MIDDLE TOWNSHIP – Nine residents from the small Reeds Beach community came to the Township Committee meeting Oct. 7 to ask for help on flooding problems.
Rising water levels and past storm damage are taking a toll on the community, limiting access on Beach Avenue, often preventing deliveries to the area and presenting potential public safety problems for emergency vehicle access. A letter from residents to the township had 36 signatures.
Residents told the committee that the protective dune is gone and normal high tide levels bring water onto the roadway even when there is no storm in the area. Resident Marc DeVito spoke at length on the problems, imploring the township to act.
Mayor Chris Leusner said suggested that the most effective course of action might be raising the road. Leusner pointed out that such an endeavor would not only be expensive, it might pose serious problems to homes that are now lower than the road.
One Reeds Beach resident said there is no option but to bring in more sand, “and when that washes away, put more again.”
Deputy Mayor Ike Gandy responded that nothing is that easy in this time of heavy regulation from Trenton. “We would need DEP approval to that,” Gandy said.
There is a federal plan listed on the Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia website for adding sand to Reeds Beach and Pierces Point to protect the habitat for horseshoe crabs and shorebirds, but the long-authorized project has not been funded by Congress.
Leusner promised to have township officials look into the erosion and flooding problems in the area, but he warned that there may not be much the township can do about it.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
