Following the latest devastating floods that hit North Jersey in March, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that $2.9 million in federal funds are available for voluntary buyouts of homes in Wayne Township’s Hoffman Grove area. The state Office of Emergency Management will make a 25 percent matching grant of $999,995 to the program for a total of $3.9 million available for property acquisition. 

“Anyone who has experienced the heavy spring rains in Hoffman Grove knows just how dangerous it can be when it floods,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8), an original member of the House Homeland Security Committee, which has FEMA in its jurisdiction. “Too many times I’ve seen families in this neighborhood go through the hardship of losing everything after the Passaic River runs over its banks. The federal government must help the state and the township in their continuing efforts to move people out of harm’s way.  The repetitive cycle of flooding in this neighborhood cannot be sustained, and we must find the resources to move people to more stable homesteads after decades of enduring these disruptive storms.”  

Wayne Township Mayor Christopher Vergano said he was grateful for Rep. Pascrell’s efforts in securing the opportunity for more homes to be bought out.

“Hoffman Grove is the most serious flood prone area of Wayne Township,” said Vergano, who has lived in the community since 1962. “In the flooding that we experienced during this past spring, more people came forward who were interested in voluntary buyouts. It’s a chance to get fair market value for your home. It gives people the opportunity to get out of the floodplain and move forward with their lives.”

The proposed project is part of FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance program, and will allow the government to acquire property to remove property owners/residents from harm’s way on a voluntary basis. The homes proposed in this project are located in the Hoffman Grove subdivision at the western end of Meadow Road, off N.J. State Highway Route 23 South. The subdivision is bounded by the Pompton River to the west, north and south and the NJ Transit commuter line to the east; generally, in the southwest portion of the township.

Properties in the Hoffman Grove subdivision have been subjected to 14 major and thirteen 13 moderate floods in the last 40 year period. As a result, these properties have sustained up to 30 percent damage and have reported considerable repetitive loss.

By acquiring approximately 26 of the proposed properties, Wayne Township will remove flood prone homes from the area. This will reduce health and safety risks as well as the need to provide emergency rescue services, flood insurance and federal disaster assistance in the future. 

This project continues the effort initiated in previous FEMA grants that have acquired 71 properties in the Hoffman Grove subdivision at a cost of just under $11 million.

An additional federal property buyout program is being administered by the Army Corps of Engineers and NJ Department of Environmental Protection to purchase property in both the Hoffman Grove neighborhood in Wayne, as well as another flood prone neighborhood in Pompton Lakes.  To date, Rep. Pascrell has secured over $6 million in federal dollars to facilitate the purchase of homes through this program, enough for a total of 30 properties.

Rep. Pascrell has also worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is develop a program for buyouts of homes in the Passaic River floodplain in Wayne and Pompton Lakes.

After witnessing homes evacuations in flooded areas including Hoffman Grove following the March 12 nor’easter, Rep. Pascrell spoke to President Obama personally and urged him to expedite a federal declaration of a major flood disaster in New Jersey. The president responded on April 2 with the declaration, releasing federal aid to 12 counties including Passaic. 

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