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BLIZZARD 2016

MONDAY 01.25.16

SHORE
DIGS OUT

Icy floods, beach erosion

follow massive storm

Up to two feet of snow

falls across the region

Governor
rejects plan
to ban Sandy
foreclosures
Moratorium vetoed to let
homeowners ask state
MICHAEL SYMONS @MICHAELSYMONS_

TRENTON - Legislation died this month that would

have let superstorm Sandy-impacted homeowners delay foreclosures and put off mortgage payments until
2019.
Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed the proposal on the last day of the now-expired legislative session,
and lawmakers didnt take up his recommended
changes. That means the idea must start the legislative
process from the beginning if it is to become law.
People whose homes are being repaired or elevated
and have been juggling rent payments and mortgage
payments would have been able to apply to postpone
mortgage payments for up to three years. Any foreclosure proceedings would have been delayed for three
years, as well.
Christies conditional veto would have had judges,
rather than the state Department of Community Affairs, decide whether to include a mortgage in the program. Thats how the idea was structured when it was
originally advancing, but the details were changed in
the Assembly on the day it was approved.
Courts are best-equipped to address the complicated, fact-sensitive issues that can arise when a homeowner is unable to comply with his mortgage obligations, and can provide a range of relief that is tailored to
that homeowners specific situation, Christie said in
his veto message.
I am concerned that this well-intentioned bill would
preclude some homeowners who may need relief from
receiving it, while providing relief to others who may
not need it. In addition, I am concerned that the bill requires the state to reimburse mortgage holders a portion of their losses.
Assemblyman Gary Schaer, D-Passaic, who sponsored the amendment that would have allowed homeowners who arent in foreclosure to get DCA permis-

PHOTOS BY BOB KARP/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (ABOVE) AND BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (BELOW)

Above: Morristown Deputy Fire Chief Jon Prachthauser shovels out a fire hydrant after a major winter storm dumped around 30
inches of snow in the area. Below: Raymond Tomasso clears ice from the flooded street in front of his Manasquan home.

SUSANNE CERVENKA @SCERVENKA

See SANDY, Page 6A

I am concerned that this

well-intentioned bill would preclude
BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

some homeowners who may need relief

Dunes protected homes on the ocean in Manasquan.

The Jersey Shore dug out Sunday from under as

much as two feet of snow and slogged through icy flood
waters caused by the massive winter storm.
Despite the extreme weather, residents in Monmouth and Ocean counties appear to have walked away
with relatively minor damage.
The brunt of the storms damage came in the form of
significant beach erosion. New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin
is expected to be on the beaches Monday to survey the
damage.
Shore towns also watched with trepidation as three
tide cycles hit during the storm. Streets filled with water and icy chunks that some authorities likened to
mini-icebergs.
In Sea Bright, where flooding from the Shrewsbury
River often is a concern, officials are still assessing
what, if any, property damage was caused by the storm,
Mayor Dina Long said.
Nothing has been self-reported. Even people with
low lying homes, I havent hit anyone with water in their
homes, said Long, the boroughs emergency management coordinator.
The same appears to be true in Ocean County, where
water seeped into crawl spaces of recently raised
houses, but not into the living areas, Ocean County
Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said.
It wasnt the Sandy-type flood but it was certainly
enough for people to be concerned, he said.
Accumulation totals hit 26.5 inches in Howell, while
Jackson saw as much as 21 inches of snow, according to
official spotters for the National Weather Service.
Snow totals ranged anywhere from a foot to 20 inches
across the rest of Monmouth and Ocean counties.
See STORM, Page 4A

from receiving it, while providing relief

to others who may not need it.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE

ONLINE

INSIDE

Stay with APP.com and #APPWeather for the latest

updates, videos, photo galleries and more from the
storm and its aftermath.

l Mother Nature and mother-to-be battle in Middletown. 4A

l Press reporters get stuck in icy LBI floodwaters. 4A

Historical treasure in Middletown

JERRY CARINO CARINOS CORNER
MIDDLETOWN - On Sundays, they
worshipped together at church. On
weekdays, they burned each others
barns and stole each others livestock.
There was looting, shooting and, occasionally, death.
This was the scene at Old First
Church in May of 1777, as Revolutionary War fervor rose toward a fever
pitch. The oldest Baptist church in New Jersey, a
congregation founded shortly after Middletown was
settled in 1664, was splintering apart. So its elders
took extraordinary measures: declaring allegiance
with the patriots, censuring Tory sympathizers and
excommunicating others, including some prominent
local citizens.

Even more astounding: They wrote it all down.

We know this because recently, after a two-year
hunt, church historian Elaine Lent found the documentation at the Monmouth County Archives in Manalapan.
They were very bold to do this, Lent said. If you
put this in writing, somebody could have seen it, and
these guys would either have been hung or thrown in
jail.
The old churches in our midst are dripping with
history, repositories of forgotten stories that tell us
how we got here.
This is a very cool one.
The Rev. Abel Morgan was the pastor at Old First
Church, and Lent surmises that Morgan probably got
sick and tired of going to funerals of young men who
See FOUND, Page 6A

THOMAS P. COSTELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Elaine Lent is shown with copies of a letter preserved by Old

First Church in Middletown that was recently presented to the
township.

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