Emergency Manager Briefs Council; Borough Eyes Higher Bulkheads

STONE HARBOR – June is both the start of summer at the shore and the beginning of hurricane season. With the shoulder events aimed at extending the summer tourist period, the two seasons run concurrently from June 1, immediately following Memorial Day, to the end of November.
At its June 20 work session, Stone Harbor Borough Council heard from the borough’s emergency management coordinator, Jonathan Lakose, on the role of the municipal coordinator in a disaster. 
The role is based on provisions of law. While appointed by the mayor and governing body, the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) coordinator has specific authorities in a disaster.
Lakose explained that the municipal coordinator seldom acts independently of the other municipal officials and almost always in concert with state and county OEM officers since disasters are seldom confined to a single municipality.
Responding to questions from Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour on evacuation of the governing body, Lakose advised council to respond in the way they felt most comfortable in the event of a disaster. “The OEM staff, the police, the fire department staff and others are all going to be here,” he said.
Most communication would go through him as coordinator and the borough’s Business Administrator Jill Gougher. 
In a more general sense, Lakose said that although some individuals resist leaving the island in a disaster, those decisions can sometimes make it more difficult for public safety personnel who may have to be diverted to rescue-and-removal missions.
The municipal OEM coordinator has responsibility for assuring that the borough is prepared across the traditional four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
The coordinator has operations, educational and administrative roles that can be critical in a community vulnerable to storms and water inundation.
Lakose caught himself saying “if a major storm hits” and changed it to “when a major storm hits.” He then added, “We all know it will happen sometime.”
Lakose spoke of the value of social media as a mechanism to push the word out to the populace if a disaster threatens. The borough also created a website with contact information, videos, evacuation information, preparedness advice for residents, and connections to the latest weather information, as well as a link to the county site. Those interested can visit  http://stoneharboremergency.com. 
The hardest task inevitably is convincing the general populous to plan for disasters so that they can execute plans during a real emergency.
Reactions in the emotions of the moment, when things are going bad quickly, are always compressed and often flawed.
Avalon has its emergency plan available on a similar website to encourage the public to think about these issues in the calm before any storm or disaster.
The task of preparing an island community for the many dangers it can be vulnerable to is a significant task. This discussion, brought on by council’s wanting to understand its own role in a disaster, focused more on the reactive elements, who needs to be here, how will communications with the governing body work, and similar issues. The real challenge comes in preparing for what will at some point occur. A very proactive task.
Lakose noted that forecasts from the National Weather Service predicted that this would be an above normal storm season.
The predictions are for 11-19 named storms, five to nine of which would reach hurricane force. Those predictions also call for as many as two to four major hurricanes.
Most of these storms, if they materialize, will never approach the southern New Jersey shoreline. It takes one to make all the preparation and planning so important.
Bulkheads
In a related effort to better protect the borough from the impact of rising seas and frequent flooding, the council continued its discussion of potential changes to borough regulations regarding the height of bulkheads.
Dr. Lenore Tedesco, executive director of the Wetlands Institute, told the council that sea levels in this area are up six inches since 1988. 
Council member Raymond Parzych said “We need to start somewhere,” making reference to the need for new height levels for bulkheads. “The place to start is with new bulkheads and new construction,” he added.
Parzych argued that a future problem will be looking at the short, older bulkheads and figuring out how to aid homeowners in bringing them up to a new code level.
Rising tides and concerns for more frequent and severe storms are strategic issues for island communities.
Building up the beaches and dune systems, upgrading drainage systems and pump stations and raising base flood evaluation levels are all part of the needed response. Another element is bulkhead height.
There was a clear consensus that council will most likely require that property owners building new homes or substantially renovating existing homes bring bulkheads up to a new standard.
Not decided was what that new standard should be.
Gougher said the borough would have a new “flood mitigation plan” in place by the end of the year and that it would then be tied into the “fiscal capital plan.”
Davies-Dunhour said that Tedesco had been asked to brief the Planning Board on the science behind sea level rise.
This discussion will continue as some on council, Parzych in particular; do not want to see more time lost. The next meeting of council is likely to see continued debate on what the new bulkhead height requirement should be.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.