Posted on January 5, 2026
The Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection plan to meet with the Wildwood municipalities on Tuesday, Jan. 6, on identifying sources of sand for shore protection.
Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. was asked about the now-canceled Hereford Inlet to Cape May Inlet dune and beach berm project, known as the Five-Mile Dune plan, at the Dec. 30 City Commission meeting, and said that the state and federal agencies had reached out to the Wildwoods about scheduling a meeting on related issues.
Dennis Reinknecht, director of the DEP’s Division of Resilience Engineering and Construction, sent an email to the mayors of North Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and Lower Township asking for a meeting to discuss a “General Reevaluation Report” on the Five-Mile Island coastline.
The purpose of such a report is to investigate storm damage reduction in the project area, including looking at possible offshore borrow areas for both an initial construction project and future beach replenishment work.
According to the DEP, locating borrow areas off the beaches would help reduce reliance on borrowing sand from local beaches, which was the chief complaint of Wildwood and Wildwood Crest about the Five-Mile Dune project.
Those communities, while supporting North Wildwood in its need for beach replenishment, did not want to give up as much beach as the project called for. The project would have moved the waterline of Wildwood and Wildwood Crest 650 to 750 feet closer to the boardwalk.
“That plan’s done,” Troiano said, adding that he wanted to see North Wildwood made whole “and leave us alone.”
“It’s going to be a good conversation,” Troiano said of the Jan. 6 meeting.
Resident Carl Schmoyer, who raised the question at the Dec. 30 meeting, said that after a project borrowed sand from Wildwood beaches 10 years ago there was ponding on the beach. Health officials warn that ponded water on beaches can harbor bacteria, pathogens and parasites.
Troiano said ponds on the beach form naturally by wind and water. “If we think we can control the sand…” he said, leaving his statement unfinished, but understood.
Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera said he understood the meeting was going to be held to bring everyone up to speed concerning DEP/Corps ideas for moving forward on beach replenishment.
“I understood them as saying, ‘We need your help; here are our ideas,’” Cabrera said.
He said it seems the goal is to develop a beach construction project that would require less beach sand borrowing.
Neither North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello nor incoming Mayor Sal Zampirri was available for comment.
North Wildwood has a lawsuit pending in Superior Court claiming the DEP reneged on its responsibility to obtain real estate easements for the Five-Mile Dune project. The Corps canceled the project based, in part, on the inability to secure the necessary easements.
The $54 million project was first proposed in 2013. Since then, North Wildwood has taken steps it thought necessary to protect property and lives, although the DEP issued fines for doing so.
The DEP has said it is trying to consider local preferences, if possible, to develop a viable construction project with benefits that are greater than costs.
