Most back in business in Jamesburg district
Flood repercussions could still present major setback to local economy
BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

JEFF GRANIT staff Collin Horsch throws another box of garbage onto a heaping pile of debris that lined West Railroad Avenue in Jamesburg Friday. Collin, Derek Melnyk (c) and James Pellino were cleaning the DiBrizzis’ storage area, victimized by the flood five days earlier.

The road to recovery now leads through the heart of Jamesburg.That’s been the prevailing sentiment in the borough’s downtown, where most business owners have reopened their shops after last week’s devastating flood.

“We’re just trying to operate,” Bill Pellino, owner of Suburban Cleaners on West Railroad Avenue, told the Sentinel on Tuesday. “This is my only source of income.”

JEFF GRANIT staff Barbara Wright, owner of Wright Travel, surveys the shop’s condition after last week’s flood. Wright was forced to temporarily relocate her office to Cranbury.

Pellino’s grandfather opened the shop in 1912, and it has been family-run since then.

But on July 17, floodwaters threatened the business, as it caused damage to the cleaners and many other structures in Jamesburg, Helmetta, Spots-wood, Monroe, East Brunswick, South River and Old Bridge.

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above, Vincent Lili of John’s Barber and Styling looks at the debris thrown out by businesses on West Railroad Avenue during the flood.

Pellino said the water appeared like a tidal wave bearing down on the low-lying business district.

“The ironic part is, we were going to start to run a sale, and we had to take that sign down,” Pellino said.

John Lanni, owner of John’s Barber Shop, also on West Railroad Avenue, said he lost two brand-new water heaters, and he estimated total damages at the shop to be as much as $10,000.

Below, Suburban Cleaners owner Bill Pellino chats with Mayor Anthony LaMantia (l) and council President Otto Kostbar about the damages the shop sustained.

Barbara Wright, owner of the nearby Wright Travel, said she has temporarily relocated her shop to 108 North Main St. in Cranbury.

Wright said she had already moved the agency three times before the flood.

“I’ve been open through every move,” she said, adding that the agency was just starting to pick up new clients when she had to close for a week following the flood.

At right, LaMantia (l) and Kostbar examine the damage to DiBrizzi’s ice cream stand during a tour of the business district Tuesday. DiBrizzi’s has yet to reopen.

Among the equipment Wright lost were fax and copy machines and computers.

“It’s a mess. Everything is destroyed in there,” Wright said. “The whole thing is a disaster.”

Along that same West Railroad Avenue strip are two storage facilities, one used by Dibrizzi’s Pizza, which has not yet reopened. The other storage facility, according to Mayor Anthony LaMantia, is now vacant — H&R Block pulled out when the flood hit.

LaMantia met with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which oversees the distribution of aid to natural disaster victims, and with officials from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

LaMantia said it is unlikely that the borough would receive individual municipal aid, but he hopes Middlesex County will be awarded such aid, which it can then distribute to the affected towns.

“As an individual town, it’s not big enough, from what I gather, so they’re going to do the whole county together,” LaMantia said.

While places like Dibrizzi’s, Wright Travel and Suburban Cleaners were dealt an unexpected blow July 17, many other shops managed to stay off the flood’s itinerary.

Centerstate Realty, located on Forsgate Drive across the street from Dibrizzi’s, remained untouched by the waters.

“It was on the ‘right’ side of the water,” Council President Otto Kostbar said Tuesday as he and LaMantia walked through the business district.

Business downtown had been flourishing after improvements and beautification projects were completed, thus boosting the borough’s economy, Kostbar said. Without FEMA aid, he said, it would be difficult for the district to return to form.

“This has the potential to be an enormous setback,” Kostbar said.

DiBrizzi’s could be the only business that still has not reopened, as officials expected Heritage Tattoo to resume business, possibly as early as today.

And the flood is still having an effect on some of the businesses that have reopened, as road closures have forced traffic flow away from certain downtown areas.

Wally Whiting, owner of Iron Cycles, a motorcycle repair shop, said diverted traffic has had a positive effect on rush-hour congestion, but has hurt business.

“I keep getting people calling me up, saying ‘I can’t get to your shop, the roads are closed,’ ” Whiting said.

Jay Patel, owner of Jamesburg Deli, said many of his customers still think the business is closed, slowing the shop’s recovery.

“Business is getting there, but it’s not full strength,” Patel said.

Forsgate Drive remains closed from its intersection with Perrineville Road to County Route 522, also known as Buckelew Avenue. LaMantia said it could be open to traffic sometime within the next two to four weeks.

In the meantime, the mayor said he has been working to make sure residents know those shops are up and running.

“We’re trying to get the message out to the people that just because roads are closed, that doesn’t mean the stores are closed,” LaMantia said.

Though Whiting lost a computer in the flood, the shop does not have a basement, and no bikes were damaged. He said cleaning up has been the hardest part, but the effort has been made easier by the cooperation of borough officials.

“These guys were fantastic,” Whiting said. “When I walked through the door [after the flood], they were right behind me, asking what they could do to help. That’s a lot to be said for a small town.”

Whiting said he was across the street when the flood hit, and began to grasp the full measure of the damage it was causing when he saw debris floating past him.

“We sat out there watching the stuff go by, and I’m thinking, ‘I could use that. … There goes a tree,’ ” he said.

Whiting said there would have been even less damage in the shop, but a log was knocked into the door of the garage, pushing it slightly open and letting some of the flood water inside.

But, Whiting noted, the flood was beyond his control, and he’s just happy to move on.

“It happens. That’s the way life is,” Whiting said. “You’ve just got to deal with it.”

Patel said the deli suffered almost $15,000 worth of damages, including lost food, unusable bags and utensils, and cleaning expenses.

Patel has owned the store since 1983 and has never closed for more than a day at a time, and even that has been a rare occurrence. The shop has been a model of consistency, and Patel remains optimistic.

Since the shop’s air conditioner is on the roof, and the water heater is on the second floor, the damage could have been worse, he noted.

While shop owners go back to business-as-usual, the buildings themselves still bear scars, in the form of a visible waterline running along the exterior of each shop.

“The water on the road was like a river,” Kostbar said. “I’m amazed we got cleaned up this quickly.”

While the flood waters resembled a river, LaMantia said that, contrary to some opinions, the water did not come from the lake in Thompson Park.

It actually came toward the lake at the corner of Forsgate and Railroad Avenue, and spilled over the wall of the dam, he said.

LaMantia and Kostbar commended state legislators representing the area, as well as fire and safety officials from Middlesex, Monmouth and Mercer counties, for their support and assistance.

He said legislators have been writing letters to the federal government on behalf of the borough, appealing for aid. The borough’s preliminary damage assessment was $3.4 million, a number that is likely to rise further.

LaMantia said the borough’s engineer plans to meet with county engineers to try to find a preventive measure officials could take to protect the area’s residents from such a flood, if it ever happens again.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime problem, but we don’t want it to happen again,” he said.