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Residents press commission on dune/beach project as litigation looms; mayor says borough hasn't withdrawn
Summary
At a packed Wildwood Crest meeting residents urged the borough not to abandon a 5-mile dune/beach maintenance project tied to the U.S. Army Corps and NJDEP; the mayor said the borough has taken no formal action to withdraw and that officials are seeking to reconvene stakeholders while litigation proceeds.
Public comments at the Wildwood Crest meeting focused on a contested dune and beach maintenance project administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Joyce Gould, who said she was reading a letter from former clerk Kevin Yeko, urged caution and a thorough alternative plan if the borough follows through on reports that it intends to withdraw from the five-mile project. "Once that decision becomes official and binding, I would trust that you have already commissioned your environmental engineers to have a comprehensive plan ready for your adoption," Gould said, warning that withdrawal could jeopardize the borough's participation in the National Flood Insurance Program and expose the borough to private lawsuits.
A resident who identified public concerns about beach design and sand placement questioned whether projects north of Wildwood Crest were being configured differently; another resident asked how the borough would maintain sand and beach width if it exits the cooperative project.
Mayor (speaker 1) answered public concerns directly: he said the borough has not formally withdrawn from the project and that no action that would immediately affect flood insurance has been taken. He described the planned effort as "a $53,000,000 project" intended as a long-term (50-year) dune and sand-management program and said the governing body's current approach is to bring stakeholders back to the table to explore alternatives. "We did not take any formal action," he said, adding that the commission is doing "due diligence to make sure that our taxpayers are protected" while trying to preserve beach width and ADA access.
Commissioners also noted the matter is the subject of pending litigation and approved a resolution to meet in executive session to discuss potential litigation and a borough-administrator personnel matter under NJSA 10:4-12(b).
