The Die is Cast: Stone Harbor Library Contract Awarded

STONE HARBOR — Long ago and far away from 95th Street and the beach, where this borough’s branch of the Cape May County Library will stand, Julius Caesar coined an unforgettable phrase, “Iacta alea est” (The die is cast).
Caesar spoke that sage uttering after his army crossed the Rubicon in 49 B.C., but he could well have spoken of the deed done by the Board of Chosen Freeholders Tue., Oct. 11.
That evening, as residents of this fair borough watched the evening news or their favorite game show, the board unanimously agreed to award a $5.3-million contract to R. Wilkinson and Sons Construction, Inc. of Absecon to erect that 14,000-square-foot facility on part of an oceanfront municipal parking lot.
The Atlantic County firm was selected from a field of nine bidders. The contract was “conditionally awarded” until the company obtains from the state Department of Treasury, Division of Property Management and Construction a classification of “C008-General Construction” in an amount that exceeds the total contract price of the new facility.
The site, not the library, has been a contentious one in the borough. Petitions were presented during council meetings that protested the location; the last one bore 266 signatures. Still, the notion of shifting from the planned site was not one the governing body was prepared to entertain.
A scant seven parking spaces will disappear as a result of the building, according to county Administrator Stephen O’Connor.
A website emerged opposing location of the site “Worlds Most Expensive Library.” It declares the price per square foot would be “$1,050 per square foot compared to $150 to $400 for standard libraries.”
The site also used a cost of $14.7 million for the complete project, it used $6.2 million for construction “on beachfront property valued at $8.5 million.” Further, it stated the site had been selected without approval of the majority of local or county taxpayers.
While library officials, freeholders, Mayor Suzanne Walters and members of Borough Council are anxious to grab shovels for a groundbreaking ceremony, that auspicious occasion is “on hold” awaiting the state Department of Environmental Protection’s permit and stamp of approval that will allow work to proceed 10 feet from the bulkhead.
To move the sluggish process through DEP’s vaunted halls, the county retained Princeton attorney Neil Yoskin, who specializes in environmental matters. The amendment advocated by him was published in the New Jersey Register April 4, 2011.
That amendment was to permit “Federal, State, county or municipal development projects which are located adjacent to a bay or ocean or bay front or oceanfront, beach, dune or boardwalk, and are greater than 15 feet in height measured from the existing grade of the site or boardwalk need not comply with the setback requirements in (d) 2 above provided that the development contains design elements that enhance physical or visual public access to the waterfront beyond that which would be afforded by strict compliance with (d) 2 above and the development, as proposed, would remain in compliance with N.J.A.C. 7-7E-3-50.”
At the time, Yoskin told the Herald, “The rule as currently written required that new structures adjacent to water bodies, beaches or dunes be set back from the landward limit of the beach-dune by a distance equal to twice the building’s height.”
He said the amendment was “intended to keep buildings from overshadowing the water body or beach-dune complex. The rule has frequently resulted in the denial of permits for single-family homes on bayside lots, usually triggering litigation that always and eventually results in settlements. It has long been understood by practitioners and by DEP that the rule needed to be amended.”
Yoskin stated that one of the purposes of the Stone Harbor library location was to allow seniors and handicapped patrons enjoyment of the views of the ocean from the second floor of the facility, regardless of season or weather.
The county’s communication with Yoskin has continued “on a regular basis,” O’Connor told the Herald.
“We are hoping to have the final permit in the next couple of weeks, by mid-November. That way, we could start construction by the end of the year,” O’Connor added.
“From what I understand there is a lot of misinformation. People think we are eliminating the entire parking lot. That is the biggest issue, or that people won’t have access to the beach,” said O’Connor.
He restated that seven parking spaces would be used, and said no public access to the beach would be restricted.
In order to comply with the anticipated state DEP amendment, the structure was moved 10 feet from the bulkhead, and reduced in height from 55 to 37 feet.