To All Strathmere
and Whale Beach Homeowners and Visitors,
It's been some time since our last
newsletter, so we have lots to share...
Our February 11, 2013 Newsletter on
flood zones and flood insurance has been posted on the new Upper
Township website here (under General
Information... Announcements... Super Storm Sandy). We suggest you make the
website location one of your "favorites" or "bookmarks", as you'll probably want
to refer to it as the BFE / FIRM saga continues to unfold...
At the FEMA Meeting at Township Hall on
February 23, we asked the FEMA representatives to review our document for
accuracy. We were pleased that they responded, "This was one of the most
accurate write-ups (we) have seen in awhile. It was extremely thorough". While
they recommended a few word changes, none were related to the accuracy of the
document.
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As many of you know, the local papers have been
filled with articles and letters on the flood heights and zones in the Advisory
Base Flood Elevation maps released by FEMA in December.
Lynn Fayter wrote a great letter to the
Press of Atlantic City, here,
that most of us would agree with. The Press also published this
"guest editorial" from the Biloxi (Mississippi) Sun outlining the
pain Gulf Coast residents are feeling. Unfortunately, many people in the area
between the Garden State Parkway and the West Coast (except for the Southern
Coast, river valleys, etc.), probably agree with this
letter to the Press. With all the issues facing Congress, it seems
there is little chance they will revisit the 2012 National Flood Insurance
Program law any time soon.
As explained in the 2/11 Newsletter, FEMA said
at the time they released the ABFE's that they were conservative, meaning that
they were more strict than the preliminary maps to be issued later this year.
Municipalities in South Jersey are now working together so that once the
preliminary maps are issued, they can make a coordinated appeal. We believe that
the "V-Zones" will be scaled back, but that the new elevation requirements will
not change much.
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Taxes: the Upper Township Committee voted for
no tax increase, holding the rate at 9.4 cents per $100 of assessed value, or
$940 on a Strathmere property assessed at $1.0 million. The
Upper Township School Board, however, voted for a 3.5 cent tax rate increase,
which means that school taxes on that $1.0 million property will increase from
$10,110 to about $10,460, or by $350.
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Fire Danger - If you follow us
on Facebook,
you know that we've had several fires and even more "close calls".
The former Curran Real Estate Building (and
Strathmere's first Post Office in 1912) suffered a fire that originated from the
furnace, and caused significant first floor damage.
There was a second fire at a home on South
Bayview Drive in Whale Beach, just off Taylor Avenue, that apparently started
from wiring corrupted by Sandy.
This one was fought with several feet of bay
water in the street.
Quick action by the Strathmere Volunteer Fire
Company prevented a total loss in both cases, but it was close. The SVFC also
reported a number of "near misses" where wiring exposed to salt water during
Sandy nearly started additional fires.
If you had flooding in your home and haven't
had the wiring checked by an electrician, please do so!
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Trash Collection Info - Upper
Township has revamped their website. You can find info on trash and recycling
collection schedules here.
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"Single Stream" Recycling -
Cape May County has installed equipment that will permit all recycling products
to be mixed together by residents. There is optimism that this will increase the
amount of products recycled, resulting in both reduced collection / landfill
costs and costs to our environment. The Township has already begun collecting
our recyclables on this basis.
Here are the items that can be mingled
curbside:
aluminum, glass, newspapers, office paper, junk
mail, magazines, steel and tin cans, aerosol cans, plastics labeled #1-7, rigid
plastic five gallons or less (such as buckets), uncontaminated cardboard
boxes (such as pizza or cereal), paperback books, phone books, non-foil wrapping
paper, six-pack rings, microwave trays, health, beauty and cleaning containers,
yogurt and margarine tubs, shredded paper, brown paper bags.
Do not recycle:
food-contaminated boxes, styrofoam, plastic egg
cartons, wax-coated cardboard, window glass, paint cans, light bulbs, plastic
bags, pvc pipe, chemical or hazardous products.
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No more boat rentals in Strathmere! Frank and Candy
Jankowski have sold their business (not the real estate) to Morgan and Missy
Delaney, so boats, tackle, website, etc. will all be moving to Whale Creek Marina in Whale
Beach.
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Lost and Found:
Found - We reported on this dock box after Sandy,
and it washed around again in the March Nor'easter. It's a very nice box (though
the water sheared off the hasp) and is filled with crabbing
equipment.
Lost - A recycling container identical to this one,
and the brown matching lids for both - lost in the
Nor'easter.
If you have info on either of these, please reply to this newsletter.
Thanks!
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A
group of Strathmere women is forming to learn and play Mahjong
at the Schiavo library. A schedule will be available
soon.
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Also, some residents are interested in starting a “Walking
Group.” It will be open to anyone who would like to walk as a form of
exercise or socialization, and will be a loosely formed group that will meet at
21 Williams Road at 8:15 AM daily, starting Memorial Day weekend. Everyone is
welcome. There are no rules or requirements. The starting date is Saturday, May
25th @ 8:15 AM. Some suggested names are the "Ludlum Steppers" or the "Corson
Crawlers", but the name has not been
finalized...
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We're getting close to many of our favorites reopening for the
season. At present, the Deauville Inn
is open five days a week and Mildred's is open on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. Both Twisties
and Uncle Bill's
will reopen on May 10 for Mothers' Day Weekend. We're not sure of the date for
La
Fontana.
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Tax returns are due this Monday,
April 15. If you had a property loss from Sandy exceeding 10%
of your adjusted gross income, remember to complete Form 4684 and deduct the
remaining loss on Schedule A. If you already filed, you can complete a
1040X.
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SURF - The
SURF treasury is quite low but committee members are still seeking information
on anyone who has suffered damages and is in need of some help - especially as
folks open up after the storm. Email: Strathmeresurf@yahoo.com. Donations of cash and
gift cards are welcome. Checks should be made payable to Strathmere United
Methodist Church, and mailed to SURF, PO Box 49, Strathmere, NJ
08248
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Remember to follow and "like" the SIA (click the
"Thumbs Up" box ) on Facebook:
You'll get an early look at lots of things going
on in Strathmere!
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Ocean City DooDah Parade, Noon, Saturday April 13
SFEC Membership Meeting, 4:00pm, Saturday, April 20
SFEC Surf Fishing Tournament, Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11
SFEC Herb Hollinger, Sr Opening Day Flounder Tournament, Saturday, May 18
Schiavo Library Used Book
Sale, May 24 to June 14
Strathmere Fourth of July Parade,
10:30am, Thursday, July 4SIA Meeting, 8:00pm, Friday, July 12 (time & date tentative)
SIA Meeting, 8:00pm, Friday, August (time & date tentative)
Nightmare in Strathmere Boat Parade, 6:30pm, Saturday, August 24
Let us know of additions or
corrections!
And once again, check out Carol Baker's
wonderful Strathmere History website at http://www.strathmere.net/
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The Strathmere Improvement Association includes
all owners in Strathmere and Whale Beach and many visitors. It was founded in
1951 as a community organization with the simple objective of making Strathmere
a better place. We are proud of the organization's many accomplishments over the
years.
Please let us know if you have comments or
suggestions for the newsletter or for SIA in general, or if you'd like us to
change your e-mail address in our records.
You can contact us by responding to this e-mail
at sia6@comcast.net or by mailing SIA at PO Box 57, Strathmere 08248.
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Thanks very much for your continuing support of
the Strathmere Improvement Association!
Linda Bateman
Elaine Holsomback
Donna Diefenderfer
Rosemarie
Whelan
Ken Weaver
