AVALON – The borough this year expects to have the results of a survey of back back navigation channels, a step toward having them dredged, borough Business Administrator Scott Wahl says.
Noting that the last major dredging of the back bay was more than a decade ago, Wahl said at the Oct. 8 Borough Council meeting that the borough’s budget has funds in it for a survey of the channels, a necessary step, he added, for a dredging project.
“We will have the results of that survey soon, this year.” he said. He called the organization of a dredging project a borough priority.
Once the borough has the survey results in hand, he said, officials will work with the borough’s past partners to define an appropriate dredging project.
He said that those partners include the Army Corps of Engineers and the state transportation and environmental protection departments.
Wahl also reminded the public at the meeting that the borough has been working on getting a 10-year dredging permit from the state that would be boroughwide, allowing property owners to “piggyback” on the permit when their private slips need dredging.
He said the notice of the permit from the state is “imminent.”
Responding to a concern expressed by the public that the current lack of federal funding for beach replenishment would take precedence and lower the priority for dredging the bay, Wahl emphasized that the beach and the bay are two separate areas of need, and one will not intrude on resources for the other.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
