Posted on August 25, 2025
The topic of dredging in Little Egg Harbor was revived at the township committee’s regular meeting on Aug. 14, as several residents spoke out about the need to prepare for future dredging.
Mystic Island resident Lou Cavaluzzi, who said he represented the group Mystic Island Homeowners for Dredging, urged the township to consider several avenues for funding.
“Six years ago, the township committee approved bonding for dredging homes east of Radio Road. This was the start of several successful dredging projects, which increased the values of our homes and allowed boating at any time. The majority of these projects were paid for by homeowners agreeing to pay. As we all remember, Mystic Island was never dredged since its creation in the ’60s. To maintain the successes of our dredge projects, a vehicle needs to be created to fund future dredging maintenance or hot spot dredging,” Cavaluzzi said.
“This is to ensure homeowners never have to pay for a full-blown dredge assessment ever again. Such an idea was floating in May of 2019, in an article in The SandPaper, and I quote: ‘Gormley said the ability to use the waterway would add value to everyone’s property. He also added that a dedicated tax for waterways maintenance could be coming in the future – one that is similar to the open space tax of one-tenth of a cent for $100 of assessed property of value,’” Cavaluzzi read.
He asked whether there had been any progress on developing a waterways maintenance tax.
Gormley responded, referencing the township’s findings at that time. “So there’s a couple of issues that come into play with that particular situation. Number one is the town itself does not own the waterway. So you can’t really tax something that you don’t own,” he said.
No other concrete options have been considered, Gormley said. Cavaluzzi asked whether this would be different from an open space tax.
“The open space tax is by statute,” Township Attorney Melanie Appleby said. “That isn’t something that was self-created by the committee. That’s allowed because the statute allows for it. So I think that’s what the committee is speaking to as far as the dredging tax – that looking into it, trying to pursue legislation to allow that to be assessed has not been successful.”
Cavaluzzi said that by his own calculations, the township could’ve generated $667,000 per year by instituting this sort of tax. “That could have definitely helped if we needed to get hot spot dredging in the future. … Is there a way to get this on a ballot?” he asked.
“It would not be something that would be on the local level,” Appleby said. “This is the state, and I can tell you from having done some of the work with this dredging before, the state doesn’t like the lagoons. So that’s part of the problem. They don’t want to help you.”
David Fuller of Louisiana Drive said he was a member of both the Osborn Island Residents Association and Mystic Island Homeowners for Dredging. He supported Cavaluzzi’s comments, and asserted that the township should consider making plans now for future dredging. Fuller recounted the past dredging process.
“Osborn Island Residents Association received its permit because we raised money to pay for the engineering survey, testing, everything. In June of 2012, just before (Superstorm) Sandy, we were going out for bid. When Sandy hit, we pulled the plug and decided we had more important things to deal with right now. But having said that, shortly after that permit was issued, the township of Little Egg Harbor received their permit, and shortly thereafter, as we know or may not know, Ocean City was the first municipality to start the dredging process in our area,” he said.
It was a learning process for everyone involved, but the township committee, Township Engineer Jason Worth and his associates were a major help to the Osborn Island Residents Association, Fuller said. He described the results of dredging as “very positive” with “little to no downside.”
All Little Egg Harbor residents, whether they’re boaters or not, benefited from the dredging project, with much of the township seeing higher property values, Fuller said. Other municipalities also followed suit with their own dredging projects after Little Egg Harbor.
“As such, we believe Little Egg needs to set the standard once again and formulate an action plan for hot spot dredging or maintenance dredging. To make this happen, a meeting with DEP needs to happen, and create a partnership, to reduce the need to redo a lot of the process, such as the engineering, the surveying, the testing and the application fees. This partnership would benefit all; it would benefit the state, the county and certainly the municipality,” Fuller said.
“This way, when hot spots develop – and they will; they’ve already started to … action can take place, and there’s not a need to wait four years while the process is going through again,” he said.
The committee thanked Fuller for his comments.
Resident Ron Chebra spoke about issues he’s faced on North Bergee Drive. “Being a resident and hearing my colleagues here talking about the hot spots, we already have a hot spot. We’ve experienced tremendous amounts of saltation already because the roadway has exposed building material that was left by the dredging company,” he said.
Chebra said construction companies have made a mess of the roads and caused materials to run off into the lagoons.
“We suffered and realized the benefits of dredging that would happen. Now we’re no longer realizing the benefits of that dredging. So my question is: Can we address or ask the dredging company to restore the area to what it was prior to them doing construction work?” he asked.
Chebra also asked the council to consider putting “No Parking” signs on that roadway to prohibit boaters from damaging private property or parking on wetland areas. Mayor Dan Maxwell said the committee is aware of the issues on the road and is working toward a potential solution.
Lisa Zorpich also asked the committee about marking the street with signs. She said she would like to see something be done to help protect the land. “All I have tried to do since the dredging is to protect the area,” she said.
Maxwell thanked Zorpich for her concern for the property and said they would come up with a plan for it.
Resident Peter Parinello raised concerns about the age-restricted housing development proposed for Center Street. The project, comprised of 415 units, has caused controversy among residents. On Aug. 7, over 150 people showed up for the continuation of the planning board’s hearing for the proposal, which set the room over capacity. The hearing was rescheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 26 at Pinelands Regional High School.
“The bay is not going to handle the runoff that they’re proposing in this area,” Parinello said of the project’s potential environmental impacts. “There’s going to be flooding, there’s going to be pollution. … I’m meeting with a lot of people, with state agencies, with Save Barnegat Bay, with the organization New Jersey Future.”
Appleby advised the committee not to comment, as it is an ongoing planning board application.
The next regular Little Egg Harbor Township committee meeting will be held on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.
