Frustrations Remain in Slow, Expensive Dredging Process in Ocean City

Ocean City, NJ -- The obstacles continue to mount as Ocean City attempts to clear out its back bays and lagoons.

But Mayor Jay Gillian and representatives from ACT Engineering said they would clear all obstacles at Monday night’s town hall meeting at the Chris Maloney Lecture Hall in the library.

It just might take some time and a lot of money.

The town hall provided some detail on the dredging of back bays and lagoons in Ocean City, which makes up $20 million of the mayor’s proposed five-year, $98.5 million capital plan.

The problem begins at Snug Harbor, where 14,000 cubic yards of mud needed to be dredged. Representatives said the contractor hired to dredge the area didn’t complete the job, even after the contract was extended from the previous expiration date of Oct. 1 through the end of the year.

Negotiations are under way between the two sides. The city has already paid $200,000 of the agreed to $937,900 contract it agreed to with Wickberg Construction last year.

The city now must come up with a solution for not just Snug Harbor, but for dredging elsewhere in Ocean City. Gillian and ACT representatives said they want the solution to be a long-term one.

Bathymetric surveys of the island revealed a total of 1 million cubic yards of mud must be dredged. If the city were to continue hauling dredged materials by truck, the total cost of dredging would be $80 million.

The city is seeking federal and state aid in handling the cost.

ACT Engineering is working on short term solutions that are both cost-effective and environmentally friendly, including using a thin layer of dredged material to help enable restoration of lost wetlands in an effort to mitigate damage caused by future storms.

They compared this solution to last year’s beach replenishment projects, which officials credited with helping Ocean City whether a weekend blizzard that caused large amounts of flooding in other areas of the Jersey Shore.

“If not for the beach replenishment, think where we might’ve been,” Gillian said. “We are protecting this island. … We need to solve our flooding and dredging problems long term.”

To this end, City Council will consider a consent agenda resolution to award a $55,000, 11-month contract to Tonio Burgos and Associates to develop a dredging program at Thursday night’s council meeting.

The program includes a strategic plan to discard dredge spoils, that will be both economically and environmentally responsible, according to the letter from the company sent to the city and included in this week’s agenda packet.

City Council meets on Thursday night, 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Gillian called the issue a public safety issue and a city-wide problem.

ACT Engineering has identified possible areas in which they could conduct this coastal resiliency project, including a site behind the Ocean City Airport.

It’s a solution that has worked in states such as Florida and Mississippi, but is difficult to move forward with in this state because of New Jersey’s strict environmental regulations and a host of regulatory commissions that slow down the process.

Testing of material across the island must be conducted, and ACT representatives said that most of the testing that has been done so far has brought back clean results.

Restrictions have also slowed the emptying of Site 83, where 40,000 cubic yards have been dredged. The site required 300,000 cubic yards of dredging.

Plans to put a temporary road to that site remain, with construction tentatively set to begin in March, a month later than previously expected. Construction would take 75 days, and it must be removed as of June 27, 2017. Another permit would be needed for a permanent road.

It was the second town hall meeting in the last six months on the topic. At the August meeting, it was revealed that twice as much material needed to be dredged as previously thought, but that work would begin soon.

However, on Monday night, residents voiced the same problem they’ve faced for several years: they still can’t use their boats because of the amount of mud and soot that has built up.

“We’re doing the best we can,” Gillian said. “It’s painstakingly slow, but at least we’re trying something.”