COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Committee, at its Dec. 21 meeting, approved a petition from Grassy Sound Marina Operations for a dredge soil permit.
The permit allows the marina to deposit almost 2,000 cubic yards of dredged material at an onsite disposal facility for a period not to exceed one year. The municipal code requires the governing body’s approval to store dredge soil within the municipality.
In 2018, the municipality failed to approve a petition from Cape Mining and Recycling to store dredged material at its site off Goshen Swainton Road, in Court House. The material was to come from a dredging operation, in Ocean City.
At that meeting, then-Committee member Timothy Donohue opposed the permit, saying, “Middle Township has a long history of being the dumping ground for the island communities, and we should learn from that history.”
Donohue supported the permit from Grassy Sound Marina, partly on the grounds that it is a municipal enterprise, dredging material for its business needs and only temporarily storing the material onsite.
The discussion surrounding the resolution made the point that the marina has the required state Department of Environmental Protection permit, supplied proof of notice to surrounding property owners, and supplied the necessary environmental impact statement.
No one spoke against the resolution at the public hearing.
