The North Wildwood City Council voted to approve it Tuesday a settlement with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to end a decades-long dispute over attempts to protect the city’s eroding beach.
The state agreed repealing $12 million in fines against the city for unauthorized repair work on its thinning banks that it said the erosion could have been made worse, and The city will drop its lawsuit and seek $30 million in restitution from the state Transporting and unloading sand for emergency supplies. The deal will be subject to a 30-day review.
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City officials had argued that North Wildwood was not receiving the same attention as other Jersey Shore towns that had received major beach replenishment projects from the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Funding delays and difficulties obtaining easements from property owners have hampered one such project in North Wildwood, the Associated Press reports. But A seawall and Five Mile Island’s planned beach and dune projects are scheduled to begin next year, a DEP spokesman told the AP.
Earlier this year, North Wildwood received a temporary repair from the DEP, dredging sand from Hereford Inlet to the shoreline.
In addition to waiving fines and lawsuits, the settlement also calls for the city to contribute $1 million to the Army Corps project, $700,000 to a state water pollution control fund and $7 million to new projects.
“This represents a clear path forward for several really important coastal protection projects,” said North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello (R). NJ Spotlight. “These coastal defenses are expensive, but when you consider what they protect and how economical they are… I think it makes more than financial sense.”
