Stone Harbor unanimously awarded a contract that will result in a new Dredged Material Management Plan for the back bay waterways and channels on the west side of the Borough. The contract was awarded during the Tuesday, March 18th Borough Council meeting.
“Stone Harbor needs to develop a long-term plan for one of our largest environmental assets, the bay waterways and channels”, said Councilwoman Joselyn Rich, the Chairwoman of the Borough’s Natural Resources Committee. “This development of our Dredged Material Management Plan seeks real solutions to various issues regarding the removal of sediment from our bays and channels that were compounded recently during Hurricane Sandy”.
Council awarded a contract totaling $26,500 to Ocean and Coastal Consultants of Gibbsboro, New Jersey, an engineering firm that specializes in projects of this nature. The objective of the agreement is to identify current and future dredging demand within the waterways that fall under the jurisdiction of the Borough. Existing data and hydrographic surveys will assess both the municipal and private dredging demands over the next ten years. Ocean and Coastal Consultants will coordinate with both state and federal agencies to obtain their dredging demands around the project area as well.
As part of its task, Ocean and Coastal Consultants will develop alternative placement locations in a systematic manner to ensure that responsible alternatives are evaluated. A dredged material placement alternative evaluation matrix will be delivered to the Borough at the conclusion of this project.
“Mayor and Council have recognized that the network of waterways surrounding Stone Harbor is essential to the environmental and economic viability of the Borough”, Rich said. “This report is essential to delivering additional ideas and concepts to address this issue now, and for the next ten years to follow”.
The Stone Harbor Borough Council previously authorized the purchase of a current Confined Disposal Facility, or CDF, commonly known as Site 103; settlement is anticipated in the coming weeks. The Borough needed to pursue ownership of the site in order to move forward with an agreement involving the New Jersey Department of Transportation so as to obtain the necessary permits to offload the dredge materials. Borough Council anticipates adopting a capital ordinance later this year in order to begin the offload of dredge materials. Mayor and Council are working with the State of New Jersey and the United States Army Corps of Engineers to develop a plan and time schedule for the dredging of the intercoastal waterway which is necessary before basins and back bays are dredged.
Rich announced at the Council meeting that the potential offload of dredge materials from Site 103 will cost approximately $2.5 million, while a dredging project to empty the waterways and channels from new sediment will cost approximately $2.5 million.
