Reconstruction of Neptune Township's Shark River Municipal Marina - shredded by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 - gets a green light with $1.15 million in federal grants announced by shore Congressman Chris Smith (R-4).

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant covers 90 percent of rebuilding costs, Smith said, remarking also about the community morale boost it offers.

"The residents of Neptune are strong and resilient, and they are working every day to not just replace what Sandy took, but to make their communities even better. The long-overdue rebuilding of the Shark River Marina Building is one more step to total recovery," Smith said in a prepared statement.

Smith said the new marina will follow base elevation flood levels reflected in FEMA's revised maps and will comply with requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

It is also being designed to incoporate the functions of the marina's multipurpose center that was flattened in the storm.

FEMA also allocated $7.6 million to clear the Shark River of Sandy-related silt, within a $28 million statewide dredging grant. Smith said that he intervened with FEMA Region Two Administrator James Hatfield to reverse the agency's earlier decision to deny the funding request by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

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