Upper trying to dredge up money, OK for beach fill

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Upper trying to dredge up money, OK for beach fill

By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, 609-463-6712

Published: Tuesday, July 01, 2008

UPPER TOWNSHIP - Township officials hope to secure $3.5 million in beach funding to begin pumping sand in Strathmere as early as this week.

The Township Committee scheduled an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss the prospect of getting state money to dredge sand onto Strathmere's depleted shoreline.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's dredge, the Illinois, is pumping sand onto Avalon's beaches now. The company just finished a $7 million beach project in Ocean City.

The Upper Township proposal would bring the dredge a few miles north to Strathmere to pump sand between Seaview and Prescott avenues on the island's north end.

Mayor Richard Palombo said he is working with the state Department of Environmental Protection to arrange it. The township is awaiting word from the dredge company about whether work can proceed, he said.

"We're still in negotiations. It's all contingent upon hearing from the contractor," he said.

Coastal storms battered Strathmere's beaches last winter, carving steep cliffs along the shoreline. The north end in particular suffered extensive property damage as a tidal channel carved away one homeowner's front yard and nearly wiped out a public road.

The Township Committee trucked sand onto the beaches to form a protective berm to save homes from being swallowed by the Atlantic Ocean.

A dredging project will provide longer-term protection for homes here.

Under the proposal, the state would pay 75 percent of the costs with the township paying the remainder.

E-mail Michael Miller:

MMiller@pressofac.com