he has had to be especially careful to keep away from the broken glass and tiles strewn about. He wondered why the trash and debris was still around, weeks later. "Maybe it's time people have to start thinking about getting Dumpsters?" he said.
Mayor Fiore said one need only take in the stunning sight of the mountain of debris at the Middletown Township Fire Department Training Academy on Normany Road to realize how much has been collected.
"I know I've been talking with DPW, and that more and more garbage and debris gets put out everyday," said Fiore. "You make some progress, and the next day the pile is high at the curb again."
He added, "I know it’s been a very challenging and frustrating time and we’ll consider seeing if more needs to be done there."
The mayor expected to be in the neighborhood around 3 p.m., when Gov. Chris Christie is scheduled to give a press conference at the Port Monmouth Firehouse.
JoannC
12:50 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
I live in Port Monmouth and I can tell you the garbage has not been "serviced" in over two weeks. That is a flat out lie. I bet it will be picked up when the Governor comes for a little visit this afternoon...
Terry D.
1:51 pm on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Looks like you were wrong. Governor came and went and we are still in a mess. Wish I had known that he was coming since I would like to know what is going to happen to this area. Right now it is a health hazard. We rode around Keansburg and Union Beach Sunday and was surprised to see trucks and people working. We have not seen any activity in this area in two weeks. Cross HW# 36 and people are decorating their houses for Christmas. We are the forgotten part of town but they do not forget us when they send out the high tax bills especially the extra expense for those of us that have a water view. I do appreciate help given by private citizens (the Amish, the Mormons) but the township gets a grade of F.
Terry D.
Melissa
3:24 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
I completely agree with you!! The garbage pick up is absolutely horrible!! I live on Monmouth Ave in N. Middletown. There is so much debris on our street and no one picks it up. The garbage men told me if its not in a bag, they refuse to take it! Ridiculous!!
Rick Holbert
1:41 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
If areas along the shore have been declared disaster areas then can't the mayors request the state and Federal Gov. to send in extra emergency services, including the National Guard, to assist in this removal? With the potential of a major health hazard from rotting materials and possibly rats moving in this shoould be a priority?
JosephGhabourLaw
1:49 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
A displaced staffer of mine, from Belmar, has told me that what Belmar and Port Monmouth (allegedly) is doing, is the standard procedure. The town hires a company to deal with debris, pays for the service, and gets reimbursed by FEMA. In Belmar, this has worked out quite well, albeit the pile of debris at the marina is a very sad sight.
JosephGhabourLaw
1:41 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
The only good news from Sandy is this. If your home was damaged (lost value), and/or rendered uninhabitable, send a certified letter to the the tax assessor of your municipality.
Include your address and block/lot number, and tell the assessor your home has been materially deprecaited by the storm and that you request reassessment. Be sure to do so by January 10, 2013, which is the statewide deadline. Good luck in your recovery!
Gersldine Ackerman
4:12 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
I live in Staffird Township, Beach Haven't West section and the toen is picking up regular garbage but the debris has been lsying for a Month. Only one weekend have I seen a Bug clean up with backhoes and dunpsters. We have children an bus stops and you can smell mold. I've yet to see rodents but It won't be long. Mr christie, what can you do for Bhw so clode and on the other side of the bsy from your belived island. Who can we complain to? We are devastated and tired!
JEN G
4:13 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
@ JoanC.........you are absolutely right.........there has been no garbage pick up in two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's disgusting that we have to live like this as I am also a resident of Port Monmouth.
ALL PORT MONMOUTH RESIDENTS: IF THIS GARBAGE IS NOT PICKED UP SOON, I SUGGEST WE ALL DECORATE OUR GARBAGE PILES WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AND INVITE ALL NEWS STATIONS TO COME DOWN AND TAKE PICTURES OF HOW "MIDDLETOWN TREATS ITS OWN"!!!!!!!!!!
Grumpy19
8:42 am on Saturday, December 1, 2012
If it isn't picked up, I suggest the residents load some of it in their vehicles and dump it in the town hall parking lot. When I lived in Port Monmouth. My garbage wasn't picked up one week. I called and was told that it would bve picked up the next regular pickup, which was a week away. I told the girl I would bring it to her and dump it on her desk. It got picked up the next day. Sooo, If you do what I suggested, you just might get some action from the people who love to tax and spend you into oblivian.
Pilgrim
9:59 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
The Township wasn't and isn't prepared for this kind of clean-up and may not have the leadership and innovative thinking that is required to cope with the scale of the project -- necessary and immediate, and preventive and long term -- that confronts the Middletown community. Debris can be found on any street in Middletown and I have yet to see men and equipment getting storm debris mixed with brush and leaves off the streets. Four to six inches of snow wound be an additional disaster for Middletown residents because many/most streets could not be plowed.
The mayors all got together publically to go after JCP&L for not being more prepared. That meeting agenda should have been about executing and expediting clean-up before more bad weather creates more significant problems for Middletown. The politics of smacking JCP&L around could have waited until the immediate and continuing needs of the entire shore community were served.
Mr. Merchantante and Mayor Fiore, along with Scharfenberger,Senttenbrino, Massell, and Murry, need to show some immediate clean-up results for all of the Middletown communities.
Cindy D
10:17 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
I also live in Port Monmouth (Brainard Avenue) and the same piles of trash have been in front of our home and all our neighbors homes for the past 3 weeks. They have not serviced this area several times as stated. It is becoming the norm to drive down the street and see piles of trash everywhere. This is inexcusable!
April Z
6:42 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
same piles of garbage plus some from where the homeowners did their clean up. some people cannot make it to an area to dump the debri, not everyone has a vehicle to do so. they need dumpsters deposited in numerous areas so people can access them. otherwise they need an army of garbage trucks per home. it is so sad! .
Belford Bob
6:50 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Pilgrim- I'm sure Grenefage or Byrnes or Baum have all the answers and would have been adequately prepared. Wasn't Baum campaigning door to door while people were assisting with the Bayshore recovery efforts?
I think the Township is doing a good job in cleanup. If you don't want to wait for the garbage to be collected, go hire a dumpster and claim in on your insurance. Nothing is stopping anyone from doing that.
Pilgrim
12:47 pm on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Belford Bob, Your comment is nothing more than a red herring to detract from the primary issue, which isn't about waiting for the debris to be picked-up: it is about the debris NOT BEING PICKED-UP in the area that I live in and the areas that I drive through in Middletown. The only work crews that I have seen removing storm debris were in Seabright. It is not about Grenefage, Byrnes or Baum, although Byrnes did organize Middletown Volunteers to help with clean-up efforts along the Bayshore. My insurance company should not be expected to to the job that the elected and appointed officials of Middletown are suposed to do. It is the Township's job to collect garbage and debris, paid for with our tax dollars, and to be better prepared for weather related clean-up. What is stopping them from doing that? The immediate impact of the storm has passed; most have power and there has been very little clean-up during the past FIVE WEEKS. Fiore's knee-jerk reaction was to go after political points by leading an attack on JCP&L, for not being better prepared. He should have waited until the basic community needs of Middletown residents and businesses were addressed. This disaster will expose years of financial mismanagement -- could use all of the surplus that was spent on operating needs and tax appeals brought on by delayed and mismanaged revaluations and corrective reassessments. The Township lacks the leadership and management experience to produce the required results.
Craig D.
9:42 pm on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
A major problem in my area of Port Monmouth is not my garbage (which was removed a few weeks back) but the garbage build-up in front of nearly every house on my street. I can't force anyone else to get a dumpster and claim, yet my kids have to be exposed to it for weeks on end. Unsanitary and dangerous should be the township's responsibility.
Ann K.
8:26 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
I live on Park Ave in Port Monmouth and our trash from the storm has not been removed for at least 2 weeks, we had many officials here right after the storm, but no one has returned,, probably because they do not have a solution to the trash removal.
We feel very concerned that an emergency vehicle would have difficulty coming through Park Ave, we pay our taxes, please give us some services.
Pilgrim
1:01 pm on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Emergency vehicles will have a very difficult time getting through the mixed leaf and brush debris piles. Many out-of-state and local first responders just put it ALL in the streets, both sides. So, it is one way on many streets in many parts of Middletown. The solution for the trash removal is rooted in having the money to pay for it and the will to get the job done and innovative thinking in how to approach the problem. The officials showed up right after the storm to assess and provide support with minimal expectation to fix things. As time passes they are reluctant to return to a community that isn't seeing the results of action taken, or in this case seeing the results of action not taken.
Middletown NJ 07748
3:58 pm on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Call the mayor.
http://www.middletownnj.org/content/fiore.html
Post on his Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mayor-Tony-Fiore/192000070830442
Go to the meeting tomorrow at 6:30 at HS North.
The guy honestly seems like he is trying. See what he has to say.
christine
10:35 am on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
I'm a Middletown resident (dry side) and I have to drive down across the highway at least once or twice a week to the "wet side"..It's heartbreaking to me to continuely see the same garbage and furniture etc etc outside these peoples homes..Cant anyone just take a day and hire a hauling or junk removal company to get rid of this stuff? These people have been through enough,I wish them all the best.
Laura
9:44 pm on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
I am a resident of Port Monmouth, residing on Central Avenue. Our community was devastated by hurricane Sandy. The result of this, has lead to the removal of not only household belongings, but also the very fabric of our homes. Mountains of debris now litter our sidewalks. This poses both an environmental and health risk to all those coming into contact with such debris. The storm happened a month ago and yet I still pass these mountains daily. The smell alone is troublesome. Then we are also faced with the unsightliness, not to mention the health risks that this garbage represents. Huge piles of moldy, rotting garbage and hazardous materials spilling out onto sidewalks, rusty nails sticking out at all angles... all adjacent to a school bus stop. Would the Mayor think this acceptable for his children to pass daily? I think not! Today, my four year old was diagnosed with a sinus infection - the doctor said that her surrounding environment could be to blame. I've contacted the Mayors office. Something really needs to be done about this, before someone gets injured or more illnesses are diagnosed.
Gary Junstrom
9:51 pm on Thursday, November 29, 2012
I attended the forum last night and I have to say, I was embarrassed by the behavior of the audience. They were rude, demanding, insulting, childish, or in other words, they acted like Obama voters who expect government to do everything for them. One woman even had the nerve to tell someone from the SBA or FEMA that she wasn't interested in a loan, she wanted money given to her. Well lady, where do you think that money comes from? From the taxpayers!!! Other towns make people get their own dumpsters which are covered by FEMA. But what do these spoiled whiners want? They want the town to come and pick it up for them. And who pays for that? You guessed, the taxpayers. I was driving through Port Monmouth today and saw no less than six trucks. I am so sick of people looking for a handout. You chose to live there, how about solving your own problems?
bd
9:34 am on Saturday, December 1, 2012
Exactly!!!! We have become an uneducated, unskilled society dependent on handouts. My neighbors and i got dumpsters, loaded everything up and the town took EVERYTHING away. But, now it's waaaaaaaah, waaah---Gubmint isn't here to wipe my butt for me--waaaaah, waaah, waaah
And Jim pilgrim---should the Town Council have stood at the shore to stop the water???? But, placing campaign signs amidst the wreckage spoke volumes.......
marylou
11:22 am on Saturday, December 1, 2012
Gary,the residents of Port Monmouth pay property taxes just as those of us in other parts of the Township do.I don't think it's unreasonable for them to expect their garbage to be picked up before it becomes a health hazzard.That is not a handout.It's something that they paid for.One of my husband's co-workers live in PM,and has for almost 30 yrs.He's never been flooded before Sandy/
Gary Junstrom
8:41 pm on Sunday, December 2, 2012
Marylou, here's a reality check. I pay property taxes too, but that doesn't mean the town should cater to my every whim. I know people in other towns who had major damage to their houses and from what I've been told, Middletown is the only town picking up building debris for its residents. People in other towns are getting their own dumpsters, which are reimbursible through FEMA. That's what Middletown should have done. Instead, they tried to be good sports about it and what happens? The demanding whiners scream, curse and threaten the FEMA and township guys at a public meeting. I knew some of these people and I was embarrassed to say that I live in the same community. The Obama whiners are out in full force. Me, me, me, gimme, gimme, gimme. The funniest thing? When I walked outside, I was almost knocked over by the cigarette smoke. Guess they can afford over $7 a pack for cigarettes, but not to pay for the clean up of THEIR house. They expect the government to do it all for them. Shameful.
marylou
10:12 am on Monday, December 3, 2012
Yes,Gary,smokers will always find ways to afford cigarettes..We were fortunate that we had no damage from Sandy.I don;t know how you deternined that all of the people who were upset about their debris not being picked up were Obama supporters.From what I've heard,some of the biggest whiners blame Obama for their loss of power,having to throw out food,etc.And these were people whose houses weren't damaged beyond repair.One woman,from Holmdel,complained to me and all within earshot,that Omama wasn't doing enough to get her power back after a week.She didn't care about the people who had lost everything.Because,and I quote,"Obama doesn't care about people like me.He only cares about the 47% who don't pay taxes."
djkimbrie
3:04 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
I live on Monmouth Avenue in Port Monmouth and find it sad that the township (government) were not the ones there for us....it was all the outside people...Christian Ministries, Church Volunteer Groups, Mississippi State Police, and local residents that were there to help us. I called the township one day to find out about garbage pickup and was rudely hung up on because the only number to get through to a person was the police....really? They have no problem collecting our tax money though....!
Gary Junstrom
6:54 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
Gee that's funny djkimbrie, from what I understand, the town had a 24-hour command center dispatching emergency workers all over town, they set up a shelter and collection facility at Croydon Hall, secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in donated food, clothes and supplies and set up a disaster relief fund specifically for Middletown. They even organized local volunteers - I know, I was one of about 300 people who showed up at town hall, where the police chief, OEM chief, township administrator and all five township committee people were there to brief everybody on what to do. Middletown's response was great, but I think you are just naturally ungrateful because you are one of those people who think government should do everything for you and when they don't make your boo boo all better instantly, you whine and whine.
tom nemec
3:39 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
I live on Brainard ave . I found the township officials to be extremely helpful and diligent in the removal process of debris.
This was the worst flood ever in our area. It takes time to get to everyone.
One day a private hauler hired by the town left a few items on the street a neighbor called and they were removed in minuets.
The truck was full and that is why it was left.
This MONDAY RESIDENTS OF PORT MONMOUTH NEED TO go to the town meeting and express their concerns. Don’t fight and accuse, offered solutions and form a good argument.
I’m just a resident. I stayed in my flooded out house to safe guard the area when everyone left and also those who got a lot less hurt seemed to complain the most.
OFFER SOLUTIONS.
I saw trucks working at all times and I regularly traveled to other towns to match and compare and we were attended to really well. In a disaster like this it is important to remove the debris from your house immediately. There were still people cleaning out weeks after the flood.
tom nemec
3:44 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
What is really needed are flood gates at both marinas that flank Port Monmouth. That is where the flood water comes in from. Port Monmouth Marina and Sea Streak marina.
The flood water does not come over the dunes otherwise the dunes would have been competly washed away as they were in Sea Bright.