By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
UPPER TOWNSHIP — During the Township Committee meeting March 9, Committeeman Curtis Corson reported on a meeting with representatives of the Department of Environmental Protection about Corsons Inlet State Park in the north end of Strathmere.
During previous meetings, Corson has called for action on improving the situation at the park in the summer, citing excessive alcohol consumption and large crowds. Established in 1969, the state park is overseen by Belleplain State Forest and includes a large section of the southern tip of Ocean City as well as the beaches on the north end of Strathmere on the south side of the inlet.
Corson reported on a meeting that included Township Administrator Scott Morgan, engineer Paul Dietrich and Bruce Riordan of the Strathmere Volunteer Fire Company.
He said the DEP promised to fix the signs on the Strathmere side of the park and look into the landing of boats on the beach, which gets extremely crowded on summer weekends.
“On the Ocean City side, there’s no mooring of boats,” he said.
The state officials also plan to launch a social media campaign aimed at improving behavior at the park.
Another issue, he said: Many people reporting problems at the park call 911. The dispatcher then calls the park police to respond, which can be a longer process. Instead, he said callers should dial (877) WARN-DEP to report issues on park property.
“That is a direct line to the state park police dispatcher, so that is the quickest way to get a state park policeman there,” he said.
Corson is a descendant of the Corsons for which the inlet is named. The family settled the area in the mid-1600s.
Special meeting of Zoning Board
An hour-long remote meeting of the Upper Township Zoning Board is planned to begin at 6:30 p.m. March 24.
There are two applications on the agenda, including one for the addition of a porch on a single-family house on Marshallville Road.
Much of the board’s regular meeting time has been taken up this winter by testimony related to a proposal for a new hotel in Strathmere, one much larger than the existing motel. Some have waited multiple hours to state their opinion on that matter, and the process was further delayed by technical problems March 11. That application is set to resume April 21 at a virtual meeting.
