Sea Isle City's beaches to get touch-up costing millions

Alex and Brea Gablin had impeccable timing for a family trip to the beaches of Sea Isle City from their home in Swedesboro, N.J.

The temperature had already climbed to 77 degrees under gorgeous sunny skies as they relaxed on a beach blanket Tuesday morning with their daughters, Arden, 9, and Emerson, 7, and their dogs, Pepper and Apollo.

“It’s peaceful. It’s our happy place,” Alex Gablin said while gazing down a quiet stretch of beach at 40th Street that his family had virtually all to their own.

Come this summer, the same spot in Sea Isle will likely be crowded with thousands of beachgoers enjoying their vacations. There will be another big change, too. The beachfront itself is expected to be bigger and better thanks to a replenishment project that will add hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of fresh sand.

Sea Isle is one of a handful of coastal towns in Cape May County that will benefit from $99 million in federal funding for beach replenishment projects following a series of offshore hurricanes and coastal storms that damaged the Jersey Shore.

As part of that funding, Sea Isle will be included with the southern end of Ocean City and Strathmere for a $28 million beach replenishment project stretching from the Great Egg Harbor Inlet to Townsends Inlet.

    New sand will be pumped onto Sea Isle's beaches from 29th Street to 53rd Street.
  

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency that oversees beach replenishment projects, is scheduled to receive bids for the contract on April 24.

Depending on the outcome of the bids, the project could begin in Sea Isle as early as June, Mayor Leonard Desiderio said during a City Council meeting Tuesday.

Altogether, 300,000 cubic yards of new sand will be pumped onto the beaches from 29th Street to 53rd Street. There will be options in the contract for an additional 185,000 cubic yards of sand, Sea Isle Business Administrator George Savastano said.

Desiderio noted the potential challenges of having the project start just as the summer tourism season is gearing up, including having big crowds on the beaches.

“I know there will be concerns about the timing of the work, but this project is vital,” he said in a statement. “Our beaches are not just our primary tourist attraction, they are our first line of defense against coastal storms.”

Sea Isle intends to work closely with the Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to make sure “the work is done efficiently and with as much respect to our visitors’ schedules as possible,” Desiderio added.

“While we know that construction on the beach during the start of the season can be a minor inconvenience, the long-term protection of our homes, businesses and infrastructure is our top priority,” he said.

    The popular beach mats are placed at the beach entrances to make it easier to walk over the thick sand.
  

At first, Sea Isle and other Jersey Shore communities didn’t expect to have beach replenishment projects this year amid federal funding shortages for coastal protection across the country.

All that changed when U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who represents the shore communities, made the surprise announcement on April 6 of $99 million in funding for beachfill projects in Sea Isle, Ocean City, Strathmere, Avalon and Stone Harbor.

“Our beautiful beaches are going to look even better with the new sand. To come up with nearly $100 million in funding is simply amazing, so we thank our congressman,” Desiderio said of Van Drew.

The Army Corps and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection finance most of the beach replenishment projects, but the local communities also contribute.

Sea Isle’s share for the new project is expected to be around $2 million, depending on the bids, Savastano said. City Council will consider a bond ordinance at its May 9 meeting to fund the project.

Separate from the full-fledged beach replenishment project, Sea Isle will restore the beach pathways over the dunes where needed. It will also install the ever-popular beach mats that help beachgoers walk across the thick sand.

Savastano noted that Sea Isle’s beaches and pathways have held up well overall.

“We’re in pretty good shape,” he told City Council.

    Sea Isle will restore beach pathways where needed heading into the summer season.