Excerpted from the Asbury Park Press, by Jessica Infante, 2-28-10
As they have every year since 2004, LBI towns are shelling out money to magnify their collective voice in Washington, DC, to push for more federal funds to continue the beach replenishment project.
The six municipalities – Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Surf City, Ship Bottom, Long Beach Township (including Loveladies) and Beach Haven – have paid Winning Strategies, a Washington based lobbying firm to drum up support for the project. According to Long Beach Township Clerk, Bonnie M. Leonetti, Winning Strategies does a great many things but this is their forte, and they are very successful with it.
The municipalities split the firm’s $60,000 fee according to percentage of beachfront. The township contains 53 percent of the islands shoreline, so it pays 53 percent of the cost; Barnegat Light 9 percent, Harvey Cedars and Beach Haven each at 11 percent, Surf City and Ship Bottom each at 8 percent. Each town must pass a resolution to pay their share, but not all have done so yet.
While Harvey Cedars is reaping the benefit of the federally funded project right now, Mayor John Oldham feels it’s important to continue supporting the other communities. Barnegat Light’s wide sloping beaches have never needed extra sand, but the borough has always participated. “We are extra appreciative of their (Barnegat Light’s) support because they have never needed this project” Township Clerk Leonetti said. “For them to just unify with us is very special.”
However, Barnegat Light Mayor Kirk Larson said he doesn’t know if his town can afford the $5,400 this year. The Borough Council tabled a resolution to join the interlocal agreement during their Feb. 17 meeting. According to Larson, the Council is trying to get their budget together and would like to support the effort but the money may not be there.
Excerpted from Asbury Park Press • February 22, 2010
HARVEY CEDARS — Aside from the usual havoc that a winter full of snowstorms can wreak, this Long Beach Island community faces an entirely different set of weather-related problems. Work has stopped on the Army Corps of Engineers beach replenishment project at least 40 days this winter due to inclement weather according to Mayor Jonathan S. Oldham. "It's been a tough winter to do beach replenishment with all the storms, but it's also been another verification of how necessary this project is, not only for Harvey Cedars but for the whole island," he said.
When dredging began in November, the long-awaited project was expected to be completed by March. Now Weeks Marine, the project's contractor, expects to finish late, but still before summer begins. "They were expected to finish pumping and placing early- to mid-May," said Corps spokesman Steve Rochette. Additional work items, like dune fences and dune grass, may have to be put off until temperatures drop and beachgoers leave, Rochette said. "They'll probably have to stop in May and continue on in the fall," he said. "They're only able to plant dune grass when it's dormant in colder weather."
Since November, Weeks Marine has pumped 1.1 million cubic yards of sand onto borough beaches and plans to place another 1.6 million cubic yards before reaching the town's southern border at Bergen Avenue, Rochette said. Right now, work crews have reached the middle of the borough. "They're off of Essex, Middlesex (avenues)," Rochette said. "It's about halfway through."
Oldham said that this winter's storms have further eroded the already dwindling beaches. He added that Department of Public Works employees have been working to reinforce dunes to protect homes in areas the project hasn't reached. "We definitely need this project," Oldham said. "We're very vulnerable and we're glad that it's here."
Excerpted from article by Nick Huba, Beach Haven Times, 2-17-10
LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP – A recently approved ordinance requiring beachfront homeowners to pay for repairs to dunes in front of their homes if they have not signed their easements apparently has also increased the number of easements the township has received. According to Mayor Joe Mancini, there has been an increase in the easements since the ordinance was approved approximately three weeks ago. The township has received 25 newly signed easement documents and multiple inquiries about the easements. The ordinance was a last resort and it seems to be working according to Mancini.
The ordinance, which was adopted at the end of last month, calls for all beachfront homeowners who have not signed easements to be responsible for the maintenance of the dunes in front of their homes. If beach repairs are not completed within 15 days, the township will have the work done and then bill homeowners for it. The ordinance is based on a similar ordinance that was approved a couple of years ago in Surf City. Mancini feels the recent rash of nor’easters that have struck the township’s fragile beaches have also contributed to the increase in easements. He feels beachfront owners are starting to get the message.
Attorney Kenneth Porro, who represents some beachfront owners claims to have filed a tort claim notice with the township about the ordinance and has submitted a letter of opposition to the ordinance. According to Porro, the homeowners he represents have not decided on their next legal move.
Some beachfront owners have fought signing the easements because of the impact the pending project could have on their properties. Some have said the increased size of the dunes will limit their ocean views and also restrict ocean breezes. But the township needs to acquire the easements for the beach replenishment project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not start any work until all of the easements (for an agreed upon length of beach) have been signed. The Corp oversees the project in Harvey Cedars.
(Editorial note: Beachfront owners we have spoken to take issue with the fact that, once the easement is signed, it is for perpetuity. An easement with a time limit would most likely be signed. But that is not available and not likely to be available.)
Excerpted from the Sandpaper – February 10, 2010
The Army Corp of Engineers will apply for federal funds to make emergency repairs to Surf City’s storm-battered beaches, according to Corps project manager Keith Watson. The repairs, he explained, would restore the beaches to the condition they were in before the nor’easter back in November. In November President Obama declared the coastal region of Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties, a disaster area, making it eligible for federal assistance. The money for the repairs would come from an emergency fund created under the Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act, which funds rehabilitation of flood control and hurricane protection measures like the Corps beach replenishment project which pumped tons of new sand (and a few munitions) onto the beaches of Surf City and northern six blocks of Ship Bottom. The Corp is compiling reports on all beach fill projects in the entire Philadelphia District that extends from the Manasquan Inlet to the Delaware Bay.
The northern end of Surf City took the brunt of the storm’s impact, according to Watson, because nor’easter storms push sand toward the south. Because North Beach was not part of the beach replenishment project, Surf City was more vulnerable at the north end.
In addition to repairing the sand back to the way it was when the beach replenishment project was completed, the Corp will repair two dune walk-over areas that were damaged. The repairs are not part of the general maintenance that will take place every six years as part of the overall project.
A resident of Harvey Cedars, Chris Day, has provided chronological photos of the beach replenishment efforts on his website. To visit the website go to our homepage and click on the URL.
Excerpted from an article by Nicholas Huba - January 23 and 13, 2010
LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP — Township officials moved forward with an ordinance Friday that would require beachfront homeowners who have not signed easements to allow a federally funded beach replenishment project to commence on their property, to pay for their own beach repairs. The township Board of Commissioners adopted the ordinance during its meeting late Friday afternoon (January 22), despite concern from some beachfront homeowners.
Attorney Kenneth Porro, who represents some beachfront owners, said he filed a tort claim notice with the township about the ordinance and also has submitted a letter of opposition to the ordinance.
The ordinance calls for all beachfront homeowners who have not signed easements to be responsible for the maintenance of the dunes in front of their homes. If beach repairs are not completed within 15 days, the township will have the work done and then bill homeowners for it. The ordinance is based on a similar ordinance that was approved a couple of years ago in Surf City.
Some beachfront homeowners have fought signing the easements because of the impact the pending project could have their properties. The homeowners said the increased size of the dunes will limit their ocean views and also reduce their ocean breezes. But the township needs to acquire the easements for the beach replenishment project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not start any work until all of the easements have been signed. The corps oversees the project (currently under way) in neighboring Harvey Cedars.
The aim of the replenishment project is to increase the size of the beach and the dunes. "We have done everything that we can do," Mayor Joseph Mancini said. "We've talked to them (Army Corps of Engineers) about changing the easements but that has not gone anywhere."
“If they are not going to allow the state and Army Corps to have access to the property, then they are not going to allow us” said Mancini. “A similar ordinance has been on the books for 39 years and we are now cleaning it up.”
December 13, 2009 LPOA e-Newsletter
HARVEY CEDARS - The 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, estimated $25 million beachfill project is on target to be completed in March despite several setbacks due to inclement weather since work began about a month ago. Work has been completed from 77th Street north to 82nd Street, Army Corps of Engineers officials said Thursday.
Corps spokesman Stephen Rochette said the project is running smoothly so far.
Corps officials said there have been no munitions found since the project began.
More than 1,200 discarded World War I-era military munitions were pumped ashore onto beaches in Surf City during a $6 million beach replenishment project in 2006. The Army Corps is using 3/4-inch screens to filter out possible munitions or debris while pumping sand onto Harvey Cedars beaches. Screens were not used during the Surf City project.
The discharge pipes for pumping sand are currently on 77th Street and sand is being placed on the 82nd Street beach, according to Rochette. The pipes are connected to the dredge and sand is pumped through them onto the beach, but prior to placing sand on the beach it is filtered through baskets as a precaution, Rochette said. Contractor Weeks Marine has used 77th Street as a staging area as work continues to the northern boundary of the project, which is 86th Street. Once the northern boundary of the project is complete, workers will turn around at 77th Street and begin working southward, Rochette said.
The Army Corps is funding 65 percent of the project. The DEP will fund 26.25 percent and the borough and Ocean County will fund 8.75 percent.
August 3, 2009
The borough of Harvey Cedars is putting finishing touches on the last of the paperwork required for the federally-funded beach replenishment project. Borough Clerk Daina Dale said the borough acquired all the easements necessary for the project to begin. The last 10 easements were acquired through eminent domain. After the paperwork is completed, it will be filed with the state and the state DEP will contact the Army Corps.
In March, the Army Corps delayed awarding a contract for the Harvey Cedars section of the project because the borough did no have the proper amount of easements, according to Corps spokesman Ed Voigt. Between March and July of 2008, 15 of 80 beachfront homeowners still had refused to sign the easements. Some of those were signed over in 2009 before eminent domain was used. According to the Corps, the project will construct a dune with a top level of 22 feet above sea level, with a 300 to 400 foot wide berm, depending on the location of the beach, sloping to an elevation of 8 feet above sea level. Approximately 11 million cubic yards of sand will be placed during the initial construction. A periodic nourishment cycle will contribute an additional 2 million cubic yards every seven years according to Corp officials.
AVALON - The New Jersey Supreme Court will not hear the state Department of Environmental Protection's appeal of a decision that said the agency overstepped its authority with 24-hour beach-access regulations. Avalon won the two-year legal fight by arguing the regulations removed the municipality's discretion to close beaches for public safety. Avalon officials also said parking provisions were too vague and could cost millions if the borough needed to buy beachfront land for parking lots.
Other sandy towns along New Jersey's coast followed the case closely because the DEP threatened to withhold millions in beach funding if municipalities did not comply. An appellate court in November said the regulations "pre-empt the basic municipal power to manage and control municipally owned beaches, including deciding when those areas should open to the public." In February, the DEP, which was represented by the state Attorney General's Office, asked the state's highest court to hear the appeal - it did not contest specific regulations but raised concerns that the decision cut too deeply into its authority.
In its petition to the state Supreme Court, the DEP said the ruling concludes it "lacks the authority to require that municipalities who receive state shore protection funding take reasonable steps to ensure that meaningful public access is available to publicly funded beaches." "The DEP is disappointed we were not able to present our case," spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said Monday. "We have to evaluate what this decision means on the current existing beach-access rules, if anything."
Officials in some shore towns tracking the case said they believed the DEP did not have much of an argument for an appeal. Surf City Mayor Leonard T. Connors, whose municipality joined Avalon in its lawsuit, said, "I think our government is getting too much in the daily routine of the individuals and the municipalities and counties. "I'm not in opposition to the environment. On the other hand you can't say we've got rules and regulations and adopt them after the fact," Connors said.
Avalon sued in November 2007 after the DEP set beach-access rules and other requirements designed to make the state's beaches and waterways more accessible to the public. However, Avalon argued the new rules were potentially dangerous to beachgoers and required the borough to ask the state's permission if it needed to close beaches for public safety reasons. Related items in the state-aid agreements required municipalities to place public bathrooms at half-mile intervals and provide sufficient public parking, a regulation the court said was too vague.
Funds for dredging Barnegat Bay have been approved as part of the federally funded stimulus package, but funds for additional beach replenishment projects, such as erosion studies and long-term nourishment efforts, were not included. The projects that received funding are:
-$1.26M for maintaining shoal areas within the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway.
- $350K for maintenance dredging to protect Barnegat Bay
- $300K for various sediment studies.
Representative John Adler has been critical of the administration for removing funding for beach replenishment projects from the stimulus package.
As reported on May 13, federal money to replenish NJ beaches has become a point of contention between some state lawmakers and the Obama administration. NJ lawmakers are pleased that President Obama has requested money in his first budget to replenish the nation’s beaches. However, Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. and Sen. Robert Menendez believe Obama’s $3.6 trillion spending plan for fiscal 2010 seeks too little for beach projects.
The budget seeks $45 million for beach projects requested by the House and Senate and $3 million for other beach projects. Pallone and Menendez said the total budget proposal would barely cover the NJ beaches. The $48 million is unspent money sitting in the Army Corp of Engineers’ beach nourishment account. The Corps is expected to soon publish a list of beach projects that will receive funding.
COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF HOMEOWNERS
Excerpted from an article by Nick Huba, Beach Haven Times, 07/16/08
SURF CITY - A state Superior Court Appellate Division panel rejected the state’s appeal of a November 2006 ruling seeking access to five properties for a federal beach replenishment project in Surf City yesterday.
The three-judge panel, comprised of judges Jose Fuentes, Jane Grall and Amy Piro Chambers, ruled Tuesday that Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso was correct in his November 2006 ruling not granting access to the state DEP.
“The core issue here is whether the State can force a private property owner, by way of preliminary injunction, to grant a perpetual public access easement without first following the procedures in the Eminent Domain Act,” the three judge panel wrote in their 10-page ruling. “We are satisfied that the answer to this question is ‘no’. Further, NJDEP’s reliance on the provisions of N.J.S.A. 12:6A-1 is misplaced and any argument predicated on this statute is unavailing, because defendants have never denied it access to the property for the purpose of correcting an emergency situation.”
On November 16, 2006, Superior Court Judge Grosso ruled that the state did not produce enough evidence to be granted access to the properties for a federal beach replenishment project. The state appealed the decision.
Attorney Kenneth Porro, who represented one of the properties in question, said the division upheld the State Constitution. “The Appellate opinion notes that government cannot take private property even if there exists an arguable benefit to that upland owner, without paying just compensation”, Porro said. “This principle is founded under our State Constitution. Porro said, his clients….are not against a reasonable dune project, but a 29-foot wall of sand is out of the question”. “...hopefully this opinion will cause the DEP to compromise on the height of the dune as well as continuing to permit oceanfront property owners to maintain existing access paths and existing breeze flows”. “It is time to work together”.
MEETING SET FOR OCEANFRONT OWNERS
By Jessica Infante and Nick Huba, Staff Writers, July 16, 2008, Asbury Pk Press
Harvey Cedars - The stalled federal beach replenishment project for Long Beach Island may be gaining ground. On Tuesday, an eminent domain ordinance was passed in Harvey Cedars to acquire beachfront easements. On the heels of this decision a meeting is planned for Saturday for oceanfront homeowners in the borough who would be affected. On Friday, a meeting of all six Island mayors and the Army Corps of Engineers will take place in order to flesh out next steps and address detailed concerns.
The beach project aims to raise the dune level, and a 300- to 400-foot-wide berm is planned, depending on the location, according to the project's details. Approximately 11 million cubic yards of sand will be placed during the initial construction. A periodic nourishment cycle will contribute an additional 2 million cubic yards every seven years.
Harvey Cedars Mayor Jonathan S. Oldham told the nearly 100 residents at the meeting that he hoped the project would be offered to the borough in the fall. "We need to pass this ordinance now and we have appraisal work to do (to determine the value of the easements) and we have other things to do so that we would be ready to accept or reject the project for Harvey Cedars," Oldham said. "If we accept it, you may see sand on the beach in November."
Many residents at Tuesday's Harvey Cedars Board of Commissioners meeting spoke passionately both for and against the ordinance.
One resident, Wendy Mae Chambers, fought back tears as she addressed the board and the public about the need for the ordinance and the project. "It's not going to be resolved without eminent domain," she said. "Everybody knows that life is more important than money and a house." She called the May 12 nor'easter that closed the only bridge to the island and battered beaches a "gift" because of the wake-up call it delivered.
Of the 82 easements needed, 15 homeowners have yet to sign. Victor Groisser, who has not signed, said that he and many of the other 14 homeowners were against the project because of the total loss of control over the pieces of land that "may very well result in over-commercialization," the unexploded ordnances that landed on the beach in Surf City during their phase of the project and the opinion that Harvey Cedars should run the project locally, he said.
Oldham and some of the 15 homeowners will meet Saturday to discuss the ordinance and the project at a time that had yet to be determined Tuesday. Local municipal officials and representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers will meet Friday to discuss the pending future of the federally funded beach replenishment project. During the meeting, which is not open to the public, the corps will give a status report to officials about where the current project stands, Oldham said.
"We had a meeting with them eight months ago and then four months ago, but since then we have not heard from them about the project," Oldham said. "All of the municipalities want to know what is going to happen with the money that has been appropriated for the project."
Ed Voigt, spokesman for the corps, said it is not uncommon to have a series of meetings with local officials about pending projects. "The corps likes to maintain a dialogue with the local officials about the projects," Voigt said. "We want to know what their concerns are and what questions they need answered."
The first part of the project was completed in Surf City and a small section of Ship Bottom. The project's future depends on federal funding.
Beach Haven Mayor Thomas J. Stewart said he hopes the meeting will answer questions about some of the requirements for the project. He said that beachfront neighbors often compare notes and find that they've been told different things because the state and/or corps keep changing the plan. "We're hoping to get a more defined and refined set of rules," Stewart said.
by Nicholas Huba, staff writer, 7/21/08 Asbury Park Press, excerpted
Harvey Cedars - During a meeting Saturday morning, beachfront-property owners who have not signed easements for the federally funded beach project said they are not against the project but rather the way the easements are written. "Words like "perpetuity' and "assignable' are scary; they have to be changed," said Martin Flumenbaum, a homeowner on 83rd Street who said he favors the project but has declined to sign the easement agreement.
About 15 people from the area attended the special meeting of the borough Board of Commissioners and oceanfront property owners who have not signed on. "The reason that we wanted to meet in this informal setting was to get some of the issues that you have out on the table," Mayor Jonathan Oldham said. "I have talked to many of the owners that have not signed the easement, and the talks have been civil. I want to get everything out there and see what we can do."
The meeting came on the heels of the board's approval of an ordinance that would allow it to negotiate with homeowners who have not signed the easements and, if that does not work, to move forward with eminent domain — the government's right to take private property for a public purpose in exchange for just compensation.
"I think moving forward with eminent domain is a bad idea," Flumenbaum said. "We should see if we can get the easements changed before doing this."
Of the 82 easements needed, 15 homeowners haven't signed, Oldham said. Four of the easements in question are for properties without homes.
"My house is important, and 1 percent of the population should not be holding the rest of us hostage," said Brian Lewis, vice president of the Harvey Cedars Tax Payers Association.
Oldham said he is going to take the suggestions and concerns of the owners who have not signed the easements to state officials.
"We want to know what your concerns are," Oldham said. "We want to take the concerns to the state to see what they can do."