Middle Township to Advocate for Accurate Bay Front Flood Maps

COURT HOUSE — Middle Township has retained the services of Dr. Stewart Farrell to assist the Township in its efforts to coordinate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on new flood maps for the bay front portion of the community.
“We are very pleased to add our region’s leading coastal expert to our team that will work with FEMA on accurate flood maps that reflect the true flood risk along the bay front section of Middle Township”, said Middle Township Deputy Mayor Tim Donohue. “Dr. Farrell has worked diligently with many coastal communities in our region for decades and has successfully secured accurate flood maps for our neighbors. The investment in Dr. Farrell’s services will pay dividends for Middle Township for decades to follow”.
Middle Township officials are continuing discussions with FEMA on new flood maps for bayside communities including Reed’s Beach and Pierce’s Point. FEMA held a public meeting for Middle Township and Lower Township residents on Nov. 1 to discuss new flood elevation standards that will be incorporated into the new flood maps. The new maps will help establish preliminary flood insurance rate maps, or FIRMS, that will set new flood insurance rates for coastal properties.
“Middle Township has been engaged in this process from the beginning and Dr. Farrell’s assistance and support will truly be beneficial to our entire community”, Deputy Mayor Donohue said. “We have personally met with Congressman Frank LoBiondo, FEMA, state and local officials as we continue to push for flood maps that are based on science and accurately reflect flood risk”.
Dr. Farrell is a professor of Marine Geology at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, and he also is the founder of the Stockton’s Coastal Research Center. The center was established in 1981 and began its work locally by assisting the Borough of Avalon with coastal issues that involved shoreline retreat. Dr. Farrell works with many coastal communities in our region to advise and assist with various issues including beach and dune restoration, environmental issues, and most recently the new FEMA flood maps. Former Coastal Research Center employees now work with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. In 1996, the Coastal Research Center became the state’s designated resource for geotechnical data and studies on a wide variety of issues for 43 New Jersey coastal communities.