Frustration mounts over of Army Corps Lack of Work on Beach Replenishment Project in Ocean County

Eminent domain issues continue stalling the Army Corps of Engineers Beach Replenishment Project from starting in Ocean County, and Toms River officials and residents living on the barrier island are fed up.  

Residents of Ortley Beach, which was considered Ground Zero after Sandy, are especially upset that the project has not started nearly two-and-a-half years after the Hurricane, yet work got underway in Monmouth County last week.

Paul Shives, Toms River Township Administrator, said it was never contemplated that projects in Ocean County would be done at the time as the ones in Monmouth County, but added while it's disappointing, it was never the intention.

"We are concentrating on what we can do here in Toms River to make sure that the project in Ortley gets going as soon as it possibly can," said Shives.

Toms River has four remaining easements needed and has completed all of the necessary work to acquire those easements by way of eminent domain, according to Shives.

"However, it needs to be made clear that the actual filing for eminent domain is going to be done by the state, not the Township, since the state is the entity that takes the easement, not the Township," Shives explained.

Toms River is in a holding pattern until that happens, further frustrating officials and residents.

Shives said the office of Congressman Tom MacArthur, (R) Third District, is making arrangements for the Township to meet directly with the Army Corps, with approval from the state, to go over any issues they may have with respect to Toms River.  A date has not been scheduled yet, but Shives said Toms River officials have expressed urgency.

"We're going to make the case that, if necessary, break up the project. Let's go with the towns that are ready to go. Our concern is, always has been and will always be about timing and money," said Shives.

Shives stressed the concern is that once money that was set aside and currently available for Army Corps projects in New Jersey dries up, the Township will have no where else to go.

"This is the most critical project the Township will ever undertake in my opinion," said Shives.

Toms River has expended almost one-million-dollars already to keep the dunes at least at a level where they were, a fight Shives conceded the Township ultimately will not win.

"Nature is going to win that fight. So, in the meantime, our goal is to tread water, no pun intended, to make sure that those dunes are at least at a level where we're going to protect property, not just in Ortley, but also in the north beach areas as well," Shives said.

Shives added the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has assured it would provide Toms River with one-million-dollars if temporary measures are needed again before the Army Corp project begins.

"The preference for all of us is, let's get the Army Corps' project going," said Shives.

Joan Strathern, a Board of Directors member with the Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers Association, said the group is organizing a bus trip to Trenton on May 14 to  protest and ask legislators to pressure the Army Corps to resolve the issues stopping the progress in Ortley.

"We have tears in our eyes when we look around and see how much building is happening, how much building hasn't even happened, how much people have invested in their homes now to rebuild, and then we go down to the beach and we see how little it is, how vulnerable it is. With each storm we see that the water is already washing over the dunes that the town keeps paying for over and over to put back," said Strathern.

She added, homes that have been rebuilt are in danger of being ruined, and some people aren't rebuilding yet because the dunes and beaches haven't been replenished.