North Wildwood City Council voted Tuesday to accept a settlement with New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection to end a decadelong dispute over attempts to protect the town's eroding beach.
The state agreed to cancel $12 million in fines against the city for unauthorized repair work to its thinning shores that it said could have worsened erosion, and the city will drop its lawsuit requesting $30 million in reimbursements from the state for trucking in and dumping sand for emergency replenishment. The deal will undergo a 30-day review.
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City officials had argued that North Wildwood did not receive the same attention as other Jersey Shore cities that had received full beach replenishment projects from the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Funding delays and difficulties in obtaining easements from property owners have stymied such a project in North Wildwood, the Associated Press reports. But a sea wall and Five Mile Island engineered beach and dune projects are expected to begin next year, a DEP spokesperson told the AP.
Earlier this year, North Wildwood received a temporary fix from the DEP, dredging sand from Hereford Inlet to the shoreline.
In addition to waiving fines and lawsuits, the settlement also calls for the city to contribute $1 million toward the Army Corps project, $700,000 to a state water pollution control fund and $7 million toward new projects.
"This sets a clear path forward for several really important shore protection projects," North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello (R) told NJ Spotlight. "These shore protection measures are expensive, but when you calculate what they’re protecting and the economics ... I think it more than makes sense financially."