Emails

I cant believe no one is up in "arms" about the fact that they pumped explosives onto the beach in Surf City. The beach is anticipated to be closed beyond Memorial Day. No one can go on the beach! This closure is sure to hurt the economy this summer. Even if they scan the whole beach, it will be impossible for them to guarantee that there is no other ordinance or risks. A. Temme, Surf City

Dear Mayor Oldham and Commissioners Garafalo and Gerkens:
We have enjoyed living in Harvey Cedars since 1971. It is a warm, wonderful, umpretentious and unique community which has the ocean beaches and the beautiful bay within walking distance of every home. But our narrow island community is fragile and vulnerable to storms and erosion. The tragic experiences of 1962 , 1992 and 1994 are not o be forgotten!!

Beach replenishment is essential to the survival of Harvey Cedars. We deeply appreciate all your hard work to achieve it. We not only support you but we urge you to use eminent domain where it is necessary to get access to oceanfront property for beach replenishment. Our taxes may increase but our homes and way of life will be protected. Please do all that is necessary to build the dunes and enlarge our beaches to overcome the erosion and storm damage that we suffer each year. Time is running out.
Thank you again, Adele and Jack Borrus 6800 Kent Place, H. C.

You should distribute the photos [LBI Beach Replenishment - Before and After] of the Surf City beach replenishment to all those Harvey Cedar beachside homeowners who are refusing to grant an easement to protect the rest of Harvey Cedars residents as well as themselves. Their ignorance of the benefits of this program is preventing us from seizing a wonderful opportunity to protect ourselves in view of global warming and the inevitable storms to follow.
Regards, Carol and Barry Sziklay 6802 Suffolk Place Harvey Cedars, NJ 08008

Thank you for the update. I'm glad you are back on this cause. You are a great advocate for the Beach Replenishment. The refusal by the few Beach Front Home Owners is beyond my comprehension. I'm just disgusted with their irrational decision. How do you deal with people like that?
Thank you again Frank O'Hara

Hello - I have a second home on LBI and I just found your http://www.beachreplenish.com/ web site. Thank you very much for putting all that information and those links together in a very useful web page. Sincerely, just a guy.

Thanks again for your efforts. I am a home owner in Surf City and was pleased with the replenishment. However, it looks odd how it starts and stops and I wonder if this is good for the island? Given that Ship Bottom and Harvey Cedars could not get their act together, has this created a bad situation for these towns?
Thanks, Bob

Tell the non-signers to go down to see the beach replenishment project which was recently completed in Surf City. This will dispel all the stupid fears about 40 foot dunes, etc. It is a beautiful beach which I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. Dan Cuoco - oceanfront homeowner - Harvey Cedars

My wife and I own a home in the Dunes section of LBI and are also amazed at the resistance to this project. The beach in some sections of Brant Beach is almost non-existent. We’ve been visiting LBI for over 25 years and have definitely seen the impact from numerous storms. All you need to do is to walk the beaches and you will see homes in many sections of the island where the dunes are almost gone and a major storm would easily wash through beach front homes. The comments from beachfront homeowners who suggest that it would be cheaper for them to have their homes washed away instead of devalued by the beach replenishment project baffle me. The island is made up of houses that span from the bay to the beach. I’m sure that if the homeowners who lived along Long Beach Boulevard were able to single handedly restrict repaving of the boulevard – or could authorize turning it into an 8 lane highway, the beach front homeowners would be up in arms. This project will offer additional protection to the beaches and increase values for all homeowners. The island – and its beaches – belong to all of the island homeowners and its visitors (like it or not tourists are important to the island’s value and economy). A concerned homeowner.

I am concerned that some interested parties may have a misunderstanding as to what would be involved in eminent domain proceedings instituted by the Borough. In the Complaint to be filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, the Borough would NOT seek a judgment taking from the beachfront property-owner legal title to the portion of the land sought to be subject to beach replenishment. In such a case, a favorable judgment by the court would require the Borough to pay the property-owner the fair market value of the beachfront land taken, which would be expensive indeed. However, the Complaint would not seek a transfer of title to the land in question to the Borough, but would seek only an easmment on the land in the terms required by the State. Such a limited taking by the Borough would require payment to the property-owner of the fair market value of the loss sustained to the property caused by the easement. Since it may be argued that the beach replenishment would enhance rather than lessen the value of the property by placing it upon a wide beach and by providing protection from storm damage, the payment which the Borough would be required to make may in the end be quite small.
Samuel Lenox

Dear Mayor Oldham, Mike Garofolo and Judith Gerkens:
We want to voice our full support to the efforts you are making to protect Harvey Cedars through the Beach Replenishment project. This project is vital to the public safety. It is unconscionable that anyone would attempt to hinder this project. The devastation of a severe storm will affect all property owners. This is not an issue that can be considered only on the basis of the impact to some property owners who have decided that they don't want to participate. It is not an issue that affects only a small portion of the town along the oceanfront. A severe storm will impact the entire town if the beaches continue to deteriorate. The 1962 storm did not only damage oceanfront property. Entire sections of our town were wiped out, from ocean to bay. The decision must be made to protect the town. This is not just a project to "improve" the beaches. The project provides essential protection to all of us.

Our family purchased our property in 1952. Not only do I clearly remember the 1962 storm as a young child, but I also remember the stories of the 1944 hurricane and the 1938 hurricane. Those storms were devastating. Severe storms along our coast have occurred often in the past. We have been fortunate not to have such an event in recent years. But this does not mean that we do not need protection. And the fact that the town has escaped damage in recent years is a result of beach replenishment and stabilization that was done in the past.

After the 1962 storm the entire town was focused on survival. The inlet at 79th Street and also the south end of town were filled in with pumped sand, beaches were replenished, and the jetties were built. Property owners were encouraged to plant trees to stabilize the island, and most participated in annual planting of dune grass to stabilize the beaches. The entire town was mobilized with the goal of rebuilding and providing as much protection as possible. All of us have enjoyed the benefits of this effort for many years. It is now time to do it again.

Not only do you have our full support, but we encourage you to let us know what we can do to help you. We support the use of Eminent Domain if it is required. And we would encourage all of our neighbors to help as well. Above all, we encourage you to try to do everything possible to begin the replenishment project as soon as possible.

Bill and Kathleen Mongon 8 West 81st Street Harvey Cedars

I have seen a section of the replenished beach in Surf City and was impressed, but those aerial photos really show the entire impact! I cannot believe property owners would not agree to the replenishment to protect their investment. Just seeing how close the shoreline is on the eroded beaches makes me uneasy, and I'm not a property owner! Great job on this web site. Sarah, Sayreville, NJ

we would like to thank you and the mayor and everyone in town hall who has spent much time and effort on this replenish project.we can only echo the points made by all other e-mails that are calling for the town to do what is right for the good of the majority and the town itself. presidents are elected by very slight margins let alone having to be unanimous. projects such as this which can be so very costly in consequences to so many should not be allowed to be stalled by a very few selfish individuals. you will never get everyone, so where is the line drawn to say we have enough? besides eminent domain, maybe we should investigate legally the liability these holdouts may face if my home is damaged because they stopped us from protecting our property. maybe those who hold out should be held liable for everyone else's damage. also, what about just the everyday enjoyment of the beaches. at high tide it can be difficult to find a spot without climbing all over the dunes. please just listen to the vast majority and protect our beaches, our homes, and our property values.thank you . bob travis 6104 long beach blvd.

Great site and thanks for the information. The project looks fantastic but the one question is where it stops at North Beach. What is the perception of this lasting as it just looks unfinished? Too bad the easements were not signed in Ship Bottom and Harvey Cedars. Bob Maryott 276 Division St Surf City, NJ

The owners seem to want to be paid for their property. Isn't money what they really want? Aren't they really holding the island hostage? The owners would have to be given fair market price. My question is where does all that money come from? Wouldn't eminent domain be too expensive for a municipality to envoke? Please explain if you have the time. Thanks Frank Formichella

Very nice page... thanks for including our materials on your site. If you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to call or email. Mark J. Mihalasky, Ph.D., P.Geo (WA)

in answer to George Sella's question - what's the difference in protection from an 18 foot dune versus a 22 foot dune
The Height is but one of the dimensions used to value the storm protection provided by a dune. Given the landward and seaward slopes are held at 5 ft horizontal to each 1 ft vertical, the 4-foot difference in height means more than just that dimension. The taller dune is at least 20 feet wider and contains considerably more sand. The height IS important in the resistance to major storm wave run-up elevation. The storm creates a storm surge that can reach 10 feet in NJ. (Higher is possible, but unlikely to occur frequently) Then the waves come ashore and wash up the seaward slope of the dune. The Army Corps generated a simulation model we used in our presentations last summer. The storms of record are the 20-year, 50-year and 100-year storms. The 22-foot elevation is to have the dune high enough to prevent the 100-year storm event from breaching the dune and washing inland. The 18-foot dune will resist a 50-year storm wave run-up elevation, but not the 100-year event. This dune will likely fail in a 100-year storm. Long ago Congress mandated that these Federal projects be designed to withstand the 100-year storm event at a minimum to qualify for Federal money. Therefore, the 22-foot height dune is part of the project's design. Most of the Harvey Cedars dunes already reach the 18 to 20-foot elevations, so not too much more is required in the way of height most places. Sincerely, Dr. Stewart Farrell Director Coastal Research Center

and an answer from Keith Watson - Army Corps of Engineers
As to the question you posed below , there is not a simple answer to the question. Part of the answer is that it not only is the height of the dune important but also the volume of sand in the dune and the width and elevation of the berm in front of the dune. These factors work in concert to reduce damages from storm events. The dunes in Harvey Cedar, where they exist are generally thin and do not have an adequate volume of sand in them or in front of them to reduce damages from any significant storms. The Barnegat Inlet to Little Egg Inlet, Long Beach Island Project is a Storm Damage Reduction Project; this type of project is not predicated on a single level of protection, it is based on an analysis of reduced damages versus costs. Corps regulations require us to recommend the plan to Congress for authorization that has the highest annual net benefits in the form of reduced damages over the 50 year period of economic analysis, which is shown to posses a positive benefit to cost ratio. This is considered the National Economic Development, (NED), plan. The 22-foot high dune with the 125-foot berm width alternative was found to be the NED plan for the Long Beach Island project. This was the plan ultimately supported by the local municipalities, the non-federal cost sharing partner, (NJDEP), and authorized by Congress for construction by Section 101 (a) (1) of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, Public Law 106-541. According to Corps policy requirements, selection of dune height and berm width is not based on providing protection against a specific design level event (i.e., category of hurricane or return period of storm), but is determined by optimization to maximize net economic benefits. In the process of optimization, we consider the entire frequency range of potential storm events and evaluate different project alternatives (dune heights and berm widths) against the without project condition, to determine which provides the maximum net economic benefits over the 50 year project life cycle. Primary net economic benefits are the dollar amount of storm damage reduction provided by each alternative less the cost of that alternative. The frequency range of storm events used in our analysis included historical events of record such as the 1962 northeaster and major historical hurricanes that impacted the region, as well as hypothetical events up to a 500-year return period. Each beachfill project is unique and is predicated on the existing hydraulic and shoreline conditions prevailing within the project area. The average without project profile condition throughout Long Beach Island has dunes with average top elevations at between 18 - 20' NAVD88 and average berm elevations at +7.5' NAVD88 with berm widths ranging from 0 to 75 feet throughout the project area. The beachfill alternatives considered, start at Dune heights of 20'NAVD88 and berm widths of 50' and increased in various combinations from there to find the selected plan. Which again is a beach profile with a Dune at elevation +22' NAVD88 with a 30 foot wide crest having slopes of 1V to 5H, and a 125 foot wide berm at elevation +8' NAVD88 following the natural slope down to MLW. The analysis considers the existing beach conditions in each town and the corresponding background erosion rates in determining the without project condition that the alternatives are compared to. So the existing conditions are the base so therefore in our analysis by definition $0 average annual damages prevented over the economic analysis period.

I hope your photos scare some deadbeats into signing!
Susan Lewis

HAS ANYONE MADE A CD OF THE JOB BEING DONE IN SURF CITY TO SENT TO THE HOLD OUTS IN HC? nOT SURE, BUT IF ONE SEES HOW AND WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE THEY MAY CHANGE THEIR MIND AND SIGN! BOB KAPLON

Do off-islanders deserve beach access on LBI? Of course. What is reasonable for their accomodation? A lavatory, parking, and a drinking fountain. How many of these facilities should be provided? One (or two) in each town - they don't need to have one every half mile - only what is reasonable for their numbers (there's only one causeway onto the island, and with an 18 mile island there are plenty of towns) Harvey Cedars is one mile long, it already has two facilities with restrooms, parking and water (Sunset Park and the Borough Hall), that should be enough. Ask the DEP if LBI would be more attractive if there were port-a-johns every half mile along the beaches. Also, if the state is going to require something, the state should pay for it - LBI already pays 87% of the school taxes, while the rest of Ocean County pays 13%. If the state is going to require something, then the burden should not fall on the hapless, already disproportionately taxed residents of LBI. Sandra Fulda, 14 Barnegat Ave., Harvey Cedars

As an LBI homeowner, and as someone who has spent vacations on the island for all of my life, I find it incomprehensible that we should need permission from any homeowner to save the island from inevitable catastrophe. The beaches on the island are so narrow that there is not enough room to sit on them comfortably in the summer. When (not if) the next big storm happens, entire oceanblocks of homes will be destroyed. Since when does any land payed for, refurbished, policed, cleaned, raked and guarded with taxpayer dollars require permission to be saved by those who stand to benefit most? When is the state going to start paying to rake my leaves, replace my stone and landscape my property with tax dollars? New Jersey beaches are not and should not be private. Otherwise not one thing should be done to save them and those homeowners should have to pay out of pocket for all the work that is done to fortify the dunes and maintain the beaches. Emminent Domain would also be a travesty as no amount of "fair compensation" should be paid to these self righteous snobs. I say, go ahead with the replenishment and let the homeowners spend their own money to sue the state of NJ. It's time that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Gregg Daly Surf City NJ

The nonsense of easements, etc., is threatening one the most valuable assets New Jersey has. The community and beach resort at LBI is only a prelude to the rest of the Jersey shore, which is now threaten by oceanfront homeowners. These landowners are selfish and effecting the way of life for many. Expecting FEMA to step up in the event something happens. Please remedy this situation. A very concerned homeowner on LBI. Steve Steven Sewald, CPA

We have a house on Long Beach Island and wish to suggest that we would support whatever needs to be done to complete the Beach Replenishment project. We would support court action to force property owners to allow the government to complete the beach project. By allowing the beach front owners to dictate the future well being of the entire island is not fair and would allow them to jeopardize the population of the entire island. Thank you Saul and Susan Ellman 9 E. 82nd Street Harvey Cedars NJ 08088

I am sure you all have great piles of paper and things to get through. Without adding to your angst unnecessarily, PLEASE do what ever you have to do to facilitate the replenishment of the Harvey Cedars dunes. Our sea shore is a national treasure and for residents of our State a great source of pride. If there is a legal procedure to follow to force the granting of easements, you should. If there is anything you would like for me to convey to the few hold outs, let me know. We all, at least most of us, would appreciate your help. You are welcome to visit with us during the season and share the joy of the ocean, the sand and warm sun. If all goes well, the sand will still be there for all to enjoy next summer. Ilan Plawker

I own a property on LBI, New Jersey. I have signed the easement deed to enable the beach replenishment. My property is at risk because others have not signed. I hope that you will help with the beach replenishment project by making it a reality. I hope you will use the eminent domain law as an option if necessary to secure the easements on LBI. thank you Matt

From a concerned homeowner:
The LBI beach replenishment project calls for substantially more privately owned easements to be garnered than any other beach replenishment project in NJ to date.

LBI is comprised of multiple municipalities and this greatly complicates the garnering of easements as well. For instance, even if Harvey Cedars is able to get all of their easements, this will not help get easements from the other municipalities

This is a global project and the success of its engineering design is dependent on completing the entire island. It is impossible for the project to be completed cost effectively when it is way-laid by unsigned easements. I encourage you to please garner the easements for the Long Beach Island beach replenishment project. Thank You, James Pasciolla 5521 Holly Avenue Harvey Cedars, NJ

My name is Edward Walters -- I live at 14 East Atlantic -- the house that is featured as the poster house for beach replenishment -- Please provide me with the mayors e-mail address and also the addresses of the committee members-- The recent storm over the weekend has washed up a lot of trash onto the beaches -- 1. The town should immediately run their sand rake to remove the trash. 2. The mayors of the island should create a task force to find out where the trash is coming from and actively try to stop this from happening -- I realize that the Alliance for a Living Ocean is working on this but it seems like nothing ever happens to stop it...I think it is time for the governments of the beach communities align together and work to stop ocean dumping -- it is a shame that there are so many little towns up and down the coast of New Jersey that stay separate on an issue that effects all communities... Thanks, Ed Walters.