Hurricane Sandy

Kicking Off 2013, Belmar Plows Forward on Rebuilding Beachfront

Year ahead focuses on rebuilding Belmar

Between homes, businesses, infrastructure and public facilities such as the boardwalk, Belmar has an estimated $130 million in damage from Hurricane Sandy, officials said. The year ahead will be doing the hard work of rebuilding and perhaps the harder work determining what to do and how to fund it, said Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty in his 2013 address at Thursday's reorganization meeting. But some of the biggest milestones in rebuilding Belmar are here. Doherty said the first pilings for the new boardwalk will be erected Jan. 9. "This is a huge milestone," said the mayor, to audience applause. Contractor Epic Construction will build in three sections — north, middle and south. Doherty said 400 pilings a week will be driven into the Belmar …

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$231K Rolls In From Belmar's 'Buy a Board' Campaign

Borough looking for donors to pay for boardwalk rebuild

With less than a month of online donation forms, Belmar has already collected nearly a quarter million dollars as part of its "Buy a Board" campaign. Raising $231,000 in about a month, the campaign goes directly toward the costs of rebuilding Belmar's destroyed boardwalk, estimated at $6.6 million. Belmar's boardwalk was destroyed in the surge of Hurricane Sandy, and the borough is using grants, bonds, FEMA reimbursement, possibly increased beach fees and more to help offset the more than $6.6 million cost. The "Buy a Board" campaign is part of that effort, and the borough has set up donor levels ranging from $5,000 to $25. Six "Big Kahunas," the biggest donor level, have come forward, Mayor Matt Doherty said. Board level options are as …

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