Upper Township warns about ‘dangerous’ conditions
PETERSBURG — “It is a dangerous situation and we want to keep people off the dunes,” Mayor Jay Newman said June 26, noting erosion has carved out cliffs at least 10 feet high in the north end of Strathmere.
Newman, chief of the Marmora Volunteer Fire Company, said safety is the first priority. He said township officials met with representatives of the Stathmere Volunteer Fire Company and the Upper Township Beach Patrol, as well as the Ocean City Fire Department and Ocean City Beach Patrol to discuss ways to handle a potential emergency situation.
“We don’t want people on the dunes. They are sheer and they will collapse without warning like an avalanche,” Newman said, adding there have been serious injuries and deaths from people being buried in sand.
“We don’t want it to happen, so stay off the dunes,” he said.
Newman said the township has erected signs and would be distributing information to the public about the issue.
“They are extremely unstable. It is truly a dangerous situation,” Township Administrator Gary DeMarzo said.
The Stockton University Coastal Research Center surveyed beaches on the island in March for this year’s first-quarter review.
Its report stated a mid-January storm forced the township to close a fourth beach access point in the north end. The report stated the exposed access path crossover suffered damage as the narrow beach provided little wave protection.
The township started limiting access with Seaview Avenue in spring 2022, then closed Seacliff and Winthrop avenues last summer because they became inaccessible on foot.
Williams Avenue was closed in January but, according to township engineer Paul Dietrich, was reopened May 19. He said barring any major storm, it should remain open.
Upper Township is set to get 586,000 cubic yards of sand with as much as 205,743 cubic yards in options as part of the Great Egg Harbor Inlet to Townsends Inlet project. The contract for the work is to be awarded on Aug. 1.
According to an email from the state Department of Environmental Protection, Upper Township’s share of the cost is estimated at $1.45 million — about $1.3 million for the renourishment and $150,000 for additional work of cutting the timber groins.
That number is subject to change depending on bid prices and the work awarded.
Township Committee adopted a resolution authorizing a state aid agreement with the DEP for the replenishment project.
DeMarzo said the cost is almost $400,000 more than the $930,000 bonded for this year, not including $150,000 for removal of timber piling.
Fortunately for the township, chief financial officer Barbara Ludy said there is money left over from a 2011 beach replenishment bond to cover the excess.
Committeeman Curtis Corson said conditions may change before the project begins, possibly driving the price up. Conversely, the beach generally gets larger over the summer.
“It could be more or it could be less,” Corson said.
“I doubt it will be less,” Newman quipped.
“My recommendation is that we do what we have to do to use money from the previous bond,” Corson said.
Deauville Inn
liquor license
A public hearing was held on the renewal of the Deauville Inn’s liquor license.
Solicitor Tony Monzo said there were objectors to the renewal and therefore a public hearing was required, but all parties were satisfied that conditions imposed on the restaurant last year would continue.
Monzo said the Zoning Board imposed 26 conditions on the restaurant but that only six pertain to liquor.
They include that all music be controlled by a sound limiter, valet parking be required from 4 to 9 p.m. May 1 to Oct. 15, live music be limited to six times per year (Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends) ending at 9:30 p.m., music be prohibited on boats docked in the harbor and guards be stationed at the doors to prevent people from leaving with open containers.
Neighbor Dodie Reagan-Corretini said the conditions imposed last year “have been very helpful in maintaining safety and tranquility of the neighborhood. It has not been perfect but it was a much greater improvement over prior years.”
She suggested a prohibition on employees loitering in the parking lot after hours and wants trash picked up not just on the property but in the surrounding areas.
Attorney Mike Donio of Nehmad, Davis and Goldstein, representing a group of objectors, said there was no objection if the conditions remained in place.
Attorney Dottie McCrosson, representing the Deauville Inn, said her client accepts all conditions and is committed to fulfilling them.
Township Committee approved the license renewal.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff