CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council continued its discussion of potential regulation of recreational drone use Nov. 2.
Council had tasked City Solicitor Anthony Monzo with drafting a potential ordinance regulating unmanned aerial systems (UAS) drone use within city limits. The governing body reiterated that its concern is with what is often referred to as recreational drone use, that is, use of drones by private citizens.
Mayor Edward Mahaney has repeatedly said that the city must take reasonable steps to ensure that no ordinance is at odds with county efforts to attract businesses related to drone use and testing.
The focus of any ordinance should be protecting the safety of the public from potential threats caused by unregulated use of drones by the public.
City Manager Bruce MacLeod presented some concerns being considered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other federal agencies regarding drone use. Those issues ranged from drone weight, to hours of operation, right of way, permissible altitudes, operator age and certification, drone speed, permissible weather conditions, and line-of-sight restrictions.
The discussion pointed to the potential areas of regulatory overlap that may exist if municipalities, states and federal agencies all wade into the waters of drone use independently. Monzo predicted that this is an area where the federal government, through an agency such as the FAA, may usurp jurisdiction for the sake of consistent regulation.
Monzo indicated that he will look more deeply into the jurisdiction issue. He was also asked to discuss his efforts regarding an ordinance with county economic development staff as well as with the solicitor for Ocean City where a similar effort is underway.
Jack Wichterman
City officials each took turns thanking Jack Wichterman for his latest round of service on council.
As an appointee to the seat vacated by the resignation of Jerry Inderwies Jr., Wichterman served until the November election. The seat will be filled by the victor Nov. 3.
Wichterman returned to council at a time of controversy surrounding the demotion of then Police Chief Robert Sheehan and the investigation into the use of leave by Lt. Chuck Lear.
The Lear matter has been resolved through a pre-hearing settlement approved by council at a special meeting. Sheehan’s suit against the city remains.
Wichterman had retired from council in January before being appointed to the vacancy in March. He has been a leader in the city’s efforts to alter the arrangement for funding of the Lower Cape May Regional school district.
Under current law, taxpayers of Cape May pay a disproportionate share of the school funding based on the property values in the city. Wichterman has fought to get this overturned in the courts and to have at least a share of the funding be based on enrollment.
Wichterman used his last opportunity on council to urge the city to continue with the effort and thanked the two candidates for his seat, saying that they both indicated that they would abide by the decision of the voters in last year’s referendums on the issue.
The votes in two separate referendums were overwhelmingly in support of pursuing a change to the funding formula. The turnout for the votes was light and has given some members of the current council pause as they wait to decide whether or not they will support a continued effort for change.
Wichterman also said that he had discussed the Convention Hall litigation with Monzo and hoped that the solicitor would be in a position to brief the public on the status of that litigation at the next council meeting.
“We have been working on it, but the public has very little idea what is going on,” he said.
October Storm
Mahaney noted that the city had done a thorough job of identifying and calculating its losses due to the storm that tore through the region from Oct. 1 to 4.
With the governor’s announcement that the state had applied to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for disaster relief, Mahaney is hopeful that some of those expenses will be reimbursed. He said the city has developed its claim in coordination with the county.
The city was spared major damage from the storm, but Mahaney cited the significant loss of sand on the beach as the city’s most serious issue.
Noting that the municipality has excellent survey information that can accurately show the loss, Mahaney was hopeful that the city would get an emergency replenishment from the Army Corps or a reimbursement on its next scheduled replenishment.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
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Do you think it's appropriate for BLM to call for "Burning down the city" and "Black Vigilantes" because…
