Mayor: 'It Is My Goal' to Implement Dune Project

The following letter to the editor was submitted by Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher:

So much has been written about the dunes lately; their benefits, the effect on adjacent properties, easements and the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ project.  

Let me give you a current status report on the oceanfront dune situation.  Readers of this column know that the township cannot build dunes on private property without the consent of the property owners. The consent in legal term is embodied in a document called an easement.  

It is, in reality, nothing more than a license to go on private property. In return for the owner or homeowners association executing easements, Toms River Township and/or the United State Army Corps of Engineers promises to build dunes free of charge (township will be reimbursed by FEMA).  

When all of the oceanfront property easements have been executed and the temporary township easements are constructed, the township will then present the easements to the United State Army Corps of Engineers. This federal agency will then not only construct more substantial permanent dunes, but will also replenish and extend the beaches approximately one half football field out into the ocean.

The combination of the Army Corps of Engineers dunes and beach extension will provide protection from even the likes of storms such as Sandy.  With all the evidence presently available, there can be no argument that the better the dunes, the less damage.

A few days after the storm, I accompanied a group, lead by Brigadier General Wehr of the Army Corps of Engineers over the Mantoloking Bridge. As we got to the top of the bridge, all you could see, in a 180 degree sweep in front, was nothing but sand, where big homes and Route 35 had been. Traffic lights and other infrastructures were all gone, and the water from the Atlantic Ocean was flowing into Barnegat Bay along the north side of the bridge.  

General Wehr said, “If our plan had been in effect, none of this would have happened.”  

Not only would the beach have been protected, but all of the low land on both sides of the Barnegat Bay would not have been inundated by the flood water of the Atlantic Ocean flowing into Barnegat Bay.

Toms River has authority to invoke eminent domain whereby a township can take over property necessary for easements and thereafter compensate the property owners. We have been reluctant to invoke this process because of the case in Harvey Cedars where a jury awarded property owners $375,000 as compensation for a dune being constructed on property in front of the beachfront homes. Under the then existing law in the Harvey Cedars case, the municipality was precluded from introducing evidence about the benefit conferred upon the property by the dune construction.

On July 8, 2013, the New Jersey Supreme Court in a 51 page opinion, reversed the Harvey Cedars award and remanded the case for a new trial where the municipality could introduce evidence of the benefit conferred upon the adjacent property owner. This ruling will mean that the property owner will receive little or no compensation because of the benefit conferred. Everybody now agrees that the property in the Harvey Cedars case would have been destroyed or severely damaged during Sandy.

As a result of the Supreme Court case, we are now implementing our eminent domain plan. We are going to give “holdout” property owners one last chance to sign the easement agreements. If not, we plan to make a fair offer based on our real estate expert estimate. If that offer is refused, the township is then authorized to deposit that money with the Clerk of the Superior Court and take over the property and build the dune. The issue of compensation is then deferred to a latter judicial proceeding.

We are in the process of implementing this plan as this article is being written.  

A spokesman from Gov. Christie’s office in response to the Supreme Court reversal stated, “Engineered dune systems paid for with public dollars benefit everyone, including holdouts who selfishly refuse to provide easements to protect not just their own homes but the homes and businesses inland of them as well.  Those holdouts are the greatest beneficiaries of dune systems and are not entitled to a windfall at the public’s expense.”

Everyday the news media carries stories about the rising temperatures of the ocean, the rising level of the sea, the melting of the ice cap and the projected frequency of bigger and more threatening storms along the Atlantic Coast.  

Remember what General Wehr said, “If our plan had been in effect, none of this would have happened.”  

It is my goal on behalf of the people of Toms River to make sure that the Army Corps of Engineers plan is implemented.