Stone Harbor Seeking to Avoid Expiration of $1.8M Grant

STONE HARBOR – Stone Harbor Council discussed how to avoid having an existing $1.8 million Open Space grant for its marina expire for lack of project activity April 18.  

The grant from 2021 is scheduled to expire in July unless the borough can gain an extension.   

Recreation Committee Chair Victor Foschini brought the issue to the April 18 council meeting saying, “We must do something.”  

Foschini added, “Expiration of the grant would be disastrous for the borough.”  

Foschini was referring to the likelihood that the borough’s future grant proposals would be hurt due to the lack of activity that allowed a large Open Space grant to expire. 

The grant was intended to be a part of a $5.9 million project that would accomplish flood mitigation activities at the frequently flooded municipal marina, as well as beautifying the area with new marina amenities. Borough engineer Marc DeBlasio has suggested that value engineering efforts might lower the price tag of flood mitigation work, bringing down the overall cost of the project. 

DeBlasio told the council that a request for a one-year extension would probably not be favorably received unless the borough could demonstrate movement on the project.  

He added that application for, or at least initiating the process of application for, a state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) permit, along with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit, might constitute sufficient project intent and movement to gain the extension. 

One problem may be that reinvigorating the stalled project means embracing more capital debt just as the level of debt and debt service has become a controversial point in discussions of the borough’s finances.  

Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour added a concern that the 2021 estimated budget for project costs came before the recent spike in inflation, which has exposed many projects to significantly higher costs. 

DeBlasio said the “council has decisions it needs to make.”