Biersdorf & Associates

By JESSICA INFANTE • and NICHOLAS HUBA • STAFF WRITERS • July 16, 2008

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.

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