Thursday, May 9, 2013
"Discrepancies" were found in some of the charges submitted by AshBritt, the debris removal firm contracted by the state after Superstorm Sandy
AshBritt, Inc., the firm hired by the state to haul debris after Superstorm Sandy, benefited from an “ambiguous” contract that resulted in at least tens of thousands in extra charges, according to a report released on Wednesday. Ocean County Administrator Carl Block handed the Freeholders a thick report at Wednesday’s pre-board meeting. The report, done by state-hired monitor The Louis Berger Group, Inc., reviews the mileage billed to Ocean County by AshBritt. “The director contacted me after some articles had been written about the clean up efforts,” Block said. Freeholder Director John P. Kelly had asked for a report to be done breaking down the process of debris hauling as well as the charges in relation to distance. “Discrepancies” had…
Friday, March 29, 2013
Lautenberg to Christie: FEMA state AG's office on contract
The Federal Emergency Management Agency warned the New Jersey state Attorney General's office days after Superstorm Sandy struck that awarding a contract to AshBritt for storm cleanup could jeopardize federal funds, the Star-Ledger reported Friday. The newspaper reported that, in a letter from U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to Christie penned in February and obtained under the state's Open Public Records Act, the senator said his office was informed by FEMA that reimbursements to local municipalities and counties could be at risk. The post-Sandy contract was "piggybacked" from a 2008 contract AshBritt had with Connecticut, the newspaper reported. Since Lautenberg's letter, however, officials told the Star-Ledger, there have been …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
County is fronting the money, will be reimbursed by FEMA, Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. says
The Ocean County Board of Freeholders are slated to approve a $45 million emergency appropriation at the March 6 board meeting to help front the costs for Superstorm Sandy debris removal in municipalities. "So far, so good," Bartlett said at the pre-board meeting on Tuesday. "We can indirectly borrow from certain county accounts. We will be able to complete the entire thing by self-financing upfront." The county will eventually be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the participating municipalities, Bartlett said. "We will get it all back," Bartlett said. "The money will be coming back. It's good news we can afford to do it. It's bad news we had to do it. It's a way to protect our financial interests to do it …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Board members deny Ocean County GOP chief George R. Gilmore had anything to do with securing Ashbritt
Ocean County officials had two ways to go after Superstorm Sandy - wait three months for the complex bid process for debris removal, or go with Florida-based Ashbritt and start immediately, Freeholder Director John P. Kelly said today. "We had two choices in Ocean County," Kelly said at the Board of Freeholders meeting Wednesday in Toms River. "It was the only action that made sense." Nearly all of the discussion at the meeting centered on the use of Ashbritt for debris removal, the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and Ocean County's eventual recovery. Ocean County signed on with AshBritt in mid-November, and offered a shared services agreement to county municipalities for Sandy-related debris removal. Under the shared services agreement, …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Use of state-contracted firm legal and necessary for speedy response, officials say
Ocean County's hiring of a Florida-based firm for debris removal was legal and necessary for a quick response in the weeks after Hurricane Sandy, county officials said Wednesday. Responding to comments from Gary Black of Jackson, who claimed an article in the Star-Ledger of Newark criticized Ocean County's involvement with AshBritt, a debris removal firm hired by the state, the Ocean County Board of Freeholders said the county was piggybacking on the state's contract. "Under state law, counties may use contracts the state has in place," Freeholder Gerry P. Little said in response to Black's comments. The Ledger article, accessible here, actually criticized the company and the state, saying it exploited political ties and distress over the …
foggyworld
6:14 am on Saturday, May 11, 2013
The Governor just recently passed a bill that makes it completely impossible for any citizen or group to audit any of the Sandy bills being presented to FEMA and that includes AshBritt. I asked to see the bills submitted for the (non) clean-up of our area and received no answer. I suggested that residents be permitted to sign off the number and hours of employees charged to our individual areas … more ›