Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today hosted a follow-up meeting with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commander Lt. Col. Ramon Brigantti, Dennis Reinknecht from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and local officials from Ocean County to help advance the critical beach replenishment project slated for Jersey shore towns in the Fourth Congressional District that have suffered serious erosion over the years.

            “Today’s productive meeting with Ocean County mayors and state representatives marked an important step forward in ensuring the successful and timely replenishment of our coastline, which has been seriously damaged by several intense storms,” said Rep. Smith.

            Held at Bay Head Borough Hall, the meeting arranged by Smith comes just weeks after he reviewed plans for the critical project with the high-ranking Army Corp official in his Washington, DC office to ensure the replenishment—made possible by $30.2 million in federal funds Smith secured earlier this year—is not delayed.

            “Ensuring that everyone is on the same page as the Army Corps plans to replenish our beaches and address serious safety concerns along the shore is essential to keeping this much-needed project on schedule,” said Smith.

            Until earlier this year, the planned beach replenishment project was in serious jeopardy for lack of federal funds. The long-awaited funding finally came through after Smith wrote a letter in January to Assistant Secretary of the Army Michael Connor requesting the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act­­ be considered as a source for the much-needed federal dollars.

            In response to his letter, the Army Corps of Engineers told Smith in a phone call that his intervention was “perfectly timed.”

            “I will continue to do everything I can to make sure the replenishment of our beaches goes as smoothly as possible without any needless delays,” Smith said.

###