FEMA could help fund North Wildwood work

Last Updated on Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:59 pm Written by Christie Rotondo Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:58 pm

NORTH WILDWOOD- Besides the city’s beach replenishment project, other improvements around North Wildwood may be partially funded by FEMA, the city administrator said Tuesday.

Replacement of the beach bike path between 15th and 22nd Avenues, street utility reconstruction on 13th Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Beach Drive, and replacement of the Tideflex valves at various locations throughout the city are all projects set to go out to bid.

Lou Belasco said that the cost of these projects will be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency requesting a 75 percent reimbursement. Belasco indicated that if the money is approved, it would be applied to future city projects.

In addition to these projects, the city is also accepting bids for its beach replenishment project. Those bids are due March 7, Belasco said.

The city had lost 150 cubic yards of sand from its beaches in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Before that, 75 cubic yards had been lost to erosion. 

Mayor Bill Henfey has said that the city hopes share services with Stone Harbor when that borough completes a beach replenishment project for later this year. According to Henfey, Stone Harbor will already have a dredge in Hereford Inlet pumping sand onto its beach. 

Belasco said that Stone Harbor’s dredge project is being done by Norfolk Dredging, and is expected to be done by mid-May.

If that option falls through, the city is prepared to go out to bid for a different method of replenishment. If the city can’t share services with Stone Harbor, or mobilize another dredge project, it plans to take sand from the waterline with bulldozers during low tide and push that sand up onto the dry beach. The incoming tide would then fill in some of the sand.

At Tuesday’s meeting, City Council also approved a resolution renewing the city’s contract with Stockton College’s Coastal Research Center for beach monitoring services. The center surveys the beaches throughout the year to assess how much sand has been lost. Stewart Farrell, who works for the center, is the lead on these assessments.

The contract with the center is $92,703, and city clerk Scott Jett said that the cost of the contract was $5,000 less than last year.

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