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

Sewer Grant
Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour attended Cape May County Mayors’ round table during which our Borough was awarded an American Rescue Plan Grant from the county. It amounts to $400,000 toward sewage projects on 110th and 91st Streets. The check is set to be presented at a future Council meeting.

Park Mobile
Manny Parada, Interim Administrator, presented slides on how to utilize the Park Mobile app. All parking meters have been removed. Parking is $1.00 an hour plus a .30 fee charged by Park Mobile. The app will assist in identifying open parking spaces. See https://parkmobile.io/

Budget Review
Jim Craft, CFO, went through the Borough’s current 2022/2023 surpluses and debt service. Debt service is running an average of 25% of the budget.

Community Rating System, Flood Insurance
Ray Poudrier, CRS Coordinator, noted the current CRS rating for Borough’s flood insurance is 7. The goal is to lower the rating to 4. He reported that the Borough is close to lowering our rating to 6.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency reviews the Borough’s data twice a year, April 1, and October 1.

Each point can represent a drop of 5% in residents’ flood insurance.

Poudrier is inspecting the 122 homes that are affected by flooding. As properties are mitigated, the rating should change. Funding for raising homes is not provided by CRS.

SHPOA Budget Letter Discussed
CFO Jim Craft responded to the SHPOA letter about the 2023 budget. The mayor said the Council did review the letter during the budget process. The Borough plans to review capital projects with the public.

To read SHPOA’s letter, please click this link: https://www.stoneharborpoa.org/shpoa-letter-to-stone-harbor-mayor-council-and-administration-on-2023-proposed-budget/

Building Permit Applications
Poudrier, also the Borough construction official, stated permit requests have returned to their pre-COVID level. He expects an uptick in zoning requests to get ahead of the new Flood Plane Ordinance. Once a zoning permit is approved, buildings fall under the current ordinance and have two years to submit a construction permit.

Trash Cans, Beach Fill, Boat Wrap
Manny Parada, public works director, said the trash can ordinance is in effect. Only 38 residences have not complied.

Beach fill was delayed which means the Borough is looking at a late May start for the work.

There is now a shrink-wrap recycling bin at Public Works on 81st Street. It should be up and running by mid-May and open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. seven days a week.

Borough Administration
Acting administrator Manny Parada is set to be nominated for Borough Administrator due to his excellent work as interim administrator.

There will be changes in the administration in the clerk’s office to remain under legislative salary cap compliance. The roles of the deputy clerk and the receptionist will be combined.

Road/Sewer/Water
The Borough is applying for grants to support the current Department of Transportation grant of $200,000 for roads and sewers.

The Mayor plans to sign the Municipal State Aid program to prevent water shut off to those households that qualify. Water bills will show the increase in water and sewage charges.

81st Marina Open Space Grant
Recreation Committee Chair Victor Foschini stated the Open Space Grant of $1.8 million dollars expires at the end of June. The Open Space Board of Cape May County advised the committee that asking for additional marine grants, or an extension may jeopardize future funding. Borough Engineer Marc DeBlasio presented the original marina renovation slide show. In 2020, the projected cost was $5.4 million. Costs have risen 15% or more and now parts of the bulkhead that were not part of the renovation require replacement. Selling land owned by the Borough on 86th Street was discussed to assist in paying for the project.

DeBlasio will begin the process by applying for permits and having a pre-construction meeting with the Department of Environmental Protection. These actions would give the Borough two additional years, keep the grant, and an opportunity to agree on the scope of the Marina project.

Council Meeting
Council voted on several ordinances and resolutions.

Ordinances included water/sewer improvements and a $2 million bond ordinance for various improvements undertaken by the Borough.

Resolutions voted included authorizing a Shared Service Agreement with Avalon for CFO James Craft that includes a 3% increase in salary, allowing people to use credit cards to purchase beach tags, awarding contracts for summer camps programs, and setting seasonal employee salaries.

Various Special Events applications were approved, including the Garden Club plant sale, Turtle Trot, and the Stone Harbor Triathlon.

For legislation discussed at the meeting, please click this link:
http://stoneharbornj.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Stone-Harbor-Regular-Council-Meeting-May-2-2023.pdf

To watch a video of the meeting, please click this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyCulZGirpw

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/