Spoils Can Be Moved From Site 83, Paving Way for Ocean City Dredging Project

Ocean City received final approval to transport spoils from Site 83 to a location in Wildwood, paving the way for the dredging of lagoons and bayfront areas too shallow for boating, the Ocean City Gazette reports.

On Feb. 12, council voted to set aside $5 million and borrow $4,750,000 for the dredging project that would put the dredge spoils at Site 83, located near 34th Street.

First, the City must empty that site, which is filled with 50,000 yards of cubic spoils it permitted the state to put there toward the end of the last decade.

However, environmental testing of the spoils to be moved delayed the project for a few weeks. That testing is finally complete and the City can begin moving the spoils, Mayor Jay Gillian said at Saturday’s town hall meeting at the Howard S. Stainton Senior Center in the Ocean City Community Center.

The cost to move the spoils from Site 83 to Wildwood is $2.7 million, which Mayor Jay Gillian called “ridiculous,” according to the report. He said it’s all a waste of taxpayer money, and that he “has no choice.”

Transportation of the spoils is set to begin next week, according to the report.

Earlier this year, Ocean City Council voted to set aside $5 million and borrow $4,750,000 for dredging project.

Boaters have complained about an inability to navigate through the lagoons and back bays around low tide, but dredging had to take a back burner due to a lack of sites to put the spoils.

The City has permits for preferable sites with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, but it doesn’t have the permission to use those sites.

It ultimately set its sights on Site 83, and the project looks set to get underway.

To view a slideshow from Saturday’s town hall meeting, click here.