Flood Control Project Causing Concern About 2018 Summer Season In Margate
MARGATE, NJ (CBS) -- Margate city officials, along with their New Jersey counterparts, are working with the Army Corps of Engineers to finalize plans to install a permanent flood drainage system in the shore town next year.
But there are concerns among the locals about next summer.
The Army says the project will take a year to complete, and they want to start work in January.
"It will involve constructing a collection system at the street ends that will collect storm water, and then they would be conveyed to multiple ocean outfall pipes that would drain into the ocean," Corps spokesman Steve Rochette told KYW Newsradio.
Margate Mayor Mike Becker says he's on board, with this one caveat.
"We said we will not allow you to be on our beaches next summer," Becker said. "They agreed to do everything possible to follow through on that and, as far as I know, they're still working on that."
For their part, the Army confirms it.
"We do expect to shut down for the summer of 2018," Rochette added, "but at this time we're still finalizing the work plan in negotiations."
The fact that no deal has been finalized has left some people on edge in Margate. Becker says his phone's been ringing, a lot, over the last couple of days amid reports of problems.
But given the grief that followed last summer's dunes work in Margate, when lake-sized puddles formed on the beach, Becker is taking the Army at its word when it pledges no work on the beach next summer.
