CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council approved a cost share agreement, Dec. 6, by which the city will pay $43,868 a $1.7 million ecosystem restoration project.
A second aspect of the agreement is the fifth beach renourishment project by the Army Corps with a total cost of $1.3 million and a city share of $64,719. The cumulative expense to the city for both projects is $108,588 out of a total cost of just over $3 million. City Solicitor Christopher Gillen-Schwartz said most other municipalities do not have so favorable an arrangement.
The Army Corps of Engineers covers the largest share of the costs, leaving a non-federal share for the state and the municipality at 14% of the total. The city’s share of both projects is only 4%.
The city initially entered into a cooperation agreement with the state and the Army Corps for the Lower Cape May Meadows-Cape May Point project in 2003.
