‘Resilient City’ Crisis Planning Kicks Off

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Story by Jay Cook

SEA BRIGHT – In the post-Super Storm Sandy era on the Jersey Shore, an onus has been placed on the rebuilding areas to prevent major damage from future storms. Now, one local shore town aims to be an example for that future.
On Dec. 12, as part of the “Resilient City” initiative spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), the congressman met with Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long and representatives from Verizon NJ, New Jersey Natural Gas and Jersey Central Power & Light Company to unveil the project.
The borough of Sea Bright will now become the blueprint for rebuilding and reconfiguring Shore communities in an effort to limit future damage from natural and man-made disasters.
“The idea is to make Sea Bright a model ‘Resilient City,’ and it would be amazing to do that because it really is one of the most vulnerable,” Pallone said during the press conference at Sea Bright Borough Hall. “At the same time, we want to use the most vulnerable, if you will, and make it the most resilient.”
The borough, only a quarter-mile wide, was one of the hardest hit communities during Sandy in October 2012. The three utilities present at the meeting all had a stake in town prior to the storm, and now are each doing their own parts to help rebuild.
In a state of emergency, communication between local elected officials, state entities and residents is paramount in ensuring safety; that is exactly where Verizon NJ comes into play.
Upgrades to Verizon’s resiliency plan in the borough include making improvements to the wireline network in town (wooden poles and both aerial and ground terminals) along with proverbial “safety nets” for system-wide communications in the event of an emergency.
“These actions not only benefit the residents of Sea Bright, but it benefits all the residents of New Jersey,” said Sam Delgado, vice president of external affairs for Verizon NJ.
One way the communications company will achieve this is through implementation of ODAS (Outside Directional Antenna System) nodes, which prevent the overload or exhaustion of communication systems during times of crisis, Delgado said.
Specific to Sea Bright, residents can expect to see somewhere in the range of 14-15 ODAS nodes, with construction beginning in 2017. Those devices, which are only a few feet long, will most likely be placed on existing street structures. They can also be placed on larger buildings, monopoles or tree poles – the types of structures commonly seen along highways.
Delgado pointed to the Hoboken train crash in September as an instance where this technology came into play. With an overload of emergency services in the area, more reliability was necessary to ensure communications were kept up and running.
Another utility vastly affected by Sandy was New Jersey Natural Gas, which suffered several underground natural gas leaks throughout Sea Bright.
“Our system was devastated by that storm, like nothing we had ever seen before – and hopefully something that we will not see again – but we cannot bank on that,” said Mariellen Dugan, senior vice president and CEO of NJNG.
Dugan spoke about the many improvements made to NJNG’s infrastructure after the storm. The police and fire departments in town received their own dedicated gas lines, in order to keep them functioning when other systems fail.
Additionally, numerous shutoff valves have been deployed along the Sea Bright system. That plan was executed so certain affected areas can be cut off, while not disrupting service to other customers up or down the line. By 2017, Sea Bright will have a new, mile-and-a-half long distribution line installed, which will serve as a secondary feed.
The energy supplier has also announced a new program called NJ RISE, a grouping of six projects that will alleviate impacts to the Shore area in the event of another major disaster. “We feel that all of these projects will help us dramatically in the event of another storm in the future,” Dugan said.

The last of the three utilities at the announcement was JCP&L, which has allocated $2.7 billion towards enhancements of distribution and transmission systems through the past decade, said Anthony Hurley, vice president of operations for JCP&L.
The company has also made upgrades to substations in potential-flood areas.
“We have raised substation equipment, raised flood barrier, flood walls and monitoring equipment at 19 different substations throughout the area that are subject to flood,” Hurley said.
Fifteen of those locations are in Monmouth and Ocean counties, including the substation serving the borough, which is on the Shrewsbury Riverside of town.
The power distribution company also announced a partnership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 400 and 102, of Asbury Park and Parsippany, respectively.
“This provides for the activation of approximately 300 trained New Jersey electricians who respond and can come to the aide for service to our customers,” said Hurley.
For Mayor Long – who took office nine months before Sandy made landfall – her tenure has been focused around rebuilding Sea Bright. Now, she hopes the work done in the borough will protect it down the line.
“It’s very gratifying to see everybody working together for future resiliency,” she said. “The last four years have been about making Sea Bright more resistant to storms to protecting it from devastating storm damage. This initiative really represents four years to improve utility infrastructure.”