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
Affordable Housing, Flooding, and More Borough Administrators updated the Council on a number of ongoing projects including:

Affordable Housing
The Council on Affordable Housing project design has been completed and the contract is expected to go to bid during the week on November 18.

REAL Rulemaking
Stone Harbor joined with Cape May County and all county municipalities in filing comments objecting to New Jersey’s proposed rule. Intended to respond to sea level rise attributed to climate change, the Resilient Environments and Landscapes Rule would mandate “managed retreat” of coastal zones based on sea-level rise projection for the year 2100. The comment period closed on November 7. For more information on this program, please visit: https://dep.nj.gov/njreal/

Playground Reconstruction
Stone Harbor is preparing to apply for a State grant which supports “completely inclusive playgrounds” to pay for reconstruction of the 82nd Street playground. A successful application could fund up to 75 percent of the project’s cost. Cape May County is expected to vote on Stone Harbor’s application for an open space grant to support the reconstruction of 97th Street Playground in November. The equipment for the playground has arrived and the reconstruction is expected to be finished sometime in December.
Traffic Light at 99th Street and Third Avenue
Cape May County is expected to vote on a proposal to reset the traffic light at 99th Street and Third Avenue to a standard controlled light. It will no longer be a blinking light during the off-season.
Tidal Flooding
During the latest King tide, pumps at 93rd, 94th and 95th Streets functioned sufficiently to clear water from the roadways. Water remaining in the roadway at 93rd and Sunset was attributed to the poor condition of residential bulkheads and not a failure of the valve system. The performance of the valves will allow Stone Harbor to utilize a standard gate valve, the most affordable of the types of valves tested. Data from a federally funded study focused on 99th to 80th Streets is expected to inform the decision on the number and placement of valves to control flooding.

Storm Water Utility Study
The contract for the Storm Water Utility Study authorized by the Council in October has been put out for bid. The Council authorized spending of up to $375,000 for the study.

Public Comment

Flanked by ten uniformed officers from the Stone Harbor Police Department, Lt. Scott Cox, a union representative from the Fraternal Order of Police, stated that the members of the force felt a lack of respect and suffered financial hardship due to the Borough’s failure to sign a contract agreement. Cox noted that the contract had expired on January 1, 2024. He explained that without a salary increase, officers at the top of the pay scale had been subjected to a defacto pay cut when their health care cost increased last year. He projected that the insurance will increase another 17 percent in 2025. Lt. Cox asked that the Council give the officers the same commitment that they give to protecting Stone Harbor citizens and agree to a new contract.

Regular Meeting

Along with items on a lengthy consent agenda, the Council approved:

Ordinance No. 1672, authorizing $136,074.54 for improvement of the Borough’s recreational facilities.

Resolution 209, authorizing a Special Event Permit to the Reeds to allow the outside service of alcoholic beverages during Stone Harbor’s Christmas Parade on November 30. Approval was conditioned on the Reeds receiving a permit from the state Division of Alcohol Beverage Control.

A number of ordinances were introduced and will receive consideration at upcoming Borough meetings, including:

Ordinance No. 1673 amending the permitting process and increasing fees under the Construction Codes.

Ordinance No. 1674 amending the parking code to designate two parking spaces in front of the post office to be used without fees for up to 10 minutes and fifteen spaces in the municipal parking lot to be used by employees and visitors conducting business with the Borough during working hours.

To read legislation from the meeting, please click: https://stoneharbornj.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/11.05.2024-Regular-Meeting-Agenda-and-Attachments.pdf

To view a recording of the meeting, please click: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHPwRF76vWE

NOTE: The Cape May County Herald recently had articles related to topics covered at this Council Meeting. These articles can be found along with others as part of their coverage of Stone Harbor.

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/