CAPE MAY — City Council has received official notice from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of a $24.3 million award toward the Seawall Flood Mitigation Project.
City Manager Paul Dietrich said the project was awarded a Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant by FEMA in 2023. On Feb. 13, U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew announced that the Cape May City Seawall Flood Mitigation Project is authorized to move forward after securing $24.3 million to protect the vulnerable area.
The project proposes extending the Promenade just east of Madison Avenue to Wilmington Avenue, then down Wilmington Avenue.
The plan was developed in collaboration with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to significantly reduce the risk of property loss and loss of life.
During the May 19 meeting, Dietrich informed council on other financial support, including the county reiterating its commitment to the project for $4.3 million.
“We also may be getting another $1 million from the Ocean Wind Preservation Project,” Dietrich said. “All in all, that’s about $29.6 million, which is 84 percent of the estimated budget cost.”
He added that the project would secure the city’s east end, and that financing from federal, state and county partners will be very beneficial to city residents.
In conjunction with the seawall project, City Council introduced an ordinance to bond $35 million for various flood mitigation improvements.
“To be clear, that $35 million is not in addition to the $29 million; this is not an $80 million project,” Dietrich said. “We need to bond for the full amount of the project because a lot of these are reimbursement grants.”
As the city pays the contractors for the project, the city is reimbursed. Dietrich said it is a housekeeping budget tool to have the money on hand for the project.
“When we get those grant funds in, when we go out for permanent financing at the final end of the project, we’ll be looking at the balance, not that full $35 million,” Dietrich said.
Councilman Steve Bodnar said he wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the council’s voting to move the seawall project forward.
“It’s such a significant, necessary project for Cape May and this is just one of those moments that I’m glad to see that we’re moving forward,” he said. “It’s such a necessary project for Cape May, but also a great project for the taxpayers of Cape May.”
Mayor Zack Mullock said the seawall project has been in the works for more than 10 years, and he reflected on the water that came in at the east end of the city during Hurricane Sandy.
“There’s been a lot of people involved in this,” Mullock said. “We had a Seawall Committee for years and people put a ton of work into this, and to be honest, it went stagnant for the last few years and we were just waiting for the approvals to come through.”
Mullock thanked City Council, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Seawall Committee, county representatives, and state and federal officials, including Van Drew and Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim.
“All those folks worked really hard to make sure that we actually got this funding,” he said. “To come out with $29 million in funding is something that we should all be really proud of and it’s going to be a wonderful project.”
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
