WILDWOOD – Two state agencies working on related projects had representatives at the Wednesday, Oct. 11, Board of Commissioners meeting to give presentations on the Wildwood landfill restoration and on the dredging of the state channels in the back bays of the Wildwoods.
One concern that was discussed was how private boat slip owners might benefit from the dredging project. Scott Douglas from the state Department of Transportation’s Office of Maritime Resources said private slips would not be dredged.
Douglas said the state’s contract with the dredger called for work on the channel only, at a width of about 100 feet. He said there would be no dredging outside the contract area.
A resident attending the presentation told Douglas the built-up silt in the private slips would simply settle into the dredged area.
“That’s the nature of dredging,” he replied.
Douglas was giving a presentation on the maintenance dredging and channel improvements for the Wildwood channel complex – Phase 1 – scheduled to begin on or about Tuesday, Nov. 14. The project is expected to run until about Monday, March 25, 2024.
Douglas said there would be two dredges working in two locations simultaneously. Areas of dredging include Otten’s Canal Lagoon, Otten’s Canal, the West Wildwood Channel, Post Creek Channel and Otten’s Harbor Channel.
He said this dredging project is the last on a list that dates back to 2012.
“This has been a difficult project to get orchestrated,” he said.
Douglas described the process, saying a hydraulic cutterhead pipeline dredge would be used and would go down the state boating channel area of the back bays of North Wildwood, Wildwood and West Wildwood from the mouth of Beach Creek to Post Creek Basin. A second phase of the project, which will include Wildwood Crest, is expected to go out to bid in 2024.
The noise from the dredge was another concern expressed by residents at the meeting. Douglas said the pump would be located on a barge that was distant from the area being dredged.
He said there is currently about 1 to 2 feet of depth at low tide for boats to navigate in, and that once the dredging is completed there would be 5 to 6 feet of depth at low tide. The dredged material is going to be pumped into geotubes, which he described as large “socks.” He said the porous fabric of the geotubes allows much of the water in the material to drain out.
The somewhat dewatered material will then be placed at three holding sites – the DPW sites adjacent to the former landfill, West 26th Avenue and the North Wildwood municipal boat ramp area.
The project calls for the dredging of about 124,000 cubic yards of material, and about 100,000 cubic yards will be used to cap the former Wildwood landfill site, located on the back bay between Baker and Spicer avenues.
James Llewellyn, a consultant from Appalachia Hydrogeologic & Environmental Consulting LLC, of Bridgewater, which is working with the state Department of Environmental Protection, addressed the capping aspect of the landfill project, saying receiving the 100,000 cubic yards of dredged material would not cost the city anything.
The DEP needs a disposal site for the dredged materials, and Wildwood needs the material to cap the landfill, saving the city between $4 million and $5 million. Llewellyn said the capping of the landfill was one of the biggest costs associated with the project.
He said there was a time when the DEP encouraged every municipality to have its own landfill, but that policy changed. The Wildwood landfill closed in 2000, he said. By 2011 there were no plans and no permits for the project. Between 2015 and 2017 there were plans drawn up for the project, but no permits.
“It all has to be permitted,” Llewellyn said.
In February 2022 all the parties involved were invited to Wildwood to look at the project. The DEP said the landfill, currently covered with phragmites, is part of the Atlantic flyway for raptors frequenting the area, so the DEP does not want the entire area redeveloped.
Plans for the majority of the area include a passive recreation area, with the former DPW site being redeveloped as housing. The entire project is anticipated to cost about $10 million, with a 75% Hazardous Discharge Remediation Fund grant paying for most of it.
The sale of the former DPW site will bring the city more money to apply to the project, but in response to questions about how much, the city did not have an estimate. Former Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said he did not believe the city would see much in ratables from the development of the DPW site, which is roughly 4.5 acres.
Since the dredging project is expected to last until the end of March 2024, a resident asked what would happen with the project after the next commission takes office in January 2024.
“It will depend on the funding,” Deputy Mayor Krista Fitzsimons said.
City Administrator Steve O’Connor said the presentations were meant as an update on the landfill project as well as to hear from the Transportation Department about the upcoming dredging project.
“Since the city has been struggling with the responsibility of covering the landfill for decades, it is a key issue repeatedly being discussed by residents,” O’Connor said. “And the timing and interconnection of both projects is current news that the city believes is important for residents to know.”
He said that for the first time in decades, the city is close to securing all the necessary permits to proceed with the closure in addition to making 4.5 acres of city property available for development. O’Connor noted the savings the city would realize by using the dredged material and said the city can anticipate “significant revenues generated with new ratables, reducing the overall tax burden on city property owners.”
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
