NORTH WILDWOOD — North Wildwood has reached out to Congressman Jeff Van Drew to help mediate a threat by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to terminate its island-wide dune and beach replenishment project because of local opposition.
North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello penned a letter, dated July 30, asking Van Drew for his help in rescuing the dune project, for which his town has been waiting since 2013. Rosenello wrote that Brig. Gen. John P. Lloyd had contacted the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and allegedly threatened to terminate the Hereford Inlet to Cape May Inlet Coastal Storm Risk Management program.
Rosenello said the Lloyd letter, addressed to NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, said the NJDEP and Army Corps entered into a Project Partnership Agreement on Jan. 17, 2017, to facilitate the project. Lloyd referred to the NJDEP’s obligation to obtain the easements needed to complete the project, adding, “NJDEP has not been able to fulfill its obligations under the agreement.”
“Local opposition to the project expressed by the City of Wildwood and the Borough of Wildwood Crest has further obstructed the acquisition of real property interests,” Lloyd wrote.
The Army Corps letter cited a July 31 meeting involving the Army Corps, NJDEP, and the four affected towns, and set a 30-day deadline for settling the impasse before Lloyd would exercise his authority to “de-commit” the funds for this project and reassign the money to other projects. He said he would work with the NJDEP until Sept. 30 to determine if termination of the project is appropriate.
Asked if this prospect was frightening, Rosenello said, “Listen, you had to figure at some point the Army Corps would lose its patience … and it did.”
Rosenello said that is one reason North Wildwood was pushing hard to get the project off the ground.
The $54 million project, conceived in 2013, was stalled for many years mainly due to easement issues. Recently, after measures were taken to secure the easements, the project has been in jeopardy after the NJDEP sent a letter to the towns, saying if any municipality left the project, the entire project would be killed. The letter was apparently in response to rumors that some towns were unhappy with the project.
In March, North Wildwood filed a lawsuit asking for an injunction to prevent Wildwood Crest from leaving the planned project.
Wildwood Crest and Wildwood have questioned some aspects of the project, principally the plan to take, according to original estimates, over 1.3 million cubic yards of sand from the two towns’ beaches, moving the water line between 650 and 750 feet closer toward land.
Rosenello said rather than simply terminate the project the Army Corps, and the NJDEP work with the municipalities to work out each town’s issues pertaining to the project. Lower Township, which is the fourth town taking part in the project, has voiced its support for the project in the interest of protecting property and lives.
Van Drew responded to Rosenello’s letter by saying his office is working on a general reevaluation report with the Army Corps. In the process of creating the report, they plan to look at using Hereford Inlet as a borrow area for sand.
On Tuesday, Aug. 5, Rosenello left immediately after the regular city council meeting. Council President Sal Zampirri Sr., who will likely inherit the project from Rosenello, spoke to the Herald after Tuesday’s meeting. He said the city was told it basically has to stick to the plan as authorized by Congress. That means the proposal to dredge Hereford Inlet, improving the depth of the navigation channel and placing the sand on North Wildwood beaches, was not a viable option.
“We were told that federal money can’t be used for dredging Hereford Inlet,” Zampirri said.
The $54 million authorized by Congress must be used for the purposes listed under the authorization. Zampirri said the city would be looking at another five-year wait if it tried to have the authorization to dredge Hereford Inlet. An option would be to try and get state money to dredge the inlet, if it would even agree. The state, he said, would not hear of other options.
On Thursday, July 31, representatives of the NJDEP and Army Corps had a conference call with municipal officials, including Rosenello, Wildwood Mayor Ernest Troiano Jr., Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera, and Lower Township Mayor Frank Sippel. Zampirri said one of the good things to come out of the meeting was that the NJDEP and Army Corps are talking.
“We are just trying to find a solution. We can’t derail the project and then go back and get new approvals. That would take five to 10 years,” he said.
On June 4, the federal government announced it had “zeroed out” funds for beach replenishment, affecting towns such as Ocean City, Avalon, and Cape May in Cape May County. Some beaches, such as Strathmere in Upper Township and Sea Isle City beaches, as well as Cape May, had agreements for periodic renourishment of beach sand.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600 x-128.
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