Outfall Diminishes Neighborhood Flooding

VILLAS — During the past six months, complaints about flooding in the Bayshore West subdivision in North Cape May, in particular Roseann Avenue, have stopped.
“Since the Cox Hall Creek adjustments have been made, I haven’t received complaints of flooding like I did two years ago,” said Lower Township Manager Mike Voll.
He said the county Mosquito Commission cleaned out a trunk line that was limiting drainage from Roseann Avenue.
Mayor Michael Beck said the township was told when a new outfall pipe was installed from Cox Hall Creek to Delaware Bay, it would take a few years for the flow to reach the point where it would be able to substantially increase drainage in the neighborhoods.
“It looks like it’s having more and more of an affect as time goes on,” he said.
Beck said public works crews have made sure storm drains were clear of leaves and debris in the subdivision. He said Ward Two Councilman James Neville has been working with Voll to monitor drainage at Bayshore West.
Voll said work had been completed in-house to improve the flow without expending any significant taxpayer money.
Neville said Cox Hall Creek has a 48-inch outfall pipe to the bay which has a control structure to keep the water level below three feet. The pipe allows saltwater to flow in and out of Cox Hall Creek with the tides.
He said setting the control structure at three feet is allowing silt to be washed out from the channel connecting Cox Hall Creek to the outfall pipe to the bay. The silt was leftover from a former Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority outfall pipe that dumped sewage into the bay.
Neville said a total of 16 pipes drain into the Cox Hall Creek Watershed, one of which is located at the end of Roseann Avenue. Allowing tidal flow is helping remove the silt and increasing the drainage, he said.
“When you get a heavy rain, it’s draining faster,” he said Neville.
If a Nor’easter or hurricane is on the way, a valve at the outfall pipe can be closed to prevent water flowing into Cox Hall Creek from the bay. Neville said that buys more drainage time because when the valve is closed at low tide, there is more drainage of the watershed.