Sea Isle Condemns Two City Buildings in Sandy’s Aftermath

SEA ISLE CITY – City Hall has stood as a sentinel of this seaside city for over 100 years. Through that century it withstood the tests of time, flood, searing heat, multiple administrations and countless people walking through its doors. At last, though, the building was bested – by a hurricane named Sandy.
Not only did Sandy cause the condemnation of City Hall, she also wreaked havoc in the city’s Public Safety Building that resulted in the building being deemed unfit for human habitation.
Since the storm, City Hall offices, along with the police department have been setting up shop in the city’s recently vacated elementary school. Both City Hall and the Public Safety Building were flooded with water as well as sewage.
In a presentation during the Nov. 13 City Council meeting, before a room packed with residents and city employees, City Administrator George Savastano shared an overview of Sandy’s damage.
“As the mayor indicated, we had extensive damage that was sustained during this event at our Public Safety Building and at City Hall. Because of that, all municipal operations in those facilities will be temporarily relocated to the school.”
Savastano said the police department is operational but is continuing to move its base of operation to the elementary school. He added the school will be ready to host the next session of Municipal Court.
The school building was chosen to be the temporary home of city offices because it did not sustain any interior flooding or serious damage. Savastano said the city would do its due diligence for the school facility and inspect its crawlspace for signs of damage.
The school was also chosen because it has been vacant since spring of this year when the remainder of Sea Isle’s elementary school students became part of the Ocean City School District in a sending-receiving relationship that includes all of Sea Isle’s K-12 district.
Classrooms and administrative offices will be used for municipal functions. The gymnasium will continue to be used for public athletic and recreational events. The school building will be fully-secured, alarmed and re-keyed.
Savastano said because the first floors of City Hall and the Public Safety Building were flooded with contaminated wate, they are considered “beyond reasonable repair.”
“Therefore, the city is embarking on a project to construct a new municipal building that will be constructed at a higher flood elevation and built to last into the 23rd century,” Savastano announced.
The proposed new building will house all City Hall offices, Municipal Court, Construction Office, Police Department and Volunteer Fire Department operations.
The new building will be constructed on the footprint of the current Public Safety Building. The existing fire department will stay in place.
“It will be an intensive process,” said Savastano, saying the construction of the new building will involve public input.
“We will have many public meetings,” added Savastano. “There will be opportunities for everyone to be heard.”
The administrator said in addition to having a solid, cooperative community, the city has a government that is “stable and consistent for the last five years,” which will help guide and implement the plan that will be developed over the course of the next few months.
“You don’t have a rookie government and you don’t have a rookie senior staff,” Savastano told audience members.
“We are going to face financial challenges,” said Councilman John Divney.
Savastano said while the monetary damages sustained to the city have yet to be finalized, between the 7,000 commercial businesses and residences and two city buildings affected by the storm, the total will be in the tens of millions of dollars. He added that two portions of the city’s famous Promenade, as well as the Information Center on the Promenade, were destroyed by the storm and need rebuilding.
Funding for the building was not discussed. Mayor Leonard Desiderio, however, addressed one resident’s concern.
“Besides raising taxes what other means are available?” asked one resident “Are there any other governmental departments that potentially could help municipalities?”
Desiderio replied the city will look at any funding source available before it spends money. “We’re going to look at other avenues,” said the mayor adding the city has already engaged in discussions with legislators to see what money is available to the city.