We’re less than four weeks away from Memorial Day and we’re looking forward to another great summer season. Our Public Works Department is hard at work preparing our beaches, grounds, and facilities for the tens of thousands of visitors we’re expecting; and our Community Services staff are ready to host all the programs and activities we have lined up. With our new Community Center, we have more options than ever, in addition to having a great place to go during inclement weather.
Speaking of community, please mark your calendars for Saturday, May 9, when we will host our annual Community Day event, to be held in the Community Center. As usual, all our city departments along with many civic organizations will be on hand to meet with our citizens. It’s always a wonderful opportunity for neighbors to come together and celebrate everything that makes Sea Isle City such a special place to live and visit.
I want to mention that today’s meeting is being live streamed as part of our ongoing efforts to continue the city’s longstanding policy of engaging with the public. We coordinated the incorporation of live streaming with our recent upgrades to the council chambers audio system. The live streaming process will allow anyone to remotely view (and hear) the council meetings. It’s a simple process to access the live stream, by going to the city’s website and clicking on the “City YouTube (Live Stream)” link near the top of the home page. In addition, once the meeting is over, anyone can also view the recording by going to our website.
In a few moments, our City Engineer, Andy Previti, will be giving a presentation regarding the 46th Street pump station project. We made a commitment to look at the options for locating the outfall for this pump station, which is an important piece of infrastructure for our island, and I look forward to Andy’s update on the progress of that project.
On a more bittersweet note, today marks Kathy Custer’s last meeting with us before she enters her well-deserved retirement. Kathy has been a dedicated public servant and an outstanding Community Services Director; and while we are going to miss her tremendously, I am very pleased with our transition plan. At our next meeting, I will be bringing forward a resolution to appoint Christie Ostrander as our next Director. Christie has performed very well over the past several years as Kathy’s second-in-command, and I have total confidence that she is the right person to lead the department forward.
Finally, I want to provide a quick update on our shoreline. The Army Corps of Engineers officially took bids for Sea Isle’s beach replenishment project last week. We’re hopeful that they will be awarding a contract for the work within the next few weeks. Once that contract is finalized, we will be able to share more specific details regarding the timing and schedule of the sand placement.
As always, please remember that we are one Sea Isle City, and together we’ll be stronger than ever.
Smile…You’re in Sea Isle!
Mayor Leonard C. Desiderio
During the April 14 City Council meeting, Ordinance 1737 was Introduced with First Reading. This ordinance establishes parking regulations at various locations around Sea Isle City (including the Community Center, the Dog Park and along 4th Street) and will have Second Reading and Public Hearing (and possible adoption) during the City Council meeting on Saturday, May 9 (which is also “Community Day”).
After Ordinance 1737 was Introduced, Ordinances 1733 and 1734 were Adopted following their Second Reading and Public Hearing…
• Ordinance 1733, which is a routine annual ordinance written in conjunction with Sea Isle City’s Municipal Budget, allowed the city to create a “Cap Bank” (or preserve) for future use, thus allowing the city to more effectively manage our budgets over several years.
• Ordinance 1734 established fees for Open Public Record Act requests that involve the processing and redacting of police body camera footage and other police videos, due to the labor-intensive nature of that process.
Also on April 14, City Council adopted Sea Isle City’s Local Municipal Budget via Resolution 019A, following its Second Reading and Public Hearing. Now that the 2026 Budget has been adopted, municipal employees can utilize those funds to make purchases and provide the many services that our community needs. The members of City Council would like to commend the administration for presenting a sound, smart, stable budget that will continue to provide our community with outstanding services while also being fiscally responsible.
Each of the resolutions on the April 14 Consent Agenda was approved, including…
• Resolution 043, which authorized the city to enter into an Agreement with Cape May County to use our new Community Center as a “Reunification Facility” in the event of a qualifying incident occurring at a local school that would require parents to be reunited with their children off-site in a safe, controlled environment.
• Resolution 044, which authorized a Local Unit Budget Examination, which allows Sea Isle City to conduct a bi-annual self-examination, as per State law.
• Resolution 046, which authorized the purchase (through a State Contract) of a Chevrolet Tahoe for the Sea Isle City Police Department in the amount of $76,870, from Gentilini Chevrolet, in Woodbine, NJ.
• Resolution 047, which authorized the use of Tennis Fee Trust Funds in the amount of $10,800, for the annual reconditioning of the city’s clay (“Har-Tru”) tennis courts at Dealy Field, by Welch Tennis Courts, of Sun City, Florida.
• Resolution 048, which authorized the award of a contract in the amount of $1,150,184 with Lexa Concrete, LLC, of Hammonton, NJ, for the reconstruction and repaving of Central Avenue from JFK Boulevard to 56th Street. A portion of the funding to pay for this project will come from the NJDOT’s Municipal Aid Program. Work is expected to begin on this project in the autumn of 2026.
During the “Pending Business” portion of the April 14 meeting, Council President Tighe announced that City Council’s first meeting to be live streamed (and video-recorded) will be on April 28 at 10:00 AM. The company installing the audio-visual equipment for this process will be making final adjustments to the system on Friday, and additional information about how the public can livestream City Council meetings via YouTube will be announced soon (and also posted on the City Council page of our municipal website, www.seaislecitynj.us).
Also during the Pending Business portion of the April 14 meeting, Ms. Tighe asked the Business Administrator for the status of our dune paths and the installation of beach pathway mats (aka “Mobi Mats”); at which time Mr. Savastano explained that the city has obtained additional mats that will be in place this summer, and city workers will be clearing beach paths prior to Memorial Day weekend.
During the “Citizen Comment” portion of the April 14 meeting, a resident stepped to the microphone to show gratitude to the city for numerous reasons, including the city supporting an annual Autism fundraiser, adding beach pathway mats that help the elderly and those with disabilities gain access to our beaches, constructing Sea Isle City’s new Community Center, supporting the local business community, maintaining healthy beaches, and for hiring hard-working municipal employees.
During our next City Council meeting, which will take place on Tuesday, April 28, at 10:00 AM on the third floor of City Hall, Municipal Engineer Andrew Previti will outline the proposed 46th Street Flood Water Pump Station.
Best regards from the members of City Council,
Council President Mary Tighe
Ian Ciseck
Frank Edwardi
Michael Jargowski
William Kehner
