OCEAN CITY – The Trustees of the Ocean Wind Pro-NJ Grantor Trust Fund released a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEIO) for coastal infrastructure and resiliency projects March 22 in Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties to help mitigate the impacts of severe weather occurrences and flooding to help increase resiliency and help municipalities and counties better respond to natural disasters.
“It is widely known that our beloved Jersey Shore and its back bays, wetlands, and marshes are all being impacted by weather and, too often, just a full moon at high tide. From nuisance flooding that prevents people from going about their daily lives to storm surges that force families and visitors to evacuate their homes, the communities in southern New Jersey face difficult financial choices on how to best deal with these challenges,” said Beverly McCall, Esquire, chair of the Pro-NJ Grantor Trust.
“The ability of our communities to bounce back from these events begins with building and maintaining resiliency infrastructure to keep families in their homes, at their jobs, and out of harm’s way. It is the Trust’s goal that towns and counties along the coast and near waterways throughout Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties have access to funds to support these necessary resiliency projects,” added McCall.
“The ability of our communities to bounce back from these events begins with building and maintaining resiliency infrastructure to keep families in their homes, at their jobs, and out of harm’s way. It is the Trust’s goal that towns and counties along the coast and near waterways throughout Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties have access to funds to support these necessary resiliency projects,” added McCall.
During this round of funding, the Trust will award up to $3.5 million in support of projects that address environmental and infrastructure issues. The RFEOI seeks information related to coastal resiliency and critical infrastructure projects from county and municipal entities in Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties that are involved in, or seeking to initiate projects. The RFEIO notes the Trustees desire to “ascertain the number and types of infrastructure projects that seek to improve coastal resiliency in these communities.”
To help improve access to funds, the Trustees determined the best way for that to occur is for interested parties to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) prior to submitting formal applications. The submission window for EOIs begins on April 4. Counties and municipalities may pursue the first step in the process by visiting www.pronjtrust.org and downloading the Request for Expressions of Interest now. Once the EOIs are reviewed by the Trustees and members of the Advisory Committee, qualified applicants will be invited to submit formal proposals.
The initial window to submit EOIs is set for 30 days and will be accepted through 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3, and may be extended depending on the number of EOIs received.
The Trust is a $15 million fund established by Ocean Wind 1 following its selection by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in June 2019 as New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm. In addition to providing funding for coastal resiliency projects, the Trust offers small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses support in reconfiguring or adapting their businesses to participate in the developing offshore wind industry, with the goal of ensuring that the offshore wind industry in New Jersey is developed in a sustainable and inclusive way.
Following the award of coastal resiliency funds, the Trustees will publish a Request for Expressions for Interest directed toward New Jersey small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses.
