WILDWOOD CREST – Mayor Don Cabrera says that the borough has not withdrawn from the Five Mile Dune beach protection and restoration project, but wants to get back to the table and talk about alternatives.
Cabrera’s statement about the $54 million islandwide project at the March 26 borough commissioners meeting came in the aftermath of a court ruling that prevents Wildwood Crest from taking any action pending a court hearing April 15.
“It is in litigation, but I can say the borough has not withdrawn,” the mayor said.
Cabrera spoke after former mayor and commissioner Joyce Gould read a statement by Kevin Yecco, a former borough clerk-administrator, who said the borough intended to pull out of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/state Department of Environmental Protection project, but Cabrera said that was not the case.
DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette penned a letter dated March 11 to the mayors of the four towns affected by the project, which would construct a dune from Hereford Inlet in the north to Cape May Inlet in the south.
LaTourette’s letter said: “Recent actions and statements by the borough of Wildwood Crest and the city of Wildwood disavowing the project have placed its funding and construction in serious jeopardy.”
The DEP commissioner gave the towns until March 18 to respond to his letter, which asked for reaffirmation of their commitment to the project, on the drawing board since 2013.
Neither Wildwood Crest nor Wildwood replied to the letter, but on March 11 North Wildwood responded with a letter of support and with legal action seeking to enjoin Wildwood Crest from leaving the project.
Superior Court Judge Susan Sheppard issued an order the next day saying no action should be taken in the matter until the parties could come back to court April 15 to argue the merits of her order.
Wildwood Crest’s attorney, Mark Heinzelmann, responded with a motion to dissolve the judge’s order.
Yecco’s letter read at the March 26 meeting said, “Once that decision [to pull out] becomes official and binding, I trust you will have already commissioned your environmental engineers to have a comprehensive plan ready for your adoption.”
He said the borough would have to stand alone in the future, eliminating the possibility of partnering on future beach projects. He also mentioned the problems of beach accretion, which leads to the clogging of stormwater outfall pipes, and said withdrawal would jeopardize the borough’s participation in the federal flood insurance community rate reduction program, guarantee no future cooperation from the Army Corps and DEP, and expose the borough to many lawsuits if flood insurance is no longer available.
“I respectfully request a detailed response to each of the issues I have raised herein above, along with a copy of your detailed alternative plan to that which the federal and state governments would have otherwise provided,” Yecco wrote.
Cabrera responded that the borough’s participation – or not – would have no impact on flood insurance. He repeated his statement that the borough had not officially pulled out of the project, but wants to discuss alternatives.
“We want everyone to be confident that the governing body is doing its due diligence to keep the community safe,” he said.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
