By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
Township engineer Paul Dietrich told Township Committee that the Strathmere beaches are in good shape for the summer, with dune grass having been planted in some sections.
UPPER TOWNSHIP — The beaches in the north end of Strathmere have already seen some erosion since the completion of a badly needed replenishment project over the fall and winter, but they still are in great shape for the summer.
That’s according to the final report for 2019 from the Stockton University Coastal Research Center, which has been tracking the beaches of the oceanfront section of Upper Township for years. Township engineer Paul Dietrich summarized the report Monday, Feb. 24, during a Township Committee meeting.
“All is good over at the beach in Strathmere,” Dietrich said.
Committeeman Curtis Corson said he saw workers planting dune grass the other day, and according to Dietrich, crews have begun working on the crossovers leading to the beach in the north end of Strathmere.
That work will likely be completed by the end of next week. In recent years, the paths to the beach in those neighborhoods have been blocked off because erosion had cut steep cliffs in the dunes.
What erosion has taken place since the project completion has been minor, Dietrich said.
Those beach walkways, and other paths to the water throughout the township, were part of a separate discussion Monday as committee discussed a plan to dedicate perpetual easements to waterways as part of a public access plan.
According to Dietrich, failure to adopt the plan could cost the township future grants and projects, including federal beach-building projects such as the one that reshaped the north end of Strathmere. He said the plan as proposed does not create any new accessways or beach paths, but instead details what the township already has and promises to maintain them.
The Planning Board has been working on the public access plan since the summer, Dietrich said, describing the creation of the plan as a requirement of the township’s beach permit through the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The township’s existing permit expires at the end of March, Dietrich said.
The state is asking that a deed be recorded guaranteeing public access in perpetuity. It includes access to ocean beaches, along with bay and river access. The deed will be recorded with Cape May County.
“They’re just starting to require it now,” township attorney Daniel Young said.
He mentioned areas where there are private beaches, including Florida, and compared the matter to acquiring the rights to the beaches to allow beach replenishment work.
“The difference is, this is the public’s right to get to the beach,” he said.
The plan includes all of the beach paths and dune crossovers in Strathmere, as well as amenities including the portable toilets. Also included are Beesleys Point park and some street ends that lead to waterways.
Dietrich said the Planning Board has already approve the plan. A resolution could come before the Township Committee at its next meeting.
‘If you’re comfortable, I’m comfortable,” Mayor Richard Palombo said.
Corson was not entirely happy with the proposal.
“We’re giving our property rights, basically, to the DEP,” he said. “It’s a taking.”
“I don’t know if it’s a taking. Basically, they’re enforcing the public’s right to the beaches and the waterways by this document,” Young said.
Without the plan, Young suggested, it would be difficult to get beach-related projects funded or approved. Corson compared it to being held hostage. But he did not say he would vote no on a resolution, and joined the unanimous vote to bring a resolution to the next committee meeting.
“This is not a change in practice to what we do today,” Young said. “There’s no new access.”
“We’re just losing control,” said Corson, while Committeeman Edward Barr said it is giving the rights back to the people.
In the fall, Strathmere was part of a $32.5 million beach replenishment project, which also added sand to beaches in southern Ocean City, Whale Beach and Sea Isle City. Before the start of the summer, additional sand is expected to be added to the beaches in Ocean City’s north end.
Under a cost-sharing formula, the federal government and the state fund the work, with New Jersey looking to local municipalities to kick in toward the state share, putting the local share of the cost at 12.5 percent of the total project. Upper Township officials expect to spend between $800,000 and $1 million on the local share of the work.