Some towns left with hefty price tag to keep NJ beaches from shrinking
Towns along Barnegat Bay Island
just received a bill in the mail for the next scheduled round of beach
replenishment, and leaders say they're shocked at the cost.
Toms River and Bay Head are
on the hook for a combined $3 million bill to be paid before the feds return
this winter to dredge offshore and build back the beaches
The simple answer is they can't cover the cost, not without state
help. In Bay Head, homeowners paid for their own sea wall and protection before
the federal government came in with their equipment a few years
ago.
The new dunes paid for with federal
tax dollars lasted until the first major test - a storm that turned them
into 18-foot cliffs. Similar erosion impacts have been seen in other
replenishment areas such as Brick and Ortley Beach. Towns received bills last
week showing what they now owe for the replenishment touch-ups.
"A
little town like this that has less than a $6 million budget total will go
broke. We can't do it,” says Bay Head Mayor
Bill Curtis.
Every municipality with oceanfront
land received an estimated bill. The top four were Toms River, Bay Head,
Mantoloking and Brick Township
“There's no way you can plan for
this and the budget - $2 million is a substantial cost to absorb for the
taxpayers, and our feeling is the beach is enjoyed by everybody in New
Jersey, that's the gem of New Jersey, the Jersey Shore beaches,” says Toms
River Township Mayor Mo Hill.
Toms River already spent $750,000
of its own money in the last year trucking in sand to Ortley Beach following
storms. Hill, Curtis and the others all sent a letter to Gov. Phil
Murphy asking the state to cover these costs. There has been no
response yet from the governor or his aides.
The Army Corps of Engineers is
scheduled to return early next year to the problem areas, rebuilding the
beaches and dunes lost over the last four years. Curtis says he
hopes no hurricanes impact the region because these costs are only an estimate
and could go higher.