PETERSBURG — Township Committee is taking steps to find solutions to the severe erosion at the northern end of Strathmere, where beach entrances are likely to be closed again this summer.
Temporary Administrator Joe Verruni said March 10 that township representatives had met the prior week with the Department of Environmental Protection Division of Coastal Engineering at the site to discuss what could be done about the significant loss of sand.
Verruni said Chris Constantino of the DEP spoke about actions the township may be able to take to help the situation but none of them is a short-term solution.
“Because of the beach elevation and lack of sand, anything we may do will simply wash away at high tide,” Verruni said. “The beach template Upper Township was left with after the last replenishment was not sufficient to withstand the erosion process.”
Verruni said Constantino addressed several longer-term actions the township could take, such as beginning the process to request a replenishment from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which he called “probably a two- or three-year process,” and requesting a more permanent barrier such as a bulkhead or stone embankment, which is a much longer process.
Verruni said another option would be to seek funding from the Department of Transportation for a dredging project in which the channels are dredged and the sand pumped onto the beach.
No time frame was mentioned, he said.
“The township is evaluating any one or more of these potential remedies for application. We will continue to try and keep beach access as best we can this season and plan for future projects,” Verruni said.
Committeeman Zach Palombo said the conversation with the DEP included the public safety aspects of beach erosion and how it is going to affect the properties there.
“Even when we met at low tide on Friday it was visible, you could see the cutouts on the walkways and also the erosion, how high the water was coming up at high tide,” Palombo said.
He added that a family friend used a drone to shoot aerial footage to help them get a clearer view of the problem.
“We have to start game-planning with the fact that there is that significant erosion, and with summer quickly approaching we have to be cognizant of not just how we are going to get lifeguards down there but also how we are going to keep those structures intact as well,” he said.
Mayor Curtis Corson said they are weighing all of their options.
“We have talked to the DEP at length about a replenishment project, about a hard structure and what our options and possibilities are. It is a work in progress,” he said.
In the meantime, Strathmere residents are going to have to deal with the situation.
“We will have probably the northern end of the island closed. I don’t see a feasible way to open any of that, so it’s going to take some adjusting to get used to, just like it was two years ago,” Corson said.
A living shoreline project is in the works to alleviate erosion on the bay side of the island.
Township representatives met with the Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Club and ACT Engineers, which will prepare an application for the funding.
“We are the conduit to stabilize the shoreline in Strathmere bayside,” Verruni said.
Engineer Ryan MacNeill said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has confirmed that the SFEC is still in place to receive the grant, noting the goal is for the project to get under way in June or July.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff