STONE HARBOR – The Borough of Stone Harbor warmly welcomes the 2013 summer season with a special beach opening May 24 at 8:30 a.m.

Mayor Suzanne Walters and Borough Council with the help of the Stone Harbor business community will open the season by participating in the Statewide ”Stronger than the Storm Campaign” with Governor Christie. Stone Harbor Residents, visitors and businesses will hold a mile long ribbon along the Stone Harbor Beach from 106th to 87th Streets. Mayor Walters and Borough Council will cut the ribbon at 95th Street and the beach with members of the community followed by our traditional beach opening with Beach Patrol Captain, Sandy Bosacco.

“Were elated to have not only the residents and business community but also our school children involved in showing the close connection our community has”, Walters said. “It’s wonderful that everyone is so excited for the summer season, Stone Harbor is ready and open for business more than ever before.”

The Stone Harbor business community will be in full force Friday, dressed and ready to serve the vacationers that are traveling to the shore this holiday weekend and summer. Students from Stone Harbor Elementary and students from Middle Township High School will also be in attendance to support the festivities.

The Centennial Book Project Still Needs Photos from the 1950s to Today

All photos need to be sent by June 1st, 2013.

The team researching and writing the Stone Harbor Centennial book would still like to have more of your photos from the early 1950s and through the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st right up until today.  We need any photos you have in the next three to four weeks if possible.

1) You can scan them and send them to stoneharborbook2014 [at] gmail [dot] com; or

2) You can stop at borough hall and pick up envelopes at the front desk into which you can put your photos for us to scan and return to you; or

3) You can post them to the Stone Harbor Centennial Book Project on Facebook.

Be a Part of Creating the Stone Harbor 2014 Centennial Book

Logo Contest & Sharing Photos - Click on the 'Events' tab for details 

  Information from the Borough of Stone Harbor

STONE HARBOR BEACH FILL PROJECT MAY BEGIN BEFORE WEEK’S END

 (Stone Harbor, NJ)— Stone Harbor’s much-anticipated beach fill project may begin as early as Saturday, April 20^th.  The beach project has been delayed due to rough seas and strong winds in the Hereford Inlet where a dredge currently rests.

Stone Harbor Mayor Suzanne Walters, Councilman Al Carusi, and other Stone Harbor officials attended a progress meeting on Wednesday, April 17^th.  Representatives from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and Norfolk Dredging, the company hired to conduct the beach fill, stated that the dredge “Charleston” is in place and work crews are ready to begin.  However, winds have caused consistent ten foot seas in the inlet which has prevented a safe hookup between the “Charleston” and the pipe that will place sand on the beach.  Norfolk Dredging reported that four to five foot seas are needed for a two to three hour span in order to safely attach the pipe to the dredge. 

      Information from the Borough of Stone Harbor

Additional information:  Mayor Suzanne Walters, (609) 442-1085

John Fish, Commercial Utility Consultants, (856) 906-9375

STONE HARBOR LEADS SHORE’S FIRST ENERGY AGGREGATION PROGRAM

South Shore Energy Aggregation to save residents, businesses on energy costs

 (Stone Harbor, NJ)—The Borough of Stone Harbor is the lead community for the first energy aggregation program in South Jersey.  The new South Shore Energy Aggregation has been formed with four participating municipalities.  Property owners in Stone Harbor, Middle Township, Wildwood, and Commercial Township are expected to be saving significant dollars on the supply portion of their electric bills as early as June 1, 2013.  Stone Harbor will be holding a public meeting for its residents to learn more about the aggregation program before the next council meeting on Tuesday, April 16^th, at 3:30pm at Borough Hall.

By Linda Ready, ROA Trustee

The following responses to my questions were provided via email by Mr. Martin and his staff. I greatly appreciate their taking the time to respond.

What is DEP and what is their mission?

The Department of Environmental Protection was formed in 1970. It is a multifaceted agency that implements and enforces the environmental laws and regulations of New Jersey. Among its many functions, the DEP safeguards our water and air; protects ecologically sensitive areas such as coastal areas and wetlands; preserves open space; manages the state’s parks and forests and natural and historic resources; and works to clean up environmental contamination. We work very closely every day with municipalities, assisting them with understanding and complying with these laws and regulations and with taking steps to improve their communities.

In the aftermath of recent storms, what has DEP done to help the towns that have been hit the hardest?

By Terry Fortino, ROA Trustee

Terry: Hello Senator Van Drew, on behalf of the members of the Stone Harbor ROA, I want to thank you for agreeing to speak with me today concerning the removal of the traffic lights on the Garden State Parkway. Would you please share with us a brief history of this project and how it came to fruition?

Senator Van Drew: This project has been many years in the making and has been a long and arduous task.  We held a press conference almost ten years ago with a father who lost his son and a son who lost his father in two separate accidents at exit 10.  We committed ourselves at that time to do whatever was necessary to get the lights removed from the Garden State Parkway. Since then we have been able to get the funding necessary to proceed.  It is approximately a $110 million project with $32 million coming from the Federal government and the balance coming from the Turnpike Authority and bonding.  The project has finally come to fruition with a ground-breaking ceremony on February 5^th.

Information from the Borough of Stone Harbor

OFFICIAL NOTICE REGARDING FEMA HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM

Borough extends application deadline to Friday, February 22^nd, 2013

 (Stone Harbor, NJ)— The Borough of Stone Harbor, New Jersey will be making an application through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Program for a grant to qualified property owners to elevate their homes.  This is a reimbursement grant; therefore, should funds be made available, the property owner will be responsible for hiring and paying their contractor in full, and for providing a receipt to the Borough of Stone Harbor for reimbursement submission.

The grant may provide 50-75% of the cost to elevate.  The remaining 25-50% cost share, plus any administrative cost born by the Borough must be provided by the property owner.  The Municipal Engineer estimates the average project cost to range from between $50,000 and $110,000.

COCA (Coalition of Civic Associations) of Cape May County

                                    By Jim Prendergast, ROA Trustee          February 2013

Hurricane Sandy and New County Dispatch System

 Presented by Marty Pagliughi, Director of Cape May County Emergency Management Department

Aftermath of Sandy…The general trend is to build more resilient shore communities.  This means in general, dunes like Stone Harbor and Avalon and homes raised above flood level.  SH/Avalon dunes are built for storm surges…height, width and those walkways across dunes curve for a reason.  It prevents the surge from getting through them.  Dunes that had walkways perpendicular to the ocean allowed the surge onto the islands.  Where the most damage occurred is where there were low or no dunes and houses on slabs at ground level.