Cape May County Beaches

This is from this morning%26#39;s Press of Atlantic City:

Cape mayors look to draw federal funds for beaches

By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712

Published: Thursday, October 19, 2006

SEA ISLE CITY — Mayors from three Cape May County towns met Wednesday to determine the best way to wrangle federal money for a badly needed beach fill. Ocean City, Strathmere in Upper Township and Sea Isle City are slated for the same replenishment project, estimated at $43 million.

An engineering report on the project is complete and ready for signature. But Congress has not signed off on funding, which likely would come through the Water Resources Development Act.

That act has not been reauthorized in six years.

“We%26#39;ll work as hard as we can to get this thing off the ground,” Upper Township Mayor Richard Palombo said.

He met this week with Ocean City Mayor Sal Perillo and Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio to devise a strategy for the best way to appeal to federal lawmakers. “We might take a trip to D.C. to lobby the entire New Jersey legislative delegation for this much-needed project,” Desiderio said.

Beaches in southern Ocean City and parts of Strathmere have fared reasonably well so far this storm season. Strathmere%26#39;s dunes absorbed most of the brunt of the first coastal storms of the season.

“The bad news is half of them disintegrated,” Palombo said.

After three consecutive northeasters, the giant sand sausages called geotubes from First to 13th streets in Sea Isle City are exposed, Desiderio said. The geotubes did their job to protect property and Landis Avenue, the main road through town here, he said.

“Even with those three storms, the ocean has not breached the road,” Desiderio said. “We%26#39;re going to be trucking in some sand on the north end and do some repairs on the Geotubes.”

Ideally, the three towns would see a dredge in 2008. But there is no funding in place, and mayors said the cost is escalating.

“When they started this thing it was a $40 million project. Now it is $50 million to $55 million,” Desiderio said.

Palombo said they would make a familiar argument to Congress about why the projects are so valuable for northern Cape May County: tourism, migratory birds and property protection.

Cape May County%26#39;s beaches are its biggest tourism attraction. Even in the fall and winter, the beaches are popular with surf fishermen. Rare migratory birds such as black skimmers, piping plovers and least terns nest on them each summer.

A large dune system found on these beaches protects property and replenishes sand lost to storms.

“In concept, Congress attempts to pass a (Water Resources Development Act) bill every two years. But we haven%26#39;t seen one since 2000,” said Ed Voigt, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Voigt said that as far as he knows this project — called Great Egg Harbor to Townsends Inlet — would be part of the next bill. But the nation%26#39;s priorities are not off the coast of New Jersey.

“The budget pressure each year is getting tighter and tighter. The two huge priorities for the Corps right now are the global war on terror and New Orleans or the Gulf (of Mexico),” he said. “Between those two, the Corps is doing a lot of work in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have all the efforts of bringing back the Gulf Coast area. It pushes a lot of other stuff farther down the list.”

Cape May County Beaches

The last two year%26#39;s fall storms have really done a number on many of the Cape May County beaches. If the article is right about not seeing a dredge before 2008 some of these beaches could be in real trouble. A beach town without a beach doesn%26#39;t seem to hold much charm.

I remember a number of years ago, at high tide the ocean was well under the boardwalk in the 6-9th street area effectively closing the area to beach goers. Lets hope either Mother Nature or some government agency acts before things get that bad.

I bet that some of the folks in Ocean City wish the powers that be hadn%26#39;t moved the boardwalk closer to the ocean after the 1927 fire!