Church Shelter Hearing Canceled As Toms River Awaits Flooding Cleanup

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River officials have canceled Thursday's zoning board meeting as the township continues to deal with the aftermath of flooding caused when water pipes froze and burst in Town Hall on Monday.

That meeting had been highly anticipated because the board was slated to at least start hearing an application from St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church for a homeless shelter on its Hooper Avenue property.

Town Hall remains closed at least through Thursday, possibly longer. Mayor Daniel Rodrick said officials are looking at contingency plans for the town's necessary in-office services because the town has not been able to start cleaning up the flooding, which affected three floors of the building.

Rodrick said the town has been told the cleanup cannot begin until there is an assessment of possible mold and asbestos, because the pipes that burst are old and wrapped in asbestos insulation, he said.

"We don't know when we will hear" about the possible mold and asbestos, Rodrick said, because the town is waiting for the crew to assess the situation. "We still haven’t gotten and it happened Monday."

That's because the extreme cold caused dozens of issues with frozen pipes breaking both in commercial buildings, including the Ocean County Justice Complex, and in homes across the Ocean County and across the state. Lavallette property owners were being warned on Sunday by local officials to check on their properties because of the multitude of broken pipes that were being reported. Red Bank Regional High School closed on Wednesday after pipes burst at that Monmouth County school.

Rodrick said a pipe also burst at the recreation building at the Snug Harbor pool site, but that has been resolved.

He said the Snug Harbor building or the recreation building on North Bay Avenue, next to the township's police department, might be used to host essential in-office services, including the building, zoning, and code enforcement departments and the registrar.

"Hopefully we will only be closed a few days and we won't have to move operations," Rodrick said, but just in case "we're working on figuring out how to get phone and internet" service into either of those buildings.

Rodrick said he also has instructed John Mele, the township engineer, to look into pipe heating systems to avoid frozen pipe issues — and the associated repair costs — in the future.

"It's kind of ridiculous that we continue to spend thousands" on repairs after flooding if keeping the pipes heated can avoid that at a much lower cost.

For residents who were planning to attend Thursday's Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing, an announcement on the township website said the application for the Starbucks by Doren Development has been rescheduled to the Feb. 26 zoning board meeting, set for 6:30 p.m.

The application by St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church has been moved to the March 12 zoning board meeting at 6:30 p.m., the notice said. The church is seeking approval from the zoning board to turn a two-story building on its property into a permanent shelter to serve families, the Asbury Park Press reported. The shelter would house up to 14 people, up to three families with children under 18, the report said.

For residents who need to make their property tax payments, there is a secure dropbox that faces the Town Hall garage where check payments can be deposited.

Rodrick said residents who need to file permit applications can submit them online through the township's website.