VILLAS - Mayor Walter Craig said a project to repair clogged and broken off outfall pipes on the bay would move forward.

At a Sept. 3 Lower Township Council meeting, he said the township could make repairs within the footprint of the original plans for the outfall pipes under its current maintenance project permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The mayor said when additional DEP permitting is received, council intends to move forward with extending outfall pipes where needed.

“We are going to tell them to move post haste to give the people whose properties are flooding, relief,” said Craig. “They have been promised relief from flooding for years and they are going to get it.”

Florida Avenue resident Diane Rickards claimed Township Council was avoiding scheduling a meeting with members of Friends of Delaware Bay, a group of owners of bay front homes opposed to extending outfall pipes. She said the group wanted to know about the bidding process for the work and see the contract with the contractor, see how the project was budgeted and the cost for ongoing maintenance.

Rickards also asked to see an engineering and environmental impact study.

Township Manager Joe Jackson said he met with Jim Doughtery of Friends of Delaware Bay.

Craig said Councilman Glenn Douglass and Deputy Mayor Robert Nolan were willing to meet with the group. He said alternatives to repairing and extending outfall pipes were too expensive, perhaps exceeding $10 million.

“Who has problems with flooding, how many people and how many streets?” asked Rickards.

“My opinion is that one person is too many,” replied Gary Douglass, superintendent of public works.

Rickards called the outfall pipes repairs an “overkill project that is being pushed through without any other consideration for addressing individual flooding needs. She said a U.S. Senate passed a bill last year allotted $176 million for flood prevention and beach replenishment in New Jersey.

Councilman Wayne Mazurek said there were streets in North Cape May and Villas that flooded “every time it rains.” He said the township could extend broken off outfall pipes by 15 feet under the maintenance permit.

“We have clogged up storm pipes that need to be unclogged, it's as simple as that,” said Nolan.”

Lower Taxpayer's Association member Ed Butler said the township's previous administration turned down an opportunity, as a cost savings measure, to have the Army Corps of Engineers extend the outfall pipes.