Westwood to Buy Fifth Flood-Prone Home

Westwood is going to buy another home from a resident affected by repeated flooding.

The Westwood Council passed a resolution Tuesday authorizing the purchase of a flood-prone home using a piece of the $2 million in grants the borough received from FEMA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

It will be the fifth home Westwood has bought using the grant funds. The borough closed on three houses around the beginning of the year and closed on a fourth home, 23 Nugent Place, last month. Officials declined to give the address of the fifth home Wednesday morning because the owners had not yet been notified.

Before the fifth property can be purchased, borough officials will have to wait for a reimbursement of more than $50,000 from FEMA to cover various fees associated with the buyout process, Borough Administrator Robert Hoffmann said. 

The first three houses were demolished earlier this year and the process is underway to demolish the fourth, according to Hoffmann. Until then, the Westwood Fire Department will conduct drills in the empty home.

The fifth house will also be demolished, though the process takes some time because of the various requirements set by FEMA and the DEP. The properties purchased with the grant funds can never be built on again.

Westwood received a total of $2,068,057 in grants from FEMA and the DEP out of about $28 million slated for buyouts and elevations in New Jersey following Hurricane Irene. Local residents reported having several feet of water flood their homes during that storm and, for some of them, it was the fourth time they flooded that year.