Category: government

The federal government revived support for outdoor recreation. Will it help us here at Money Island?

Over the past few months, the federal government reactivated the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR), that will work to create more safe, affordable, and equitable opportunities for Americans to get outdoors. This council is made up of federal government leaders from the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense.

The federal program originally launched under the Obama administration but was suspended under the Trump administration. recently the Biden administration announced bipartisan support for funding in several priorities that could affect us here at Money Island:
– Resilient infrastructure like breakwater to slow erosion, stronger boat ramps and sustainable docks
– Rural electric vehicle charging stations for road vehicles and boats
– Bolstering education of the public and career opportunities
– Cooperation with local governments

Here in New Jersey the state’s new NJDEP commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette promoted similar priorities earlier this year in connection with Earth Day activities.

The difficulty we anticipate here in Money Island is that government has not actually delivered here on its promises of tangible support for boating infrastructure in the past. Some suspect that federal and state officials see the rural communities as out-of-sync with larger priorities. Tony Novak, leader of recreational program outreach here at Money Island, reports that this is a common belief among many people in government, consultants and lobbyists. “We are just too small and too red for them” is how he phrases the challenge. Novak points out that none of the local community’s strategic planning or economic redevelopment plans over the past several decades have been adapted by state or federal government. As a direct result, we see that with the daily political rhetoric in social media is often hostile to federal and state government programs like this. Until recently we had local elected officials who even denied that climate change impact was out top economic challenge for the future. Even now, residents of other South Jersey shore towns continue to fight the conversion to renewable energy underway by state and federal government agencies. That translates to denial of funding for us here in South Jersey commercial and recreational fishing and other outdoor industries.

Money Island is called the “diamond in the rough” of South Jersey. Private investors and businesses are eager to revitalize a recreational activities if the government support the necessary infrastructure improvements including a breakwater, boat launch extension, docks, and facilities for larger transient boats.

Baysave, a 501(c)(3) that runs Money Island Marina investment programs and most current operational programs is committed to serving all stakeholders and plays a balancing role between the often competing interests.

Money Island hit hard by virus shut down

The Delaware Bay remains empty. The State of New Jersey is hard hit by the coronavirus with the second highest number of cases of all states in the nation. Here in South Jersey, the rate of spread, measured in the number of infections and deaths, has not yet peaked. Our fishing and related industries are especially hard hit. With restaurants closed, the commercial markets for fish are closed. Marinas lost most of their 2020 rentals. Recreational fishing and party boats have been shut down. Here at Money Island, the effect is amplified. Money Island is the state’s second most productive seafood landing port and the bay’s primary oyster landing port. Yet in 2020, landings are minuscule compared to other years. Most of our commercial boats are not operating. The crab shedding operation is closed. Some local businesses have already announced publicly that they are unable to reopen this season. Others are suffering silently.

Idle crab traps

The CARES Act allocated $300 million for the commercial fisheries industry. Some of my clients hope to recoup partial losses from this money. Yet more than a month after the law was passed

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, no funds have been distributed. The proposal that NOAA offered is unfair to New Jersey in that it is based solely on dollar value of the fishing industry last year and does not consider the impact of the virus had on the industry’s losses. Losses are clearly worse in New Jersey than in other seaboard states.

A number of industry groups and all New Jersey’s federal legislators are lobbying for us. A representative from Jeff Van Drew’s office called me Sunday. Yet I fell like I’ve been down this path before: seven years ago after super storm Sandy. After many months and years of intense work

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, no financial assistance was provided for recovery. Again this year, just like in the past, it is not the natural event but government’s reaction that is causing the financial pain.

The Money Island Marina is still in significant debt from Sandy losses. We missed a final scheduled tax debt repayment on April 1 because of the industry shut down. The prospects of reopening and sustaining any of the businesses here seems remote at this point.

We must keep trying, but there are no solutions on the immediate horizon.

Fishing boats in an earlier year.

Recent history of Money Island New Jersey

Money Island was built on the shore of the Delaware Bay in Cumberland County, New Jersey, from the 1930s to the 1970s mostly without the benefit of permits, surveys, licenses, etc. That led to regulatory compliance problems today because of the decades-old missing paperwork. We propose to address these paperwork deficiency issues with legal redevelopment that accounts for future use, higher water levels, frequent flooding, and increased wetland erosion. Research on sustainable infrastructure and restorative aquaculture is already underway here by a handful of educational and environmental groups.

Water level rise is a major factor in the redevelopment plans. While more water is good for the proposed future aquaculture uses, it is not good news for traditional human uses. It could also be devastating to the grass marshes that are washing away at an alarming pace. By 2050 Money Island will likely be completely underwater except for the reconstructed infrastructure designed with this expectation.

Money Island is primarily a seafood landing port. Money Island is New Jersey’s second most productive seafood landing port worth millions of dollars to the local economy every month in oysters, crabs, and fish. The larger regional seafood companies have proposed expanding here and are quietly acquiring more of the waterfront space. Eventually Money Island will be the primary site of the region’s expanding oyster nurseries. A growth in Delaware Bay oyster production of 1,000% to 2,000% is possible within a decade. In 2019, however, some of the commercial watermen moved out of Money Island because the state closed their docks.

The residential houses are disappearing. This is a voluntary choice of the owners based primarily on the observed effects of water level rise. Buyouts are exacerbated by threatened government legal actions against homeowners. Most find it more economical to move out than to spend the money to meet government demands. Less than 10 houses are currently occupied on a regular basis. Some of the few remaining residents stayed because they can’t afford to sell and relocate to a new location, especially not a waterfront location. As of mid 2020, almost all of the remaining residents state an intention to remain here.

The recreational marina had such a low level of utilization in the past decade that continued operation as a commercial entity was impossible. From 2016 to 2018 the marina averaged just one customer per day. The marina accumulated more than 10 consecutive years of financial losses and had to obtain supplemental funding by local nonprofits organizations since 2010. The property owner kept the marina business  open without charging rent to help accommodate the recently deceased marina manager. Despite the low usage, both public and private interests are committed to maintaining public access to the waterways here. Now the marina is a private use facility.

The local government and community groups created a redevelopment strategy for the bayshore region that specifically focused on a sustainable redevelopment plan for Money Island as the region’s premier aquaculture center and seafood landing port. That plan has not yet been formally supported by state policy makers. The business of saving one storefront community for economic reasons while abandoning other communities as the water level continues to rise will continue to be politically difficult. Still, we expect that the need for seafood production increase will eventually win in this political struggle.

Results of research by The Nature Conservancy and its partners is encouraging. We’ve shown progress on restoring species diversity, preventing shoreline erosion, rebuilding elevated infrastructure, and moving toward energy independence.

The government consultant for the Money Island Marina community met with officials at NJDEP in May 2019. They report that an agreement in principal has been reached to allow proposed restorative aquaculture and sustainable redevelopment. Meanwhile

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, however, permit approvals to make the necessary improvements to current infrastructure are currently stalled by state government actions.

The mayor of Downe Township government reports publicly that 30 million of dollars of private and public funding required for permitting and rebuilding of Money Island has already been identified but that these proposed sources are contingent on state government action of releasing property liens. The township passed an ordinance authorizing the purchase of properties at Money Island though eminent domain. While that action and timeline is outside of our local control

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, most doubt that government will be able to raise the money required for this redevelopment. We believe that a public/private partnership will likely be required. Money Island is now in a ‘waiting pattern’ for the state government action to complete past purchase contracts and halt current litigation over the remaining properties. That will trigger the availability of new funding to address these other issues and launch a new era of environmentally sustainable redevelopment.

Private redevelopment action is led by Nantuxent Corporation. The company’s focus is on built-to-suit commercial dock sales.

A book about Money Island was released in November 2019 and a follow up film is anticipated. No production schedule is established.

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