NORTH WILDWOOD – In a meeting earlier this month in North Wildwood between city officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives and the state Department of Environmental Protection commissioner, a realistic timeline for the Five Mile Dune project was considered.
According to a Friday, Feb. 16 letter, which was obtained by the Herald, from Lt. Col. Jeffrey M. Beeman, the Army Corps Philadelphia District commander, to North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello, “the NJDEP has indicated the current schedule is to provide all the real estate to the Corps for certification in March 2025.”
Beeman said the commitment is for the DEP to make its “best efforts” to meet that deadline. The Army Corps officer told Rosenello the schedule “is informed by our experience with projects involving real estate acquisition for similarly sized projects between NJDEP and the Corps.”
In a statement issued to the Herald Feb. 27, after the newspaper had received correspondence responsive to a public records request revealing that the meeting happened and what was discussed, Rosenello said he was optimistic.
“For the first time, we have what I believe is an actual timeline for construction of this project. And, while it is not happening in a timeframe that will provide immediate relief to the City of North Wildwood, I am more confident now than I have ever been that the project will happen,” the mayor wrote in the prepared statement.
In a Wednesday, Feb. 7 letter to DEP Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette and Beeman, which included enclosed notes, also obtained by the Herald through a records request, Rosenello wrote the Army Corps participants at the Feb. 1 meeting included the lieutenant colonel, Nathan Barcomb, civilian deputy commander, and Erik Rourke, the project manager.
DEP officials included LaTourette, Dennis Reinknecht, director of Resilience, Engineering and Construction, Erick Doyle, bureau chief of construction and engineering, Division of Coastal Engineering, and Chris Constantino, the DEP project manager, according to the city’s notes, corroborated by the Army Corps.
Rosenello said he, scientist Stewart Farrell, Council President Salvatore Zampirri Sr., Administrator Nic Long, engineers Peter Lomax and Jim Verna, and the mayor’s assistant, Kyle Rutherford, were there on behalf of the city.
Rosenello’s meeting minutes, which were deemed accurate by the Army Corps, said design plans should be at 90% by Aug. 29 and 95% complete in December or January.
The project’s design team was to meet with boardwalk pier owners the week after the meeting, the notes said.
New surveys of the project area will also be conducted, since it currently relies on 2016 surveys, Rosenello wrote in the notes, with deliverables due no later than April 15.
The mayor’s notes also indicated 45% of the project’s title search work is complete and the DEP has a list of properties they were ready to provide to the title company. Legal actions can commence after surveys are complete and following good faith negotiations, though there is no set date the DEP can begin to sue property owners. The state also has a right to “condemn” properties, allowing the work after prolonged negotiations or refusals from owners.
“There is risk and uncertainty inherent to real estate acquisition and the schedule may change as the project moves through the acquisition process which involves multiple property owners and judicial action, where necessary,” Beeman cautioned in the Army Corps’ letter.
Although the estimates of the project’s costs may increase, the Army Corps does not expect it will need to go back to Congress, the notes said.
“Construction of this project will be critical to protect our coastline and infrastructure, which has faced the most severe erosion in New Jersey. The updates received during our Feb. 1 meeting were promising, and it is [the] city’s intention to continue ongoing dialogue,” Rosenello stated.
In response to a request the Herald sent to the Army Corps for interviews with the attendees of the meeting, a spokesman asked for written questions and agreed to provide answers to a list the Herald submitted by the end of the week.
Similarly, a spokesman for the DEP responded to interview requests for that agency’s attendees by asking for written questions and offering to “see what we can do.” After receiving written questions, Larry Hajna, the spokesman, said he is “checking and will get back to” the newspaper with an update.
To reach the reporter, Shay Roddy, email sroddy@cmcherald.com or call (609) 886-8600 ext. 142.
