Letter to the editor from Joe Zetooney of Margate: In the past years folks have asked me, “What is a master jetty?” It’s the name I gave the almost mile-long jetty that has served a threefold purpose I’ve watched being built at the south end of Brigantine in the early ’50s. Where there was nothing but meadows and small strips of sand, there are now million-dollar homes that would be sitting in the ocean, if it were not for the jetty which is now three-fourths buried in sand due to Mother Nature (no dredging).
This is the type of jetty I’ve been proposing to be built at the south end of Longport for the past several years. It would create a beach thousands of feet wide, moving the surf far from beachfront properties, omitting the need to build dunes.
Is a master jetty better than dunes for Margate, Ventnor & Longport?
Properly configured, it could eliminate the need for dunes along the whole island. A beachfront thousands of feet wide, the Army Corps of Engineers cannot deny. It would also help to keep dangerous shoals from the Great Egg Harbor Inlet and help prevent sand buildup in the bays of Margate and Ocean City. But best of all, Mother Nature will eliminate the need for beach replacements indefinitely (except maybe the north end).
All this can be done for less than it would cost taxpayers for dunes and replenishment; it would be permanent.
I would gladly debate the issues with the Army Corps. The proof is at the south end of Brigantine. Why haven’t the beachfront owners questioned their attorneys to pursue this? If they don’t they will lose again as I have predicted in a letter to The Current a few years back about the Margate lawsuit against the Army Corps.
I stated no judge will consider in your favor unless you have a better solution and a permanent master jetty.
Joe Zetooney, Margate