December 2024 News

December AHLOA News

Date: December 2, 2024 | Issue: 145

Vice President's Message

AHLOA President Tony Newshel is recovering from recent surgery, so as Vice President, I am substituting for Tony this month. Tony is doing well and we all wish him a speedy recovery.

If you were in Avalon for the Thanksgiving weekend, I’m sure you noticed that Dune Drive is once again bedecked in holiday finery, offering a number of picture-perfect settings for that annual family holiday card photo. Also, congratulations to 7 Mile Business Community Association, the Avalon Chamber, and the Borough for this year’s Festive Friday and Snowfest Saturday events. The weather cooperated with sunny fall days, and it was terrific seeing the crowds of strollers, children of all ages, and multi-generational families enjoying all of the events, characters, and treats along the full length of the Dune Drive business district. AHLOA was proud to be a platinum sponsor of the Festive Friday events.

If you plan on being in Avalon this month, be sure to log onto VisitAvalonNJ.com for a complete list of which businesses and restaurants will be open, their hours of operation and any specials or sales. You may just find that unique gift you were looking for. And if you are looking for stocking stuffers, you can order Avalon 2025 Holiday Beach Tags through the Jersey Cape Online Store. See the article below for details.

Avalon Borough will ring in 2025 with a New Year’s Eve fireworks and celebration at Surfside Park. Festivities begin at 3:30 p.m. with live music, crafts and visits with characters, followed by the fireworks display at approximately 5:00 p.m.

The Borough received good news when federal legislation was signed last week that addressed the source of sand used to replenish beaches through hydraulic dredging. We will no longer have to “share” our dredged Townsend’s Inlet sand with Stone Harbor given the new dredging source in Hereford Inlet. Please see the article below for more details and website links.

Work has begun on the Bay Park Marina rehabilitation project. The $8.68 million contract with Fred M. Schiavone Construction includes a new boat ramp, new bulkhead, new handicapped-accessible kayak launch, and a new dockmaster building. The project is divided into two phases so as not to disrupt the summer season. The first phase will be completed by May 21, 2025. The second phase will begin in September of 2025 and be completed by February of 2026.

And congratulations to Borough officials, in particular to Administrator Scott Wahl, for securing a $1 million matching federal grant to develop a living shoreline at the Bay Park Marina rehabilitation area. Please see the article below for more information.

Finally, as we look forward to 2025, AHLOA is continuing its participation in the planning for next June’s Spring into Summer events. It looks like AHLOA will be co-hosting three events. Tony will report to you in our January 2025 Newsletter as the planning committee finalizes the anchor events.

Best wishes to all of you from the Officers and Trustees of AHLOA, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sincerely,

Warren Faulk

Vice President

A Holiday Present to Remember

Limited edition 2025 holiday seasonal beach tags are available for sale through the Jersey Cape Online Store by clicking this link. Your purchase helps support the non-profit New Jersey Cape Diagnostic, Training and Opportunity Center, Inc. Each tag is $34.46 plus shipping (direct to the address you provide). The tag features a festive design, making it the perfect stocking stuffer. This is an official beach tag that is valid on Avalon beaches for the entire summer of 2025.

Avalon to Retain More Dredged Sand

Avalon will see tangible benefits from new federal legislation that addresses the source of sand for 7 Mile Island hydraulic beach replenishment projects.

Under the BEACH Act signed into federal law last week, Stone Harbor will be permitted to take sand from nearby Hereford Inlet. Meanwhile Avalon will keep the entire amount of sand to be dredged from Townsend’s Inlet, which can amount to 1 million cubic yards of sand.

In the two most recent hydraulic beach fills, former federal policy had dictated that sand be taken from Townsend’s Inlet by pipes and booster pumps to replenish both Avalon and Stone Harbor beaches. This added approximately $7 million to the federal, state and local expenditures to the federal coastal storm risk management project.

The next hydraulic beach fill is scheduled for 2026. For replenishment projects in the spring of 2025, Avalon will use trucks to move sand from its middle beaches to north-end beaches that have been eroded.

The Borough’s press release is here .

Floodplain Management Plan

The updated Floodplain Management Plan Evaluation Report draft is available here on the Borough's website. Public comments are open until December 11th. You can email Avalon Business Administrator Scott Wahl at SWahl@AvalonBoro.org with suggestions or recommendations. Based on comments received, Borough Council is expected to vote on the plan at its December 18th meeting.

Also, AHLOA Trustee Chuck O'Hara was named a member of the Avalon Floodplain Management Committee last month.

$1 Million Grant for Bay Park Marina Shoreline

A $1 million grant by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will fund a nature-based living shoreline to be created as part of the major rehabilitation project at the Bay Park Marina at 59th Street.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) included the Avalon project in new grants to support nature-based solutions for coastal resilience in 31 states. The $1 million federal award requires Avalon to provide matching funds.

The grant will be used to create 750 feet of vegetated shoreline with native and pollinator plantings to stabilize the shoreline and reduce “sunny day” high tide flooding in the neighborhood. This project on the south side of the Marina also includes a barrier to protect nesting terrapin turtles and a flood-resistant curb.

In addition to the federal grant, the project received a $1.1 million Cape May County Open Space grant.

The $8.68 million Marina overhaul, which began last month, will also include a new boat ramp, new bulkhead, new handicapped-accessible kayak launch, new dockmaster building, new piers, a gazebo, benches, sidewalk, and parking lot.

Quick Hits

Avalon Seawatch, the count of migrating birds, continues daily on 9th Street beach through December 22nd.
There is no toll increase planned for the five Ocean Drive Cape May County bridges in 2025. The toll will remain at $2.50, but payment will transition to E-ZPass exclusively.

Visit us on the Web at AHLOA.com or call 609.796.2491

The Avalon Home & Land Owners Association

Tony Newshel, President Mary Flannery, Newsletter Editor