NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP – Three permanent monuments have been installed in Neptune to accurately determine the elevations needed when houses are raised up out of flood zones.
The three monuments will serve as permanent markers that will physically set the elevation standards for current or future construction projects, such as raising homes up on pilings.
“The township felt it needed to establish local control so everyone will be working off the same datum, especially in areas where elevations will be critical,” Township Director of Engineering and Planning Leanne Hoffman said.
The three monuments have already been installed: two along Riverside Drive, next to the Shark River, and one in Ocean Grove, near Fletcher Lake.
The in-ground concrete monuments have a special metal disk imbedded in them and each elevation will be determined by the township, along with certification from an independent land surveyor.
“They will provide exact elevations for construction and everyone can tie in with exact vertical data. When a surveyor comes in he will tie right in with that disk,” Hoffman said.
Committeeman Randy Bishop said he believes the monuments are an excellent idea and will avoid any potential problems in the future.
“The monuments actually set the elevations for homes and will set the standard that needs to be followed. Then we can consistently mark elevations and set the standard so there are no discrepancies when elevations are measured,” he said.
Bishop said everybody will have this standard to go to so residents are not in danger of having an elevation the township or insurance company does not see as correct.
“Surveyors and people can mark their elevations coming off these particular monuments. Not only will this help people today but also in the future when they go to build, renovate, or have to rebuild again- they will have a set standard,” he said.
Bishop said the markers are something that the township decided to do and that they are not required by any insurance companies or government agencies.
Electronic transmitters can be temporarily attached to the markers to allow or elevations to be accurately measured some distance away.
Hoffman said she does not know if other flood-ravaged municipalities in New Jersey are taking the same measures.
She said the only other similar type of measurement is mounted on the bridge over the Shark River, between Belmar and Neptune.
“But there was nothing else locally,” she said.
