Gov. Christie Announces Buyouts of Flood-Prone Homes in South River

Gov. Chris Christie appeared in South River on Tueday to announce plans to buy up flood-prone homes in Sayreville and South River. 

The buyouts are part of the Christie Administration’s plan to purchase 1,000 homes damaged by Sandy and 300 homes in the Passaic River Basin that have been chronically impacted by floods in the past. The project will cost $130 million, with New Jersey matching 10 percent of the federal money.

Homeowners who opt into the buyouts will be offered pre-Sandy rates for their homes, and the land will be converted into open space to handle future floodwaters. The first batch of buyouts will take place in Sayreville, with 129 homes approved for acquisition through a $29.5 million grant from FEMA. 

“We’re trying to restore the lives of people who were most severely damaged, and we’re standing in a neighborhood that was one of the more severely damaged neighborhoods in New Jersey,” said Christie, who appeared at the intersection of Water and Lee streets in South River. “We’re going to try to make sure that we take care of the lives of people in this neighborhood—places like Sayreville, South River, Woodbridge, Old Bridge—to make sure that those folks get taken care of and can move on with their lives.”

The administration plans on submitting new buyout applications to FEMA on a rolling basis. In addition to the 129 Sayreville homes that have already been approved for acquisition and demolition, 85 applications were filed last week with FEMA for buyouts of homes in both South River and Sayreville.

“We know these are very difficult choices for families to make, to sell their homes and move from places they have long lived,” said Bob Martin, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. “We are committed to moving this process along quickly and smoothly, to work closely with FEMA to get applications processed promptly, and with minimal red tape, so families impacted by Sandy can move on with their lives and start over again.”

Martin also gave details on the South River homes that will be eligible for buyouts, namely those on Water, Lee, Elizabeth, Russell, and Martin streets. Commercial buildings will not be included, since they cannot be bought with federal money. The DEP is in talks with other municipalities, including Woodbridge and Old Bridge, to discuss buyouts with willing sellers.

During the event, Christie was asked about his Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, Assemblywoman Barbara Buono, and her recent release of an economic plan. 

“Higher taxes, higher spending, bigger government, and government intruding in every part of people’s lives,” said Christie of the plan. “People have a very clear choice between what happened in this four years, or what happened in the four years of John Corzine and Barbara Buono. I feel comfortable leaving people with that choice.”

Christie also tied public sector union endorsements of Buono to his efforts to abolish the awarding of pay for accumulated unused sick days to government employees, an issue which he promised to bring up during the campaign.

"I'm not going to use your money to buy political endorsements for me," said Christie. “Up in Bergen County, we have a police chief who is retiring and getting $150,000 payout in a lump sum. I’d always thought that the reward for not being sick was not being sick...The legislature is so in the pocket of the public sector unions."