Avalon’s Resiliency Is Key to its Future

AVALON – Just after this borough received the largest beach replenishment in its history and not long after a major upgrade of electric power resulted in a rebuilt substation and power transmission system with galvanized steel poles; the borough council heard a report on the next utility infrastructure upgrade about to start this fall. 
Representatives of South Jersey Gas (SJG) spoke to council at its Aug. 9 work session describing a utility improvement project that would replace 1950s-era steel transmission pipes with newer technology and more resilient plastic.
The utility plans to install 23,000 feet of pipe replacing an aging steel infrastructure that is increasingly prone to accidental leaks and vulnerable to growing periods of island flooding.
Project engineers from the gas utility said that the new infrastructure would reduce leaks, better protect pipes from flood water interference and allow upgrades in capacity for newer homes that have been constructed since the former infrastructure was installed.
In many other county communities where South Jersey Gas has been upgrading infrastructure, the goals also included moving from old, low-pressure systems to high-pressure gas service. 
That changeover is not needed in Avalon since the borough already has the high-pressure technology.
The project will run along Ocean Drive and include over 20 side streets according to a map that was part of the presentation.
It will also pick up Fourth and Fifth avenues, although Fifth Avenue may wait until the current street moratorium ends in two years.
An emphasis in the presentation and subsequent council discussion was placed on the need for a solid communication plan. Utility projects in communities like Avalon are complicated by the fact that the best time for the work is after the summer season is over, yet such timing places the utility in the position of dealing with a large number of property owners who are not year-round residents and who are only occasionally present after the summer months.
Working closely with the borough, the utility promises a campaign to reach out to property owners who will only have to be present for utility service to be turned on after the work in their area is completed.
No access to the homes before that point is anticipated. Regular updates on work schedules and progress will be provided to the borough and will appear on the borough website.
SJG hopes to begin work in September and be finished by December. They realize that some work on lines to individual homes may require a continuation of activity in the spring if specific property owners are unreachable or unavailable for the fall activity.
Council discussed the repaving of the streets following the installation of new infrastructure. The nature of the work is such that pockets of excavations are likely to dot a street rather than a long continuous trench.
That means that the utility will probably, in many cases, patch the street and repave only the patches. In some instances, a side of the street may be paved from intersection to intersection.
Property owners who have plans for converting a single home property to a duplex may want to consider working out a specific plan with the utility.
Representatives said that they cannot legally run an extra line to a home without a committed date for a hookup on that extra line.
Once the construction begins, the utility plans on working Monday through Thursday to minimize interference with the borough’s many weekend events during the shoulder season.
North-End Drainage Study
A weather event two weeks ago dropped 5 inches of rain on the island in a matter of just a few hours. That level of rain led to significant flooding in specific areas of the north end.
Although pump stations and drainage piping worked to clear the water, that level of inundation from pure rain took most of a day to recover.
The borough recently initiated a study of nuisance flooding in conjunction with Longport and the Atlantic-Cape Coastal Coalition. That effort will collect data on nuisance flooding to aid decision making on appropriate borough counter measures and support a potential early warning system.
Business Administrator Scott Wahl told the council that the borough was considering adding rain meters to that data collection effort to get specific data on the more frequent rain bursts that are overwhelming borough pump stations and drainage pipes in certain areas.
At this meeting, council approved a drainage study by the borough’s engineering firm Mott MacDonald. The study will look at the blocks from 10th to 27th streets.
Borough Engineer Thomas Thornton said that area forms a natural “bowl” preventing standing water from exiting to bay or ocean. “This is a unique area of town,” he said.
What council will get from the drainage analysis is a series of options based on the severity of rain storms for which the borough wishes to prepare.
“You cannot always afford to prepare for the hundred-year storm,” Thornton said.  Thornton added the study would allow for informed decisions on changes to pump stations, drainage pipe sizes and other actions the borough could take to rid the “bowl” of standing water following a sizable rain storm.
Significant rain bursts seem to have joined the rising sea as a matter of concern for the county’s island communities.
Whether climate changes and sea level alterations that are man-made or just part of a climate cycle is one of the most critical debates of the day, but for communities like Avalon confronting the realities regardless of cause is essential.
New construction codes, regular beach replenishment, protection of the dune system, bulkheads and seawalls, upgraded utility infrastructure and better pumps and drainage systems are all part of the struggle with Mother Nature.
Speaking at a recent press conference to announce the new data collection study concerning island flooding, Mayor Martin Pagliughi said, “These are the types of things we have to do unless we plan on abandoning the island.”
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.