One of the towns hardest hit by last year's Superstorm Sandy is trying to figure out how to pay for a new borough hall.
Mantoloking may do something the town government in the well-off New Jersey shore community has never done before: Borrow morning.
Town officials tell the Asbury Park Press that they would prefer not to issue bonds. But they say building a new borough hall may require it.
“The municipality has never had a bond, there has never been a debate on it,” Mayor George Nebel told the paper. “We’ve always tried to pay as we go. We believe that is the right way to go. If we have to build a new town hall, it’s something that we might have to look at.”
The building took on 4 feet of water during the storm, and officials say rebuilding may be less expensive than repairing it.
The borough has $347,000 from an insurance fund and $3,000 in federal aid for the damage, but that will not cover the costs of a new structure.
