County To Pay For Part Of Berkeley Beach Replenishment

BERKELEY, NJ — Ocean County officials announced that they are paying for half of the local costs for a beach replenishment project along the northern barrier island.

Ocean County will contribute about $4 million for the effort to restore ocean beaches from Berkeley Township north to Point Pleasant Beach, said John P. Kelly, Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners.

Berkeley is receiving $159,000 from the county for the project.

This is just a portion of the estimated $60 million cost for the overall projects, which is expected to begin next year.

The Army Corps of Engineers will pay $30 million, with the remaining $30 million paid by the state and local municipalities, county officials said.

The county is splitting the $8 million local cost with the nine municipalities who would have otherwise paid for it themselves, Kelly said.

“We received a call from the local mayors and they asked us to help,” Kelly said.

Earlier this week, the county hosted a meeting with county officials and municipal leaders from Berkeley Township, Seaside Park, Seaside Heights, Toms River, Lavallette, Brick Township, Mantoloking, Bay Head, Point Pleasant Beach and Point Pleasant Borough. Point Pleasant Borough leaders attended to support their neighboring communities though they have no oceanfront property and are not part of the project, Kelly said.

Commissioner Deputy Director Virginia E. “Ginny” Haines said the beaches suffered severe erosion following several coastal storms that battered the coastline in recent years, including a major storm late last winter.

“The beaches and dunes are vital to the protection of our towns and our residents,” Haines said. “The Board of Commissioners felt it was right to step in and help our communities bare this cost.”

The cost would have otherwise strained the budgets of the county's smaller coastal communities, Kelly said.

“There was an immediate consensus among the commissioners that we needed to help,” he said.

This project is the first major beach replenishment scheduled by the Army Corps of Engineers along the northern barrier island since it completed repairing and strengthening beaches in the years following Super Storm Sandy.

• Bay Head: $714,000.00
• Berkeley Township: $159,000.00
• Brick Township: $450,000.00
• Lavallette: $336,500.00
• Mantoloking: $645,000.00
• Point Pleasant Beach: $135,500.00
• Toms River Township: $975,000.00
• Seaside Heights: $375,000.00
• Seaside Park: $191,000.00