Margate resident Chuck Cavanaugh: I’ve been trying to get a straight answer from the Margate commissioners as to why they signed an agreement with the NJDEP which locks us into this debacle for 50 years. In addition, what makes them think they were authorized to do so considering Margate has an ordinance prohibiting them from doing exactly that, until it passes a city-wide referendum. They do not respond to letters so I asked in public. Long story short, they have no answers.
MARGATE VOTE Outfall pipes 10 19 17We lost the DUNEBOGGLE fight (tough to win when city solicitor is working against you) and the damage was done.
Cavanaugh: The citizens of Margate – full and part time – made it crystal clear to the commissioners that we didn’t want them to enter into an agreement with NJDEP and ACOE (Army Corp of Engineers).
We absolutely didn’t want the industrialized outfall pipe system that they propose. Probably no level of any government has ever received clearer and nearly unanimous direction from their constituents.
What did the commissioners do? Exactly the opposite of that direction.
Listen to Dec. 21, 2017 Margate Commissioner Meeting with Chuck Cavanaugh:
Margate Drainage DEAL Cavanaugh 12 21 2017 Vaughan Reale Dune. Hurley 10 27 17 Klotz Dune Deal 10.24.17 Sewell Dune Comments 9.7.17 Ventnor Mayor Tim Kreisher WOND Radio Dan Klein 8.9.2017 Margate Fights Back. Best of DUNE Battle 8.6.2017 Margate Dune Update. Mel Taylor 3.26.17Cavanaugh: It’s glaringly obvious the commissioners don’t understand the deal they signed. [see agreement below] It’s 27 pages of Margate agreeing to everything the NJDEP wanted and receiving nothing – that WE wanted – in return. It’s the most one-sided ‘agreement’ you’ll ever see. It’s also insulting. A neutral reader would come away with the idea that Margate had big problems, and NJDEP and ACOE came to the rescue.
Q: What did we get that motivated you to go against what we told you regarding an outfall pipe system?
A: An outfall pipe system.
Q: In light of city ordinance that prohibits doing this prior to city-wide referendum, how’s this legal?
A: We don’t know.
The Margate Board of Commissioners have gone against the clear will of the citizens. We are – contrary to what they’ll you – on the hook for big bucks for ‘replenishment’. We gave up our leverage and received nothing for it.
Chuck Cavanaugh: The citizens spoke loud and clear on this. NO to the outfall pipe system was the message. NO to a long term agreement with the state was the message. What did the commissioners do? Signed a long term agreement with the state and got us an outfall pipe system. No amount of spin can change this. The Margate Board of Commissioners betrayed us.
Glenn Klotz: The real villains in this are Frank Lobiondo and Chris Christie.
Glenn Klotz: That agreement was mostly about the drainage (outfall pipes). Nobody wanted them, but what other alternative did we have? It was either Lake Margate and no beach access every time it rained more than 2 inches ….. or the drainage system and outfalls. It was a rock and a hard place decision.
Klotz: With Frank Lobiondo no longer Chairmen of the Committee in Congress that funds these (beach) projects, the odds are long we’ll be seeing any $ for the beach project anytime soon.
margate_local_cooperation_agreement_-_finalChuck Cavanaugh: Our Margate City solicitor is a long time dune fan and worked against us at every step of this journey.
FROM 2001: ORDINANCE 2001-14 – Requiring submission to voters of any ordinance approving development of a dunes project in MARGATE CITY.
BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Commissioners of the City of Margate City as follows:
A. “Dunes Project” shall mean the creation, development, maintenance, and/or preservation of dunes built or located upon the public beaches of the City of Margate City as a part of any beach replenishment project.
B. “Cooperative Agreement” shall mean any application for funds submitted by the City of Margate City to any agency of the state or federal government, or any contract entered into between the City of Margate City and any other agency of federal, state, or local government, relating to a Dunes Project.
Submission to Voters. The Board of Commissioners shall not (i) approve any Dunes Project; (ii) appropriate any funds for a Dunes Project; (iii) enter into any Cooperative Agreement; nor (iv) authorize the acquisition of property or an interest in property, whether by purchase, eminent domain, or otherwise, for a Dunes Project, other than by means of an ordinance duly adopted by the Board of Commissioners, which ordinance shall, by its terms, not be effective until it has been submitted to and approved by the voters of the City of Margate City at an election duly scheduled for that purpose.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.
Partial Invalidity of Ordinance. Should any section, subsection, paragraph, clause, sentence, or other portion of this ordinance be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of this ordinance.
This ordinance shall take effect on final passage, approval and publication according to law. Introduced: 8-30-2001. Adopted 9-13-2001.
City of Margate City, New Jersey
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