FEMA Grant to Raise Neptune Avenue

WEST WILDWOOD – West Wildwood, Cape May County’s second smallest municipality, is located on an island in the back bay, connected to the larger Five Mile Island by one two-lane bridge. It is not surprising that the community of year-round and vacation homes has to be ready to deal with problems associated with back-bay flooding. For West Wildwood, however, there is the special problem concerning the location of its emergency services.
With emergency management services and the borough’s firehouse situated on low ground on the appropriately named Neptune Avenue, access by emergency vehicles to the rest of the community during flooding has been a problem in real need of a solution. At a recent meeting of the Board of Commissioners, a major step was announced for dealing with the issue.
South State Inc. was awarded a contract for the FEMA grant-mitigation of Neptune Avenue. The flooding project will raise the land in the area providing better access for emergency vehicles. Coincidentally, at the same meeting, the board acknowledged an additional member of the borough’s volunteer fire company, which now numbers 18 individuals. West Wildwood has an arrangement with Wildwood such that any fire emergency in either municipality is responded to by both departments.
Where to draw the line?
The board meeting, in which commissioners announced the flood project award, followed one the previous month in which those commissioners thanked the public for the positive vote concerning a recent bond issue.
The bond issue for $470,250, intended to be used for a series of general improvements in the borough, was a source of significant controversy for over a year. One group of residents sued the borough to stop the bond ordinance. These individuals sought to either terminate the bond ordinance or force the issue to the ballot for a vote of the residents.
Over a period of more than a year, a back-and-forth set of legal actions took place with the initial ruling against the borough. This led to the borough’s appealing the decision. Borough commissioners had moved ahead with the bond, accepted the funds, and even purchased some of the equipment only to have the court order the borough to return the funds prior to the conclusion of the legal proceedings. The contentious process came to a head with the question which the borough placed on the November ballot in response to the court decision. Voters approved the ordinance, and the program for improvements was free to move forward.
The context of this conflict in the borough is one shared by several of the smallest of Cape May County’s 16 municipalities. In short, where does a community draw the line between what it seeks to do for itself and when should it depend on shared services arrangements with larger, better resourced municipalities?
The bond ordinance contained funding for several improvements for the volunteer fire company as an example. Mayor Christopher Fox said that the new equipment and improvements to the facilities were necessary due in part to aging of current equipment.
That statement assumes that the borough should have its own fire company. A statement the voters apparently agree with given their ultimate support for the ordinance.
Fox noted that the borough depends on Wildwood for construction permits and oversight. The specialized, licensed skill sets involved in such a public service would be a burden to the taxpayers in a small borough. West Wildwood appears to have drawn the line in a way that has the support of voters.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.