Posted on August 7, 2017
By Nanette LoBiondo Galloway, ShoreNewsToday
The Board of Commissioners continued an executive session Friday morning that was started following Thursday’s lengthy public meeting.
The commissioners met in closed session to discuss a strategy going into court-ordered negotiations with the state Department of Environmental Protections and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday morning.
All beaches, except for Huntington Avenue, were opened and staffed by lifeguards over the weekend.
Commissioner John Amodeo said Thursday’s executive session started at 6:30 p.m. and lasted more than an hour before it was continued to Friday morning. It was held after 2½ hours of public testimony at the regular commission meeting that started at 4 p.m.
“It will be more of a strategy and goal-setting meeting,” Amodeo said in a telephone interview early Friday morning. “We need to see what we can get accomplished. I don’t think our goal will ever be met, but we can consider a best-case scenario.”
At Thursday’s meeting, the board appropriated $100,000 for expenses it might incur in the city’s latest battle to get the state and federal government to fix ponding and drainage problems created by the dune-building project. Amodeo said it was merely an appropriation for expenses, which could include engineering studies and expert fees should an extended court battle ensue. The board also approved a contract with attorney Jordan M. Rand of Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP of Philadelphia not to exceed $25,000.
The contractor building the dune across all of Absecon Island, Weeks Marine Inc. of Cranford, excavated several feet of sand to lower the beach and create a drainage basin between the dune and existing bulkhead, which resulted in several feet of water collecting behind the dune, rendering much of the beach inaccessible. The area was supposed to percolate within 24-36 hours, but water stagnated as beach access was cut off. As much as 2 feet of water festered for days until Weeks Marine was ordered by the DEP to pump the water into the ocean.
As a precaution and to protect swimmers, Public Safety Commissioner Amodeo closed the beach from the city’s border with Ventnor at Fredericksburg Avenue to Gladstone Avenue, where fetid pools of water were pumped into the ocean. Most of the standing water has been pumped away, but wet spots remain.
Amodeo reopened those beaches for the weekend after all ocean water quality tests proved bacterial levels are in the acceptable range.
“We had our beach raker out there and will have all the lifeguard stations manned for the weekend,” Amodeo said. “Water quality tests show we are in good shape.”
The latest results from the Atlantic County Water Quality Program, which tests ocean water in three spots in all Atlantic County shore towns every Monday, show water quality in Margate for the week of July 31 was in the excellent range, with a reading of 6. A bacteria count above 104 would require beaches be closed to swimmers.
The beach at Huntington Avenue behind the Margate Library and Bloom Pavilion will remain closed because it is being used as a staging area for Weeks Marine’s heavy equipment during a seven-day work stoppage period ordered by Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez Thursday afternoon.
“There are still workers on site,” Amodeo said. “If it rains over the weekend, they will have to pump out the water. They own the job and are responsible for everything that happens there until the job is done.”
Mendez called the ponding problems that developed behind the newly built dune following a 5-inch rainstorm “horrendous” and ordered the parties to meet every day to hammer out a solution before their next court-ordered appearance before Mendez 1:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11.
He said the city and its residents and businesses are suffering “irreparable harm” and the situation must be rectified.
The defendants have until noon Wednesday, Aug. 9, to file briefs on short- and long-term solutions to the drainage problems, Mendez said.
“The judge is expecting a resolution,” Amodeo said. “If it’s not, then he will rule as he sees fit.”
Amodeo said the commissioners would discuss a strategy going into negotiations, which could be contentious.
“They want us to share costs. We didn’t ask for these dunes. It was a state mandate from Gov. Chris Christie. It was forced on us. Why should we have to pay for anything? If it’s a state mandate, then all expenses should be paid for by the DEP,” Amodeo said.
Source: ShoreNewsToday
