OCEAN CITY – No one is happy about a beach project in July, but when the state and federal governments cover most of the cost, the city can’t afford to pass it up, Mayor Jay Gillian told Ocean City Council June 11.
“We need it,” he told council, at a remote meeting from an office at City Hall. “We’ve gotten some emails about why do we do it in the summertime. We do it whenever we can when somebody’s paying about 90% of it.”
Work is set to begin June 27, with the pipes being placed on the beach at Morningside Road by June 17.
The final portion of a federal beach project is set to begin in July, adding sand to beaches between the Great Egg Harbor Inlet, in the city’s north end, down to the 13th Street beach.
As part of the same project, sand was added to the beaches in Strathmere and Sea Isle City, which was completed in the fall and winter. The project was then interrupted as the dredge was put in dock for service. Gillian said at the meeting that few companies are equipped to perform the work, which requires dredging sand from shoals in the inlet and pumping it onto beaches where it is then spread by heavy equipment.
The project will protect property, he said.
“We’ll be able to handle it, and we’ll have a beautiful new beach,” he said.
The total cost for this portion of the work is estimated at $16 million, with the cost divided between the federal government and the state, with the city contributing to the state’s costs. The city will be responsible for 12.5% of the total cost.
The project is the latest replenishment under a 50-year federal commitment that began in the 1990s.
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