MANCHESTER – A family displaced by a massive flood in their home shared their experience and concerns of additional development during a recent council meeting.
Robert Garino, a resident of 7th Avenue in Pine Lake Park told the mayor and council about the recent flooding of his home involving three to four feet of water.
“I have a dead end drain right in front of my house between two poles where all the water comes into and overflows, so not only was the water not clean but all the water from the other drains were coming into that drain,” Garino said.
“It was bubbling up and knee high in front of my house and it was waist high inside of my house. This also happened in January. My daughter was living down there and she lost everything. She had been living there for nine years and we thought this was a freak accident,” he added.
This latest incident caused the family to leave their home. “We are currently living at my sister’s house. There was water going into the main panel and it was deemed unsafe and unlivable, so my family, my pets have been homeless,” since the Aug. 6 incident.
“My house has been completely destroyed. The whole house smells of mold and the grading is off. Pine Lake Park knows about it. The drains are full of gunk. We have police reports from January. We have police reports but what is the next step?” Garino asked.
Mayor Robert Arace said that he has the address on file and asked the resident to speak to him following the meeting that night. “We’ll get our utilities department on it immediately.”
Garino expressed that area development has led to the conditions that caused the flooding of his home and fears that further development will only intensify the situation in Pine Lake Park.
Rowdy Renters
Another resident brought up a different type of threat to her home in the form of an ongoing issue of a rental unit across the street. She said the renters exhibit alcohol consumption, public urination and loud noise late in the evening and have disrupted the life of her family and others on her block.
The resident has come before the mayor and council numerous times and while the mayor and current and past police chiefs have urged her to continue making complaints and notifying the police department, the resident remarked that she has reached her limit on the problem and is frustrated as to what she can do to get the incidents to stop.
She provided photos to the police and Mayor Arace during the meeting. She noted that recently the Ocean County Sheriff was called to come. “They did issue a ticket but it hasn’t stopped. As you can see from the pictures the same people are coming back to do the same thing that I have mentioned on Facebook (posts). It is the drinking.”
The resident also noted that the owner of the rental home “recently had an open house with cars coming in and out. I think this warrants more than enough evidence (with the photos) for the township to start an investigation about what is going on. It is their drinking spot.”
“If you go to the surrounding houses the residents will tell you the same thing because they know what is going on,” she added.
“I spoke to a neighbor who has lived there since the 1970s and he’s never witnessed anything like this.” She said there was word of a child endangerment situation within that house and “the Ocean County Sheriff was called and we saw them. It happened on July 17. We didn’t know why they were there but I can tell you they were there checking the house. I was glad to hear that. There may be a rapist or sex offender there,” the resident added in concern.
Police Chief Antonio Ellis said, “I can follow up on this with the court and see who it was issued with and what the court date issued is.”
“They park in the middle of the street to drink beer during the day and there are kids riding their bikes on the street. Where is the owner and why are we being forced to live under these conditions?” the resident asked.
She added, “the owner isn’t being responsible for anything. During the open house there is a group of five, a group of three and a group of two people.”
Mayor Arace asked if police were periodically sent out to that neighborhood.
Township Attorney Lauren Staiger said that penalties concerning any wrongdoing found would involve records of past convictions and number of violations.
Mayor Arace noted the township’s ordinances designed to “hold landlords more accountable” and the criteria involved with the ordinances that have been passed since his administration took office.
Staiger said if it was found that this case did fall under the ordinance then action would be taken concerning the owner of that house.
The resident also said she felt there was a rat infestation within the neighborhood and that was another impact on homeowners of the block.
