This workshop will focus on the “how” aspect, covering different rebuilding and redevelopment options.  The floodproofing workshop will include topics such as:

• Elevation
• Acquisition/demolition/relocation
• Dry and wet floodproofing
• Costs for nonstructural floodproofing
• NFIP Regulations
• Biggert/Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012

Two national experts, Mr. Gene Barr and Mr. Larry Buss who were former members of the US Army Corps of Engineers National Nonstructural Floodproofing Committee, will be leading this workshop.  Gene and Larry bring decades of floodproofing experience and knowledge that can be applied in many situations, whether it be for residential structures or commercial businesses.

Course Date: Thursday, June 6, 2013 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Course Location:
City Council Chambers
City of Hoboken
94 Washington Street
Hoboken, New Jersey 07030

We encourage/recommend anyone signing up to utilize mass transit. Registrants can easily take heavy rail, light rail, PATH or the bus. Paid parking garages are also available.

Registrants should also bring their appetites since there are over 75 Zagat rated restaurants in town.

*There will be an afternoon floodproofing workshop session (at the same location) targeting local officials, planners, architects and contractors.  Please go to www.njafm.org/calendar for more information and to register.

Registration and Fees:  This FREE training is “limited access” with only 80 seats available for in-person attendance.

Note: You are required to register online at www.NJAFM.orgto ensure an accurate head count.  If you are not an NJAFM member, please consider becoming a member for future free training opportunities.

Please see the below agenda for more details.

Opening comments/purpose of workshop – 15 minutes
Nonstructural/flood proofing measures to reduce flood risk to structures – 90 minutes

• Elevation
• Buyout/demolition/relocation
• Berms/levees/walls
• Dry flood proofing/wet flood proofing
• Costs for nonstructural/flood proofing

Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012

State and local building code requirements – 15 minutes

Open discussions & questions

This year marks the 115th year of marching up Washington Street to honor those that made the ultimate sacrifice. It is also the oldest continuous parade in the State of New Jersey. This year the Grand Marshal is Vietnam Veteran Tom Brereton. In addition, 7 marching bands, several JROTC Cadet groups from Hudson County, and many Boy Scouts & Girl Scout troops from Hoboken will join the parade.

Stevens Institute of Technology graduation takes place on Thursday, May 23rd. The Hoboken community is invited to watch and cheer Stevens graduates as they march from campus to Hoboken Terminal – the first year they are doing such a march. The processional will start on campus at noon and go through the Castle Gate around 12:05pm. From there, the graduates will walk along River Terrace, turn left onto 5th street, and to Sinatra Drive. There, they will cross the street and walk along the Hoboken waterfront and proceed to the Hoboken train terminal.

Previously, the developer of the property requested that a waiver to the weekend construction restrictions in the City’s noise ordinance be considered by the City Council. On Tuesday, May 14, the developer requested that the resolution for a waiver be pulled from the Council agenda. Afterwards, the attorney for the developer advised the City that they would proceed with construction on weekends.

On Saturday morning, the City’s construction official issued a stop work order to the contractor. The contractor agreed to cease construction at 11am. The City will be seeking a court order to halt weekend construction and enforce the City’s noise ordinance, which was modeled on state law, in the interest of protecting the community’s quality of life. The City’s noise ordinance was vetted and approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Hudson Regional Health Commission and adopted locally by the Hoboken City Council.

This year, we would like to see more of the Hoboken Community involved in this event. In addition to changing our event location to Church Square Park, we have added a parade, more entertainment, and a watermelon eating contest! If you are a local business or organization who wishes to participate in the parade, or the festivities, please contact Sergeant Melissa Gigante at 201-420-2100 or at gigantem@hobokenpd.org. We look forward to working together with you to make our community safer, stronger and more unified than ever before.

The public is invited to attend a community meeting to provide feedback on a proposed complete streets redesign of a section of Willow Avenue. The “open house” type meeting will take place at the Wallace School (1100 Willow Avenue) on Thursday, May 23rd from 2pm to 8pm.

Pedestrian safety is of paramount importance along this corridor featuring high volumes of two of the city’s most vulnerable demographics — children and seniors. In accordance with the City’s and County’s Complete Streets Policies, planning is underway to make this segment of Willow Avenue a Complete Street that is safe and inviting for all types of roadway users. Hudson County is preparing to resurface Willow Avenue (a County road) between 11th Street and 13th Street. The open house will give the community an opportunity to provide feedback on the resurfacing project as well as contribute to a long-term vision for the project area. 

The proposed design features new high-visibility crosswalks, “low-cost” curb extensions that reduce pedestrian crossing distances, back-in angle parking for safer parking and unloading, and bicycle lanes to help calm traffic and reduce speeding. Reduced crossing distances provide extra time for green lights, and computer models show no negative impact on traffic flow.

Those not able to attend will be able to view all project information and provide feedback online via the City’s website (www.hobokennj.org/departments/transportation-parking/projects) following the public display until the end of the month (Friday, May 31).

Mayor Dawn Zimmer was joined by officials from North Hudson Sewerage Authority and United Water today to announce major initiatives to upgrade Hoboken’s infrastructure and address flooding, water distribution, and power resiliency.

Mayor Zimmer announced a partnership with North Hudson Sewerage Authority (NHSA) to build Hoboken’s second wet weather flood pump in order to further alleviate Hoboken’s 200 year flooding problem. The City and NHSA will work together to apply for a low interest $9 million loan from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust. The City would pay for and own the pump, while NHSA has agreed to pay for the engineering, permitting, loan application preparation, and operations and maintenance, a contribution estimated at nearly $5 million over 20 years. The pump, with a capacity of 50 million gallons per day, would further alleviate flooding in Western Hoboken.

The City has reached an agreement with United Water through which the water utility will pay for the costs of conducting a complete master plan of Hoboken’s water distribution infrastructure. The plan will provide a prioritized schedule for upgrading the City’s water distribution system. In order to fund these capital improvements, the City is also in the process of renegotiating the existing agreement with United Water – a 30 year agreement that was entered into in 1994 which did not provide any planning or funding for non-emergency infrastructure upgrades.

To improve the City’s resiliency to power outages, the City of Hoboken is entering into a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, and PSE&G to design an energy resilient “smart grid.” The design methodology uses advanced, smart grid technologies and distributed and renewable generation and storage resources as a way to improve the reliability, security, and resiliency of the electric grid. The City of Hoboken will be one of the first non-military applications of this methodology from Sandia National Laboratories.

Flooding
Flooding remains one of Hoboken’s historic challenges. Parts of the city, which were previously tidal marshes, still lie below the level of the Hudson River at high tide. As a result, when strong storms occur at high tide, the water cannot drain into the river by gravity, and it backs up, flooding streets. To alleviate the flooding, the stormwater must either be prevented from entering the sewer system or pumped out more quickly than it enters.

The City is pursuing both approaches – through the installation of additional pumps and through “green” technologies to divert, capture and store stormwater. In addition to pursuing the installation of the second flood pump, the City is supporting the North Hudson Sewerage Authority’s Hazard Mitigation funding application for additional pumps. The City has also submitted its own grant applications for Hazard Mitigation funds to acquire land for three parks in western Hoboken. Hoboken was awarded a technical assistance grant to study the feasibility of building large underground detention basins under these parks to store stormwater runoff. Similarly, Mayor Zimmer has suggested to NJ Transit that the agency consider converting the Long Slip Canal just south of Hoboken Terminal into an additional stormwater detention system.

During Hurricane Sandy, Hoboken flooded because the storm surge caused the Hudson River to flow into the City from low lying areas in the south, including through the Long Slip Canal, and from the north. The City has applied for $44 million in Hazard Mitigation funding for a system of flood barriers, berms and gates at the north and south to protect the city from future tidal surges. The City is working to have its plan incorporated into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regional study. If a flood protection plan receives the approval of the Army Corps and the City is designated a “Shaded X” area, property owners in that area will no longer be required to purchase flood insurance.

Hoboken was one of three recipients of a grant from Together North Jersey for technical assistance to develop a Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan. The plan will develop stormwater management and flood control strategies, strategize key updates to the aging water system, look for ways to improve the resiliency of transit infrastructure, and identify important steps to help plan for climate adaptation. Through the Planning Board and input from the public, the City is developing a sustainability plan (Green Building & Environmental Sustainability Plan Element of the Master Plan) that will provide guidance for stormwater management, utilities, infrastructure and other sustainability priorities.

In addition to applying for funding that would enable the City to create detention systems under newly purchased open space, the City is pursuing a variety of other green initiatives to address flooding. Hoboken was recently awarded a grant to install rain garden curb extensions to capture stormwater runoff and has incorporated rain gardens in designs of new parks. The City legalized the use of rain barrels in 2011 and has required the use of green roofs in redevelopment areas to minimize runoff. The Shade Tree Commission completed a pilot program to expand tree pits and install new street trees along Washington Street between 1^stStreet and 2^nd Street, setting standards for other property owners. The Commission will launch a program to encourage more property owners to install street trees, which play an important role in reducing stormwater runoff.

Power
The City has applied for approximately $2 million in Hazard Mitigation grants to install permanent emergency backup generators at critical community facilities including the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps, City Hall, Fire Headquarters and stations, Police Headquarters, the Public Works Garage, Multi-Service Center, Wallace School (shelter), and radio repeaters for the Police and Fire Departments. The City strongly supports PSE&G’s proposal to consolidate Hoboken’s three substations into two and to elevate and protect the remaining two substations from flooding.

Meetings will take place from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm for residents and from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm for business owners. The meeting for residents will also address the Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement) Program. 

A presentation will be provided by representatives from Appraisal Systems, Inc (www.asinj.com), the revaluation company performing the legally-mandated revaluation of Hoboken property. Following the presentation, the company will take questions from the public.

Continually updated project information for Hoboken is available on the revaluation company website at: www.asinj.com/revaluation.asp?p=current&id=283

Those unable to attend the meeting can also view the presentation online: www.asinj.com/revaluation/power-point.htm

The New Jersey Division of Taxation provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding the revaluation process:www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/lpt/revaluation.pdf.

In order to highlight the growing need for concern and awareness about autism, the Autism Society has been celebrating National Autism Awareness Month since the 1970s. The United States recognizes April as a special opportunity for everyone to educate the public about autism and issues within the autism community.

As a result, Chief Anthony P. Falco Sr. of the Hoboken Police Department is announcing an update to the Hoboken Police Department website which includes an Autism Emergency Contact Form that may be printed, filled out and dropped off at Police Headquarters. This form is designed to give the Hoboken Police Department some critical information about the City of Hoboken’s autistic citizens and will also aid the department in responding efficiently to calls for service with them. The form can be found on the Hoboken PD website www.hobokenpd.com or can be picked up at Police Headquarters located at 106 Hudson Street.

UPDATE: Due to weather, the Green Fair is postponed until the fall. A new date is TBD.

The City of Hoboken Green Team will host the 2nd Annual Green Fair on Sunday, May 19, 2013.

The 2nd Annual Green Fair will be held from 11am to 5pm at Pier A Park along the Hoboken waterfront and will feature live music and organic food vendors. It is intended to introduce sustainable lifestyle choices to the community, raise awareness regarding environmental concerns, and demonstrate how consumers can reduce their impact on the earth by selecting sustainable, eco-friendly products and services, reducing energy consumption, conserving water and limiting their dependence on fossil fuels.

A compost bin will be on-site and residents are encouraged to bring any compostable materials (coffee grounds, grass clippings, peanut shells, etc.) they may be storing at home.

Green businesses or non-profits whose mission aligns with environmental sustainability are invited to participate in the Green Fair. The Green Team is also reaching out to involve the local arts community. Interested vendors can submit the online registration form at www.hobokennj.org/greenfair and contact Christopher Brown at cbrown@hobokennj.org with any questions. The final day for registration is Friday, May 17, 2013.