May 8, 2014 — Nearly $1 million in funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will help rebuild two Shore marinas battered by superstorm Sandy — a bit of help for an industry that has gotten little direct government assistance since the disaster.
Coincidentally on Wednesday, the state Economic Development Authority announced the release of $17 million in post-Sandy grants and loans to help businesses rebuild — a program that has come under fire for not moving applications faster. Beneficiaries in this funding round will include Green Cove Marina, in the hard-hit Brick waterfront, and Seaside Waverunners, a personal watercraft livery on Route 35 in Seaside Heights.
The $964,455 in federal funding is going to Sandy Hook Bay Marina in Highlands and Key Harbor Marina in Waretown. The Boating Infrastructure Grant money is conditioned on being used to serve transient boaters — long-distance trippers in boats 26 feet or longer who only stay a few days at a time at docks along their route.
Located at the far southern corner of the New York Harbor complex, Sandy Hook Bay Marina will get a BIG grant of $692,890, with a nonfederal match of $243,448 from the state Department of Transportation’s Office of Marine Resources, which will administer the total project cost of $936,338. The project will rebuild and restore 15 transient slips in an older section of the marina, provide full services for transient boaters and use modern design to withstand future storms.
Key Harbor Marina is located on Barnegat Bay near the Intracoastal Waterway, the main East Coast channel used by recreational boaters traveling the coast. Its BIG grant of $271,565 and nonfederal match of $97,190 will total $368,755 to renovate 10 transient slips, which were destroyed by Sandy’s storm surge. The project includes shore power and dock lighting.
Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press