Seaside Park Boardwalk Fire: Follow up

This is a follow up to the previous story I posted on the September fire which destroyed the Seaside boardwalk, effecting 60 small businesses just after Labor Day and eleven months after Hurricane Sandy destroyed that same boardwalk.

The fire started in the vicinity of Kohr’s Custard Shop, and the Asbury Park Press reported on Friday that Kohr’s failed a rough inspection of the meter and electrical equipment in March (http://www.app.com/article/20131023/NJNEWS/310230126/Seaside-boardwalk-shop-failed-electrical-inspection-before-fire) .

According to the report through the Open Records Act, no record of a certificate being issued for Kohr’s being cleared as passing the electrical inspection exists. Kohr’s stated through their attorney that it was the responsibility of the landlord to get the inspection completed. The landlord in this situation is Biscayne Candies, which operates a store next door to Kohr’s Custard.

The report concludes by stating that nobody has connected the fire at the boardwalk to the failed inspection at Kohr’s Custard (www.app.com).

Who’s to blame?

I read this news today and I come back to the question of: “who’s to blame?” Is it the fault of the Seaside inspection personnel that should have certified that the business, in this case Kohr’s Custard Shop, was safe to be operating?

Is it the fault of the landlord, in this case Biscayne Candies, for not notifying the town government or the tenant that the inspection certificate had not been issued?

Is it the fault of those higher up the ladder in the government on a municipal or county level to insure that those inspections were completed?

Is it the fault of Kohr’s Custard and their owner? Should he have checked or asked questions about the inspection? Should he have asked his landlord, Biscayne Candies, for a copy of the inspection paperwork to have for his records in case of an accident or other situation occurring?

No Connection?

The report cites that nobody is connecting the failed inspection in March to the fire in September. Is there a connection? I think it is a bit coincidental that the fire started below the same business where the inspection failure took place.

Is that connection being quickly dismissed because the state government already authorized the use of federal Sandy relief funds to begin the repairs? The admission that a failed inspection could have something to do with the fire would change the whole rebuilding process of the Seaside boardwalk. That would nullify the potential to use any more federal funding to repair the boardwalk.

The most viable way to then make those repairs would be to go through fire insurance policies, and judging by the response time of the claims to insurance companies after Sandy, that would tie up the work in delays for months. Each individual business would have to file a claim, the city would have to file claims as well. The boardwalk readiness for the summer tourist season would then be in jeopardy.

A tough situation

The Seaside boardwalk is a vital and necessary component of the New Jersey Shore tourist area, which is the economic driver for the entire state. If the repairs are not made swiftly, then the summer tourist season will be hurt, which will do further damage to our state economy.

However, the slow flow of federal aid money to the state, including one report that states that only $5.2 billion of the $47.9 billion in federal aid has been distributed is alarming at the one year point after Storm Sandy struck (www.rutgers.edu).

This report continues to state that low income households sustained half of the overall damage but have received less than 30% of the relief funds, which is a tremendous problem.   The fact that federal funding was so swiftly dispersed to repair the Seaside boardwalk, yet has not flowed into areas such as Union Beach, Keansburg, Ortley Beach, or Barnegat has left many residents questioning the entire process.

It is a tough situation because the state relies on tourism, so Seaside needs to be repaired a second time, and quickly. The fire was a terrible tragedy which impacted the lives of small business owners who barely survived Hurricane Sandy. Now those same people are left with a second damaging event and facing rebuilding again in less than a year. It is unthinkably sad.

Meanwhile, the residents of other communities and surrounding towns are looking at Seaside getting their second set of relief checks before they have received any relief funds. These people need the relief money to repair their homes, which one year after Sandy, are still not livable. They are understandably frustrated.

Ghost towns

In Ortley Beach, the sand from Storm Sandy is still visible in some streets, and homes are sitting there unrepaired since last October. Residents describe it as a ghost town at night. The same could be said for Mantoloking and sections of towns like Union Beach and Keansburg. The situation is unfair, the relief money needs to be distributed to these areas, and it is long overdue.

We as fellow residents of New Jersey need to advocate for these people who are just trying to get their lives back together, or at least what remains of the life they had before. One thing is for certain, after Sandy, they will never be the same again.