Sea Isle City North Enders Feel Flushed Without Sewers

SEA ISLE CITY — Property owners in the north end of this resort feel that city officials have sold them out to a state bully.
At its Aug. 26 meeting, City Council here executed an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for initial endorsement of the city’s Smart Growth plan. By doing so, the city agreed to exclude the environmentally sensitive area north of 22nd Street from future development and sewer extension plans.
City Solicitor Paul Baldini said that by accepting the endorsement action plan, the city would be changing a long-standing stance on the situation. The city had been pushing the DEP for sewers in the neighborhood.
“This is the first time we’d be agreeing to a plan that didn’t include sewers in the north end,” he said.
Without a plan, the city would not be eligible for state grants and property owners would continue to have to pay exorbitant hook-up fees to utility companies, officials said.
Council member voted unanimously to proceed with plan endorsement despite pleas from several north end residents.
“I feel that the city has sold us down the river,” said Irene Jameson, president of the North End Association, whose organization has been lobbying for sewer extensions and other north-end issues since 1988. “It’s unconscionable that they allow barrier island communities to have septic systems.”
She said that septic tanks are susceptible to damage and could possible contaminate the surrounding waters.
According to Jameson, Sea Isle and Strathmere are the only barrier island communities in the state with septic systems.
“They don’t want any more development in the north end,” said Jameson. “If something happens to our property, they’ll never let us rebuild.”
She recalled a time in the early 1980s when the DEP had a plan to make the entire north end of Sea Isle, which nearly washed away in the 1962 Nor’easter, into a state park.
“There hasn’t been any new development here in 15 years,” Jameson said.
She said the sewer issue has been holding up Sea Isle’s attempts to have its flood insurance rates reduced.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which regulates flood insurance, has cited Sea Isle’s septic systems among other issues when denying their attempts to reduce the city’s rates.
Sea Isle’s neighbors, Ocean City and Avalon both receive 15 percent discounts on their flood insurance rates.
Jameson said the city should fight back against the DEP in the courts.
“We should sue them, like Avalon did,” Jameson told council regarding the neighboring borough’s lawsuit challenging the DEP’s 24-hour beach access regulations. In a recent North End Association newsletter, Jameson said the DEP dangles beach replenishment grants in front of sand-starved towns like a carrot, but only if they agree to their terms.
Tom Henry, president of the Sea Isle City Taxpayers Association (SICTA), said the DEP was the “big bully” of the state that “gangs up on municipalities” forcing them to follow their rules.
“SICTA has suggested that Sea Isle take the lead in forming a legislative coalition of shore-front communities to fight this and other DEP regulations,” Henry said. “We have the potential for a formidable group that could flex its muscles against the DEP.”
North ender Gary Egnasko, who has attended meetings between the city and the DEP, told the Herald that he felt the city’s action of excluding the north end from the city center was a subtle decay in his neighborhood’s status.
“I know it’s a difficult situation,” Egnasko told the Herald. “I just want the city to continue to be an aggressive advocate for the north end.”
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com