Forestry Plan Presented to Council, Cites Trees’ Importance, Challenges

AVALON – A large portion of Avalon Borough Council’s Jan. 27 work session was consumed by a presentation of the borough’s revised Community Forestry Management Plan.
The 200-plus page document is available on the borough’s website under Environmental News designation.
Joseph Lomax, an environmental consultant to the borough, presented the report to council. The current plan has been in place since 2010. Lomax cited qualification for grant funding as a principal reason for the revised plan.
The plan incorporates a review of work accomplished since 2010 and presents a five-year schedule of activities covering the borough’s actions through 2020.
According to Lomax, the plan takes into account challenges and opportunities inherent in a barrier island community including weather and climatic conditions, soil composition, and challenges faced by a borough with a small year-round population and tree assets requiring year-round maintenance and care.
The plan’s mission is “to protect, enhance and sustain a healthy community forest and shade tree resources that will improve the quality of life for residents, visitors and wildlife that inhabit this unique barrier island borough.” 
The plan comes with an estimated $79,259 budget proposal. Lomax was careful to point out that the budget incorporates funds already allocated in borough budgets and aggregates them to allow the state to see the extent of the borough’s effort. He said that about two-thirds of the submitted budget reflects already allocated funds.
Engineer’s Presentation
Borough Engineer Thomas Thornton spoke about two pending projects to replace underground pipes in parts of the municipality.
The first project is for a replacement of water main pipes along Fifth Avenue. Thornton said the old pipes would be “abandoned in place,” making the project easier. Potential asbestos problems would complicate any effort to remove old pipes.
The second project involves replacement of sanitary sewer pipes along Dune Drive.
Here, Thornton said, the slopes of the current infrastructure, along with the condition of pipes makes replacement advisable. 
Thornton added that some education effort should also be undertaken to get the hotels in the Dune Drive corridor to lessen the amount of grease going into the pipes.
In the later business meeting, council approved a resolution authorizing Hatch Mott MacDonald to provide design services and all supporting efforts to prepare bids for both projects. 
Thornton would like to get the bids out and settled so that work could proceed immediately after the summer concludes.
Other Business
Council was told that both the dredging effort and the Atlantic City Electric Peermont Project had been interrupted by the recent storm but were both back in operation.
A post-storm beach survey was underway conducted by Dr. Steward Farrell, a Stockton University marine and coastal science expert, who is a consultant to the borough.
Two technology efforts paid off during the recent storm. A system to allow residents to register for text messages allowed all new posting to the websites during the emergency to trigger messages notifying the public of updated information.
Jan. 23, the heaviest day for getting information out, saw a record number of hits against the site.
The use of satellite and Internet connectivity allowed the borough’s Emergency Management office to keep running its systems throughout the storm, even when county emergency management systems went down.
The borough’s debris collection plan is in place and Public Works is making efforts to collect all debris from the storm through Feb. 5.
Residents have been asked to get debris to the curb during that period. 
Procedures are also in place to deal with pick up of hazardous material. Council was told that state Department of Environmental Protection officials, on a recent visit to the borough, cited the process for collection of debris after an event in Avalon as a model for the state.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.