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| Photo by Ryan Morrill The beach entrance at 21st Street is blocked off to keep people from falling. |
Because many of Surf City’s dunes were greatly damaged by Winter Storm Jonas in late January, local officials had hoped the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would take care of the repairs and foot the bill. But assistance through the Federal Control and Coastal Emergency Act won’t be available until sometime next year, borough Councilman Peter Hartney stated at the council’s regular meeting on Wednesday, April 13.
The steep dune drop-offs at 20th and 21st streets, however, need to be repaired quickly so the public can safely use the area.
“You’ve got a 12-foot drop there. You’d fall and go boom,” Hartney said.
If the town wants to make the area accessible at this time, the Army Corps has said it’s Surf City’s responsibility to pay for it, the councilman stated.
The town is in the process of applying for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has offered reimbursement through its Public Assistance grant program to state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations for emergency work and the repair or replacement of eligible public facilities damaged by Jonas. But Hartney expects the town will have to pay for the work itself.
“When we’ve made those applications in the past, FEMA says, ‘You’re not the party responsible for it. It’s the Army Corps of Engineers’ and they already have money for it, so we’re not going to cover you under the disaster act,’” the councilman stated. “It becomes a kind of conundrum.”
Town officials are looking to have the repairs completed by Ocean County through its shared services agreement in the near future.
“We have to kind of wait until mid-May to do the work because the winds need to turn around, and we have to watch how much sand comes back in and how the beach moves in terms of the physics of it,” Hartney explained.
Because the drop-offs are so steep and there’s no sandbar off the beach, the councilman expects the repairs will require extensive labor.
“There’s a big hole there,” Hartney said. “At high tide, the tide comes right up to the dune. So there’s no sand to push to make it accessible. It’s so high that you wouldn’t push off enough sand to do it anyway. So you have to bring in sand and cut the dune down and do a lot more work to it.”
The town had to fund similar repairs to another section of the beach following the nor’easter in 2009 that was later rebuilt by the Army Corps.
Hartney hopes to have 20th and 21st streets included in the town’s remaining replenishment project that’s anticipated to start after North Beach’s eminent domain proceedings. But the DEP has not yet given the town a definitive answer, he said.
“If they just did the replenishment from where the project ended the last time, north of 22nd Street, they would leave that damaged dune from 22nd Street south untouched,” Hartney said. “They would be putting a new beach next to a damaged beach, so I’ve asked them if they’re going integrate that beach into the project.”
In other meeting news, Mayor Francis Hodgson said he had been told by Sen. Cory Booker’s office that there may be some federal money available for dredging Barnegat Bay. Hodgson had sent a letter to federal, state, county and local officials about the matter when residents expressed concern about excessive flooding from Jonas.
“We’re going to follow it through and see what happens. It might help,” the mayor stated, adding that the dredging ban was lifted for Atlantic and Cape May counties. “It seems like they’re sitting up and paying attention, so I imagine they’re having this problem up the whole coast from storm Sandy. Everybody’s complaining about the tides.”
In reference to the proposed sale of the Long Beach Island Grade School, Hodgson said the title would be transferred to Ship Bottom for $9 million, and the cost would be split with the school’s other four sending municipalities.
“For our share, that means we’ll just pay the tax. We don’t get anything for it,” Hodgson stated.
The transfer would require a bond referendum for the remaining funds needed to enlarge and modify the Ethel A. Jacobsen School in Surf City, to accommodate the district’s entire student body.
The town is receiving $325,000 from the state Department of Transportation’s Fiscal Year 2016 Municipal Aid Program for work on Barnegat Avenue. The competitive program received 641 applications, Councilwoman Jackie Siciliano said.
Council members authorized a resolution for a $1,031.37 change order for a reduction in the original contract for repairs to the Department of Public Works roof, which were recently completed.
Council also passed a resolution for repairs to water well 7 for approximately $11,643.
A request by a couple on Eighth Street to move their home into the west side shoulder of Barnegat Avenue this fall for the installation of pilings was approved as well.
Ordinance amendments for zoning filing fees and boat ramp and parking lot fees, as well to disallow the obstruction of a water meter pit, water turn-on/turn-off pit and/or any connecting lines and pipes were all passed on first reading.
Councilman William Hodgson reminded the public that dogs are allowed on the beach only until the end of the month. Seasonal beach badges will be on sale for $25 beginning April 27 and can be purchased at borough hall seven days a week.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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