Borough Administrator: No Maintenance Dredging Needed

STONE HARBOR – In response to a letter from the Stone Harbor Property Owners Association (SHPOA), Stone Harbor Borough Administrator Robert Smith gave an update on dredging to Stone Harbor Borough Council Jan. 19. The bottom line of Smith’s comments was that “maintenance dredging is not needed this year, next year, or maybe not even the year after that.”
Dredging of the back bay became an urgent issue in 2016, when the borough initiated a once-in-a-decade dredging of the bay waterways, a project that led to considerable controversy over the dewatering of soils at the municipal marina. 
SHPOA wrote the borough following the 2016-2017 effort, recommending more frequent dredging as a way of transforming the effort into regular maintenance rather than a major dredging event.
A SHPOA letter to Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour, dated Jan. 6, 2021, sparked Smith’s remarks. 
Smith said the borough’s environmental consultant, Lenora Tedesco, executive director, Wetlands Institute, and Dr. Stewart Farrell, of Stockton’s Coastal Research Center, reviewed annual data collected by the Coastal Research Center and thought that the bay waterways are not yet in need of a dredging project.
By contrast, the SHPOA letter argues that “sediment has flowed into the basin openings and has begun filling both Pleasure and Carnival Basins.” The letter claims “channel infilling has created high velocities, undermining bulkheads in the main channels.”
The letter maintains that the borough’s set aside of funds for “beach and bay” projects, including dredging, needs to be increased. Smith’s focus was on the fact that the borough established a dedicated fund and annually directs budget monies to it. 
He called that “forward-looking,” saying it was a unique effort for municipalities in the region. He allowed for the fact that one could debate the adequacy of the annual contribution.
No members of the council directed any questions at Smith after his remarks.