Dredge Quickly Before Dec. 31, Avalon’s Phase 2 Project Begins

AVALON – With arrival of the short dredging season Sept. 15, Avalon began phase two of its efforts in the borough’s back bay.
Business Administrator Scott Wahl updated borough council at its Sept. 23 meeting. Wahl said that the first activity this season involved completing work in Princeton Harbor.
He indicated that the next week’s effort will move to dredging the main channel in Middle Township’s Sterback Harbor. Avalon and Middle Township partnered in the dredging contract.
In October the project will move back to Avalon and Pennsylvania Harbor.
State environmental regulations limit dredging to a short period from mid-September to Dec. 31. Avalon has a third phase planned for next year if all dredging is not completed this year.
Atlantic City Electric
Wahl also reported on the progress of Atlantic City Electric upgrades to the power infrastructure in the borough. The utility is entering the second phase of its major infrastructure upgrade which includes a new substation to service the entire island.
The substation is part of a new power distribution system that will significantly increase the capacity available and should allow the utility to meet the borough’s growing energy needs well into the future.
The upgrade was necessary due to capacity constraints imposed by current aging infrastructure and the growing demand that has accompanied development on the island since the existing, almost 50-year-old infrastructure, was put in place. ACE expects to have the project completed before the start of the 2016 summer season.
Part of the project is a utility pole replacement program. Wooden poles will be replaced with larger galvanized steel poles that allow the utility to meet new standards for power transmission. The new poles will also be more resilient when confronted with the storms and salty atmosphere common to the area.
Avalon has held several discussions related to the project at council meetings and maintains a regularly updated posting on its website detailing project status.
Almost no public concern has been raised regarding the infrastructure upgrading.  
Yet the same project, which involves the entire island, has recently caused a great deal of public uproar just to the south, in the neighboring borough of Stone Harbor. 
There, a number of residents were concerned about the impact of the new steel poles and are pressing the borough to force the utility to put transmission lines underground.
At this point with the need to replace the infrastructure seen as urgent and the schedule to complete the work before the summer season critical, there appears little likelihood that any significant change to the current plan is possible.
Wahl noted that cement was being poured for the new substation. A “concrete” sign that the project is moving ahead. ACE representatives have stated that the new substation should power the entire island by 2018.
Closed Session
The council suspended the public meeting and voted to go into closed session on two issues: Litigation against the borough and the state Tidelands Council borough by Avalon residents William and Clara Lisowski, and Council on Affordable Housing litigation.
In the former issue the Lisowski claim is that the NJDEP failed to timely assert a tidelands claim over property they purchased without knowledge that it was subject to such claim.
The latter case is part of a statewide issue precipitated by a state Supreme Court ruling in March which removed executive oversight of affordable housing and sent the jurisdiction back to the courts, at least for now.
The ruling will probably increase litigation as developers and activists seek to prevent municipalities from blocking affordable housing projects through zoning laws. It may result in judicial decisions on each municipality’s plans.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.