COURT HOUSE – Superior Court Judge Susan Sheppard clarified on the record March 24 that Wildwood Crest has not been prevented from meeting and taking action related to a state aid agreement on the Five Mile Dune beach protection project.

North Wildwood, responding to a letter from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is partnering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the project, sued to prevent Wildwood Crest from leaving the project designed by the Army Corps, in which a 16-foot dune would be constructed from Hereford Inlet in the north to Cape May Inlet in the south.

The DEP’s letter said Wildwood Crest’s leaving the project would kill it.

Sheppard ordered that the status quo be maintained until an April 15 hearing, but Wildwood Crest challenged the order, claiming the judge did not have authority under the separation of powers in the state Constitution to order a governing body not to act or legislate.

During a court session on Wildwood Crest’s challenge, on March 24, Sheppard issued her clarification.

“During that hearing, the judge clarified, on the record, that Wildwood Crest is not enjoined from meeting and passing resolutions with respect to the state aid agreement and that her order should not be read as imposing any kind of temporary restraints,” Wildwood Crest attorney Mark Heinzelmann said.

Heinzelman said Wildwood Crest is free to take any action with respect to the state aid agreement that it deems fit. He said the court also stayed the litigation filed by North Wildwood to allow the parties time to meet and discuss the outstanding issues further.

“We are currently working with the state to set that meeting up,” he said.

North Wildwood’s attorney, Anthony Bocchi, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.