Dear Friends,I want to remind everybody that our annual Veterans Day ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Monday (Nov. 11) indoors at the Ocean City Tabernacle at 550 Wesley Avenue. I encourage everybody to attend and honor the men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers earlier this week held a pre-construction meeting with the contractor for the upcoming beach replenishment project, and a preliminary schedule is now available. Later this month, work will begin to pump sand from a Corson’s Inlet borrow area to the beaches in Strathmere. Work will then turn to southern Ocean City with the renourishment of beaches and dunes from 45th Street to Corson’s Inlet State Park, likely to take place in January and February of 2020.Mobilization for work at the north end from the Seaview Road groin to 12th Street in Ocean City is scheduled to begin in April, and pumping is expected to start on May 1 from a Great Egg Harbor Inlet borrow area. This is good news, as our most vulnerable beaches will be rebuilt after the worst of the winter and spring storms have passed. But please be aware that two blocks of beach at a time will be closed as the project moves from north to south. Completion of the project is expected by early June.
We are planning to add geotubes to the beach around Fourth Street and Fifth Street, but they will be most effective if placed atop the newly elevated berm. I would like to thank the Army Corps and the state Department of Environmental Protection for their continued partnership in this important endeavor. This will be the ninth renourishment project since we reached an agreement in the 1990s.The Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority contractor will add a second crew next week to its wastewater main replacement project on Bay Avenue. While one crew works northward from 28th Street, the other will move southward from 14th Street. That will require a detour for all but local traffic on Bay Avenue from 34th Street to 14th Street. Please plan to use the West Avenue detour route to travel across that stretch of town. Local businesses will remain open throughout the duration of this project, and vehicles will be permitted to access them. Bay Avenue will reopen to traffic on weekends, and it will be open for Veterans Day on Monday. Warm regards,Mayor Jay A. Gillian
