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June 20-26:
Inflation
Inflation is wreaking havoc with municipal services and high-priority projects. The combined impact of 40-year record inflation, persistently high fuel costs and unremitting struggles with supply chains have had their unanticipated effects on municipal projects, small and large.
In Stone Harbor, the estimated construction cost of a stormwater pump station essential to the borough flood mitigation planning has risen 66% in no small measure due to the escalating cost of material, like the 10,000 feet of piping required by the project design. In the same borough, an ongoing delay in obtaining a certificate of occupancy for the new Beach Patrol building at 95th Street can be linked to an electrical panel on order since September 2021.
Across the county, municipalities with existing contracts with Gold Medal Environmental for solid waste collection found themselves negotiating payments with a vendor who said it could no longer live with the contract terms. In Ocean City, these negotiations led to a tax increase.
In Middle Township, the governing body has twice rejected all bids for Okie Wisting site improvements because they exceed the budgeted amount for the project.
Problems are emerging in myriad places in municipal budgets and services. Shore towns have been in a fierce competition for lifeguards from a declining applicant pool. Town after town have raised pay levels, making the earlier arguments over minimum wage increases seem quaint by comparison.
It is now common to hear complaints about staffing shortages in various municipal departments at governing body meetings. Another common problem now is the lack of a full complement of Special Law Enforcement Officer Class IIs, even though, again, many towns have increased salary scales.
Wind Farms
The push to bring Ocean Wind I through its final federal administrative hurdle is making every move by Ocean Wind LLC a point for challenge by those opposed to the project. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) heard oral arguments June 24 on required easements for the on-shoring of transmission cables that would carry energy generated in ocean wind farms to a connection point at the now closed B.L. England generating station in Upper Township.
Ocean City is strongly opposing the plan that would bring those underground cables across the municipality. In that opposition, the city made a point of noting that the state law granting the NJBPU the final decision on the easements had not yet been tested in the courts.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued its draft environmental statement on the Ocean Wind 1 project, opening a public comment period on the 1,400-page document. A final version of the statement and a subsequent decision from the feds is expected in early 2023. Ocean Wind I still clings to its goal of producing energy from the yet to be constructed wind farm by some point in 2024.
Environmental Threats
The state has announced a new website based on the combined efforts of the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection. The Healthy Community Planning New Jersey website provides municipal level reports on over 30 indicators of potential health and environmental threats. The avowed purpose of the website is “to help local government and the public better understand and address environmental threats to public health faced by their communities.”
The press release states that “additional resources on the site include a how-to-use guide, map book, glossary of terms, FAQs and more to ensure communities can understand their data and find resources for turning information into action.”
School Budgets 2022-2023
According to user-friendly budget documents for each of the county’s 13 municipal school districts, those budgets are collectively expecting over $170 million in property tax revenue. The next largest source of revenue for school budgets is state aid.
Collectively, the 13 budgets show an expectation of funds from all state sources of just under $47 million. A count of on-roll enrollments shows 11,121 students projected, as of Oct. 15, 2022. Per student spending in the districts ranges from a high of $39,076, in North Wildwood, to $15,275, in Middle Township.
Happenings
Tragedy caused by strong riptides and a willingness of some to test the ocean off unguarded beaches continued with the drowning of a young man from Vineland in the waters of Corson’s Inlet State Park.
Middle Township adopted an ordinance that creates a potential opening for a recreational cannabis business in the municipality’s commercial district.
An Ocean City pizza shop owner has pleaded guilty to tax fraud concerning the alleged evasion of payroll, personal and corporate income taxes.
Stone Harbor announced the retirement of long-time clerk Suzanne Stanford, who served the borough in various capacities for almost 50 years.
Some Avalon residents are voicing concerns over the possible establishment of a boutique hotel overlay on the borough’s business district.
Lower Township is initiating a partnership with Cape Addiction Recovery Services to pilot a Mobile Response Team for individuals struggling with substance abuse issues.
Middle Township adopted three ordinance amendments that together implement a settlement agreement the municipalityentered into with the Fair Share Housing Center concerning affordable housing obligations.
An Ocean City police officer charged with stalking has pleaded not guilty.
Cape May has lost access to video recordings of official meetings prior to January 2022.
A 32-year-old sexual assault case gained new life with a DNA test in 2021. The individual arrested for the crime, Jerry Rosado, lost his appeal of a court decision to keep him incarcerated while the case proceeds.
Stone Harbor has approved a $173,000 coastal feasibility study to help identify actions the borough might take to reduce the ongoing erosion of its beaches.
Two Pennsylvania men were arrested in West Wildwood after allegedly making a threatening phone call to the Wawa in Rio Grande.
The current and former mayors of Wildwood, along with a current commissioner, have been criminally charged with fraud.
The news this week was dominated by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights. A rally to show support for abortion rights is planned June 30in Court House. A prayer vigil calling for an end to abortion was held in Court House June 17.
Spout Off of the Week
Cape May – It’s scary how many people don’t have a basic understanding on how the US laws and the Justice system work. You wouldn’t believe how many people think overturning Roe v. Wade means abortion is now illegal in ALL fifty states. People think this only allows states to restrict abortion access. Liberal states can have abortions up to 9 months if they wanted. Having your rights taken away is scary and it’s dangerous. Fighting for those rights without completely understanding the battle is even scarier and more dangerous.
Read more spouts at spoutoff.capemaycountyherald.com.
