After relatively few major storms in the spring and summer, the beach at the south end of Ocean City bided its time until the start of a replenishment project scheduled for late fall.
City Council on Thursday will vote to provide easements to the state and federal government to allow a beach replenishment project for the south end of Ocean City to proceed.
The vote will be one of the last required measures before the project begins — likely in late November.
The federal Army Corps of Engineers has opened bids on the project (Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co., the same contractor that completed the beachfill project at the north end of the island in 2013, is the low bidder at $58 million), and the Corps is expected to award the contract before the end of the month.
At the same time, the city has obtained all the required easements (permission from beachfront property owners who have rights to land in the project area). Of about 588 beachfront properties in the area between 34th and 59th streets, only five may be subject to condemnation litigation.
The city has taken the easements from the five by eminent domain. The easements allow the work to proceed on portions of the beach that are privately owned (but unbuildable). For these five properties, the city has drafted appraisal reports offering the owners compensation for rights to their land in the project area.
City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said the appraisal reports will not be sent or released to the public until the Army Corps of Engineers (which is looking for consistency among similar projects throughout the state and nation) has reviewed and approved the format.
Even among the five, one more may provide rights to the project area, McCrosson said.
She said many property owners were not even aware they had rights to land on the beach. A paper extension of Wesley Avenue (which ends at 29th Street) assigned property rights to some Central Avenue owners in the south end.
The vote City Council will make on Thursday (at its public meeting 7 p.m. at City Hall) is on the first reading of an ordinance that would provide easements to the state and federal government on beach parcels for which the city holds riparian grants.
Council will vote on a separate resolution that authorizes the mayor to sign an agreement with state and federal Army Corps.
The federal government will pay 100 percent of the estimated $85 million initial project to restore beaches at the south end of Ocean City and in Strathmere and Sea Isle City. The cost share for future projects (on a three-year renourishment cycle pending availability of funds) will be 50 percent federal government and 50 percent state government (with Ocean City responsible for 25 percent of the state's cost).
The renourishment agreement is less generous than the one the city signed for the north end beaches. That agreement calls for the federal government to pay 65 percent and the state 35 percent (with Ocean City paying 25 percent of the state's cost).
The net effect for Ocean City is that it will pay 8.75 percent of north end projects and 12.5 percent of south end projects.
For complete documentation on the beach measures and other items on City Council's agenda for Thursday, see the
Agenda Packet.
After relatively few major storms in the spring and summer, the beach at the south end of Ocean City bided its time until the start of a replenishment project scheduled for late fall.
City Council on Thursday will vote to provide easements to the state and federal government to allow a beach replenishment project for the south end of Ocean City to proceed.
The vote will be one of the last required measures before the project begins — likely in late November.
The federal Army Corps of Engineers has opened bids on the project (Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co., the same contractor that completed the beachfill project at the north end of the island in 2013, is the low bidder at $58 million), and the Corps is expected to award the contract before the end of the month.
At the same time, the city has obtained all the required easements (permission from beachfront property owners who have rights to land in the project area). Of about 588 beachfront properties in the area between 34th and 59th streets, only five may be subject to condemnation litigation.
The city has taken the easements from the five by eminent domain. The easements allow the work to proceed on portions of the beach that are privately owned (but unbuildable). For these five properties, the city has drafted appraisal reports offering the owners compensation for rights to their land in the project area.
City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said the appraisal reports will not be sent or released to the public until the Army Corps of Engineers (which is looking for consistency among similar projects throughout the state and nation) has reviewed and approved the format.
Even among the five, one more may provide rights to the project area, McCrosson said.
She said many property owners were not even aware they had rights to land on the beach. A paper extension of Wesley Avenue (which ends at 29th Street) assigned property rights to some Central Avenue owners in the south end.
The vote City Council will make on Thursday (at its public meeting 7 p.m. at City Hall) is on the first reading of an ordinance that would provide easements to the state and federal government on beach parcels for which the city holds riparian grants.
Council will vote on a separate resolution that authorizes the mayor to sign an agreement with state and federal Army Corps.
The federal government will pay 100 percent of the estimated $85 million initial project to restore beaches at the south end of Ocean City and in Strathmere and Sea Isle City. The cost share for future projects (on a three-year renourishment cycle pending availability of funds) will be 50 percent federal government and 50 percent state government (with Ocean City responsible for 25 percent of the state's cost).
The renourishment agreement is less generous than the one the city signed for the north end beaches. That agreement calls for the federal government to pay 65 percent and the state 35 percent (with Ocean City paying 25 percent of the state's cost).
The net effect for Ocean City is that it will pay 8.75 percent of north end projects and 12.5 percent of south end projects.
For complete documentation on the beach measures and other items on City Council's agenda for Thursday, see the 
