MIDDLE TOWNSHIP – North Beach Avenue is increasingly dangerous: That’s the message Reeds Beach property owners brought to the Township Committee on Monday, Nov. 18.
The residents of the tiny enclave along the Delaware Bay, who have often expressed their concerns to the council, say they are well past the stage of nuisance flooding. Normal tides now sweep across North Beach Avenue, they say, damaging the road, limiting access by residents and endangering the ability of emergency vehicles to respond to the community.
As at past meetings, Mayor Chris Leusner expressed a willingness to have the township do what it can to alleviate the problem. At this meeting he again said Public Works and the township engineer will take another look at the site for possible short-term repairs, but he continues to caution that the township’s ability to respond is very limited.
He said the municipality has reached out to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers, where resources would have to come from to effect any significant improvement.
The Army Corps’ Philadelphia Office has an authorized but unfunded project for the Reeds Beach area. The plan calls for ecosystem restoration at Reeds Beach and Pierces Point, with an 80-foot-wide berm at an elevation of +5.5 feet NAVD over a length of 6,800 feet. The plan entails a one-time placement of sand for horseshoe crab and shorebird habitat. That plan has sat idle for years for lack of funding.
Leusner said the township has expressed serious concern to the DEP. Any attempt at a fix will involve an expensive project requiring state and federal permitting, putting it beyond township resources, he said.
The mayor said he has serious concerns that the road is now being flooded during tide events that are not associated with storms.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
