Stone Harbor Council Meeting Summary – July 7th, 2026

As a courtesy to our SHPOA Members, we’re bringing you a summary of each Stone Harbor Work Session and Council Meeting. Intended as summaries, these intentionally don’t have a lot of details and are not a substitute for the official Borough minutes.

Work Session

 

Due to a full agenda, Committee Chairs provided very brief reports.

 

Administration and Finance Committee

Chair Councilmember Ken Biddick reported that Purchase cards (P-cards) will be re-established for employees needing to make purchases before going through the purchase order process. The cards will be closely regulated.

 

Parking fees have raised $332,000 for us so far this year. These fees help lower real estate taxes in the Borough.

 

Chair Councilmember Bob Ross reported on work for the past month that the Department of Public Works and Department of Recreation have provided: maintenance of the beaches, marinas, playgrounds, buildings, and flowers. They prepared the borough for the 4th of July festivities.

 

They collected garbage (236 tons) and recycling (81 tons). Mayor Tim Carney and others praised the Departments and Police Department for their tremendous work over the 4th of July weekend.

 

Engineer Mark DeBlasio reported projects at the 96th Street recreation area, 82nd pickle ball resurfacing, and reconstruction at 121st Street have all been completed below budget. 

 

Jake’s Place playground is open and bathrooms will be opened soon. 

 

The contractor for the 111th to 114th Streets outflow elimination project has completed the work on 105th Street. The rest of the job will begin in the fall and is scheduled to finish in the spring of 2027. Reconstruction project on 102nd Street and the 100 block of 98th Street are moving along.

 

The meeting began with the Council’s adoption of Resolutions 2026-S-206 – 209 providing for the promotions of four firefighters to the rank of Captain: Joshua Otton, Michael Gihorski, Donald Fancher, and Robert McClure, Jr. The Council adopted Resolution 210 appointing Louis E. Taylor III to full-time firefighter. Fire Chief Roger Stanford made a speech in praise of these five men for their excellent work. Mayor Carney swore them in.

 

During Public Comment, several people spoke in favor of Resolution 2026-S-221 (part of the upcoming Consent Agenda) regarding the intersection at 96th Street and 3rd Avenue. It was proposed the 3rd Avenue southbound approach to the intersection will be changed to add a dedicated left-turn lane which will streamline operations there. Approximately 2-3 parking spaces would be eliminated. Work is set to start after the summer.

 

An objection was made to Resolution 2026-S-212 (part of the Consent Agenda) which would eliminate the second monthly Council meetings for July and August.

 

Geoff Woolery spoke about the SHPOA Harbor Hustle, which was more successful in turnout and fundraising for Shells of Hope than was anticipated. There were over 50 local businesses sponsoring the event. He thanked the Police, Public Works, and Recreation Departments for going above and beyond in their efforts.

 

Two resolutions were removed from the Consent Agenda and they were considered

individually:

•2026-S-212 to amend the established meeting dates for Mayor and Council. The intent was to eliminate the second monthly meetings of the Council for July and August, in order to provide time to thoroughly consider the work. However, it was felt by Council that, among other concerns, this might impede bills getting paid at this busy time and, because there are more people here in the summer, they would not be able to participate in the meetings. The resolution failed passage. The second meetings of each month will be held.

•2026-S-223 which would award a contract for grant management to James M. Rutala Associates. Some on the Council felt they had not had enough time to consider the resolution. After a discussion of Mr. Rutala’s experience with the Borough, successfully securing grants for several projects, the resolution passed.

The rest of the Consent Agenda was passed. These included contract approvals for information technology management and fleet management, creation of a new part-time firefighter  position, approval of the annual auditing report, and appointment of a recycling coordinator and a Clean Communities coordinator.

 

To view legislation from this meeting, please click:

 

To view a video of the meeting, please click:

 

NOTE: As you may know, our friends at the Cape May County Herald are offering SHPOA members only an exclusive discount for Herald subscriptions — 25% OFF with code “SHPOA” — and they are also providing your association advertising space in print and online for us to promote the association and the initiatives important to our members.

 

To subscribe and use the discount, please click on https://capemaycountyherald.com/subscribe/ and use promo code “SHPOA” at checkout to claim your 25% discount. Only valid for new subscribers.

To read past Stone Harbor Council Meeting summaries, please click here: https://www.stoneharborpoa.org/category/borough-meeting-summaries/

 

To watch recordings of past meetings, please click here: https://stoneharbornj.org/agendameetings/watch-mayor-and-council-meetings-online/