VILLAS – June 1 marked the start of the new Atlantic area hurricane season. The ghost of hurricanes past (Sandy, et al) has not been exorcised for the Delaware Bay communities in Cape May and Cumberland counties which continue to struggle with the damage caused by Sandy and the specter of future storms that may visit their shores.
That is why state and municipal leaders such as Sen. Jeffrey Van Drew (D-1st), Assemblyman Robert Andrzejczak (D-1st), and Lower Township Deputy Mayor Norris Clark, plus several municipalities, environmental groups and concerned citizens, met to devise a joint strategy to deal with Mother Nature and the federal government March 19 in Dennis Township.
As promised, the second in a series of bi-monthly meetings was held in Dennis Township May 29 to follow up on what had been earlier agreed.
The March meeting had been organized by Clark and others to unite Delaware Bay shore communities in their fight to convince the Federal Emergency Management Agency to re-evaluate how and where it established “V-zones” on official maps. Such designations determine insurance rates and other issues such as building and funding storm barriers that are also environmentally responsible.
That meeting was chaired by Van Drew and Andrzejczak. They established its format and tone for future meetings by establishing an action list that included formation of the “Delaware Bay Shore Community Council.”
The council also agreed to pursue developing a joint letter to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd), asking that federal grant money, restricted to fund environmental projects, be expanded to include shore protection projects. It also requested that FEMA change V-zone models to more accurately reflect the differences between ocean beaches and Delaware Bay beaches. They also seek to expedite the Maurice River feasibility study.
The newly-established council decided to appoint Clark as its first chairperson, with Megan Wren of the Bayshore Center, and Middle Township’s Administrator Connie Mahon serving as deputies.
Clark stated, “Our first act will be to develop a survey to distribute to all that will identify the specific issues that the council should address.”
He added that Van Drew wants to develop a resolution this summer that “highlights the significance of the bayshore communities” to the economic vitality of the region even though the bay communities do not possess the same level of economic value as the ocean side communities.”
He stressed that “we must join hands and forces as we pursue funding if we are to be competitive with other communities.”
Clark sees the establishment of both long term and short term goals for the council as key to remaining focused on key issues that impact all members of the council. “The whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts” in this case, and all bayshore communities recognize that unity of purpose and a single focused voice will be more effective in the long term.
For his part, Van Drew wants to stress that when people and communities work in aggregate, more can be accomplished. “Some communities in Cumberland County have smaller staffs and are unable to generate the expertise in some cases, to gain the political traction needed to achieve their goals,” he said.
In addition to the need to consolidate voices of bayshore communities to achieve beach and environmental protection, Van Drew is drafting a resolution that will declare the “Delaware Bay Shore community as a “community of note.”
Van Drew sees this legislation as going beyond sorting out issues of V-zones and beach protection.
He feels that the Delaware Bay Shore Community Council will represent the good, hard-working people that live and work all along the Delaware Bay who labor as fishermen, oystermen and small business owners trying to develop and grow the recreation and tourism industries.
“This won’t happen in a day, a week or a month, but over time they can gain a stronger voice that can accomplish much more than any individual effort can achieve,” Van Drew concluded.
To contact Jim McCarty, email jmccarty@cmcherald.com.
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