Beaches, Bikes Beset Cape May City Council

CAPE MAY – “The beaches are not safe.” Those words came Sept. 1 from Chad DeSatnick whose spinal cord injury on a Cape May beach 15 years ago led to the current safety brochure produced and distributed by the city. DeSatnick has been a tireless advocate for beach safety efforts.
As recorded injuries on the city’s beaches grow, calls for greater efforts to make beaches safe have increased. Cape May City Council heard from a number of members of the public on the issue at its last two meetings.
In the interim between council meetings, Mayor Edward Mahaney held a previously scheduled meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers and reported on it under questioning from the public.
According to Mahaney, the meeting was scheduled to discuss the upcoming feasibility study by the corps concerning the project to elevate the sea wall in the east end of town.
At the end of that discussion, the meeting touched on beach safety and the recent serious injury on a portion of private beach in the city.
The issue before the city is that 25 years of beach replenishment efforts, beginning in 1990, have changed the contours of the shore leaving the resort with what everyone appears to agree is a serious slope problem.
Mahaney noted that the beaches are now 175 feet wider and 20 feet higher than they were when the efforts at replenishment began.
Mahaney continued, with added comment from City Solicitor Anthony Monzo, to explain that the city took advantage of a 50-year agreement with the Army Corps in 1988. That agreement involved the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as well and led to a series of regulations that “hamper our ability to take action.”
As Monzo explained, the master agreement in 1988 resulted in rules that prohibit the city from grading any of the beaches. “The city cannot change the beach profile,” he said.
Mahaney confirmed that the meeting with the Army Corps on the issue concluded with the fact that it is DEP, not the corps, that regulates beach projects. 
Monzo indicated that the city sees DEP as more receptive to the issue now than in the past, and may not be closed to alteration in the regulations. Mahaney also expressed the hope that the corps would be returning its attention to projects like beach contours after several years of being overwhelmed with Superstorm Sandy related efforts.
For some in the city, the comments by council and the solicitor were not enough.
DeSatnick does not feel the city has pushed the issue hard enough and is too passive in accepting the limitations of regulations. He pointed to Avalon as a municipality that does engage in engineering efforts to grade its slope.
Mahaney noted that Avalon paid for its beach replenishment project with local taxpayer dollars, something the city has never done. He said he believes Avalon was still in violation of DEP regulations, but admits that the municipality’s decision to pay for the replenishment created a different situation upon which he could not comment.
Included in the discussion was an effort by some to get more involvement in the discussions with the corps and DEP. Several individuals expressed a concern that the mayor attends these meeting with no other members of council.
DeSatnick expressed concern that no minutes are taken. Council member Shaine Meier suggested that City Engineer Thomas Thornton, who usually attends with the mayor, be asked to add a review of the meeting to his report to council. Mahaney agreed with that suggestion.
Mahaney said that keeping beaches replenished and safe is a primary goal of council. He added “We have a ways to go, but I think we have made progress.”
Bicycles
Council member Jack Wichterman called the recent removal of nine bicycles from the promenade a “debacle.” He was applauded by many of the public. The city’s decision to remove and impound bicycles parked and locked on the promenade Aug. 24 sparked a storm of protest on social media.
Patricia Hendricks, candidate for Wichterman’s seat on council, questioned why the city decided on that day to enforce an ordinance that largely goes unenforced?  
City Manager Bruce MacLeod took full responsibility for the decision and said it was sparked in part by two bicycles he saw attached to a bench. 
Benches in that area are often dedicated by donors to a deceased loved one.  MacLeod related the story, previously reported throughout the city, of how he and other officials came upon the bicycles and his decision to have them removed, a decision which also led to the removal of six other bicycles also locked to nearby structures.
Bicycle owners faced impoundment of the bikes, a $100 ticket, and destruction of their locks. For many in the city on social media this is not the way a resort town responds at the tail end of its summer season. Hendricks suggested that the council meeting would be an excellent time for the city to apologize for the “way the bicycles were removed,” but she got no takers.
Bill Murray, an attorney, and member of council until he retired in January, advised council that the signs in place did not make clear that parking bikes on the promenade is a violation. He urged them to consider better signage.
Monzo advised council that it might be time for a review of ordinances to see if any are outdated or in need of change.
“It is the city manager’s job to enforce the ordinances on the books,” he noted but a review by council might be appropriate at this time.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.