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Sustainable Jersey Certification Report

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This is the Sustainable Jersey Certification Report of Cape May Point Boro, a Sustainable Jersey bronze certified applicant.

Cape May Point Boro was certified on December 12, 2017 with 160 points. Listed below is information regarding Cape May Point Boro’s Sustainable Jersey efforts and materials associated with the applicant’s certified actions.

Contact Information

The designated Sustainable Jersey contact for Cape May Point Boro is:

Name:Catherine Busch
Title/Position:Commissioner / Public Works, Parks and Public Property
Address:215 Lighthouse Avenue P.O. Box 409
Cape May Point, NJ 08212
Phone:609-884-8468 x18

Actions Implemented

Each approved action and supporting documentation for which Cape May Point Boro was approved for in 2017 appears below. Note: Standards for the actions below may have changed and the documentation listed may no longer satisfy requirements for that action.

  • Animals in the Community

    Animals in the Community Education *Retired 12/31/23*

    10 Points

    Program Summary: Cape May Point is among the smallest municipalities in NJ with no school or wildlife management staff. Most educational programs – other than those associated with Public Safety - are undertaken by volunteers. Fewer than 100 of the 220 residents reside in the Borough year-round. Median age is 68 and 25% are legally disabled. Recognizing that our population swells to over 4,000 at the height of the summer season, the Green Team focused on Wildlife Education for part-time residents and visitors rather than solely on residents. After consulting with local experts in animal biology, wildlife rehabilitation, pollinators and wildlife conservation, we selected Butterflies, American Fox, Wild Turkey and feral Cats as targets for public education since birds are well-covered by the Cape May Bird Observatory. Triangle Park is an outreach site for the Monarch Monitoring Project each fall with frequent Monarch tagging demonstrations. The Environmental Commission, community groups, and volunteers collaborate to maintain the garden and to raise awareness about the need for pollinator gardens. Public Works assists with maintenance as needed. Central to the mission of the MMP and the overseers of Triangle Park is the critical importance of pollinator gardens. Despite attracting thousands of visitors annually, no resource existed describing the most common butterflies and host plants found there. After consulting lepidopterology and botany experts, the Green Team designed and installed interpretative signs that are reviewed daily by Park visitors (attached). The Borough’s website “Our Environment” page (attached) was redesigned to add extensive Wildlife Education including the Green Team’s Cape May Point Nature Guide (attached), and information on American Fox, Wild Turkey and feral Cats, Box Turtles, Butterflies, and birds. Periodic promotion through a variety of outreach vehicles continues including the Cape May Point Taxpayers’ Association Bulletin (attached) that reaches over 725 individuals including residents and non-resident property owners.

  • Community Partnership & Outreach

    Green Team

    10 Points
    Bronze Required Silver Required

    Program Summary: The Cape May Point Green Team was appointed in August 2016, and met regularly September through December 2016 to research the feasibility of applying for certification in 2017. A report was submitted to the CMP Commissioners (see 2016 Green Team Report), and the decision was made to go forward with the certification process in 2017. Throughout this period, monthly reports were also made to the CMP Environmental Commission in order to coordinate efforts. All of the initial Green Team members were reappointed for the 2017 calendar year (see 2017 Green Team Reappointments).

  • Emergency Management

    Climate Adaptation: Flooding Risk *Retired 12/31/22*

    20 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: Cape May Point is located at the southern-most point of NJ where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and has over 2 miles of coastline. The resiliency team at Sustainable Jersey facilitated the Getting to Resilience (GTR) process for Cape May Point in July 2015. Details of the working group are contained in the GTR report. As recommended in the GTR, Cape May Point then conducted a Coastal Vulnerability Assessment (CVA). Using these reports, the borough will be reviewing the current plan and actions to be completed in the future to strengthen what has already been done. It was noted that “the Borough of Cape May Point is a leader in flood risk mitigation and the municipal resilience activities the borough engages in could provide a useful model for other municipalities to follow.” Both reports have been distributed to the Planning Board and the Environmental Commission. Cape May Point’s recently completed Master Plan Re-examination includes both reports as appendices and addresses recommendations for going forward in becoming a more resilient community.

    Emergency Communications Planning

    15 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough of Cape May Point realizes that it is extremely important to be able to communicate to the public during an emergency. We have many visitors throughout the year, but especially in the summer and fall when the area is prone to storms. A good, well thought out plan gives us the ability to handle a crisis and communicate information efficiently and effectively. The Emergency Communications Plan is in place as part of the Borough’s Emergency Management Plan (ESFs 2 & 15) that was approved by the state in February, 2017. Cape May Point reaches out to locals and visitors alike through many methods: ? The borough participates in Code Red a reverse 911 system for emergencies. The program is highlighted prominently on the Borough website. ? The borough also reached out to every homeowner by mailing information about the reverse 911 system and emergency communications. ? One of the local volunteer organizations, the Cape May Point Taxpayers Association, included emergency communication information in their booklet that has been published and given to all homeowners. ? The entrance area of the borough hall has emergency information and the clerk is available to answer questions either in person or over the phone. The Borough of Cape May Point is small and has therefore contracted with the City of Cape May to provide Police and emergency medical service (EMS). The City of Cape May is the primary public service answering point (PSAP) and public safety dispatch point (PSDP) for all Cape May Point emergency medical service (EMS), fire, and police departments. This is very important since our overall resources are not as much as the larger municipalities. However, our small size allows the Borough personnel to be focused, agile, and have the ability to cover the Borough quickly.

  • Energy

    Energy Tracking & Management

    20 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: The Borough has conducted a building inventory for each of its four facilities and provided a collection of 12 consecutive months of electric usage. This data has been created in a basic excel file that establishes a historical baseline. The Borough will continually update this file to maintain current monthly usage to assist in developing effective strategies and potential replacement and upgrades to equipment including heating and cooling system to achieve greater efficiencies and reduce electric consumption. Simultaneously, the Borough has submitted the inventory and electric usage data to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. Under its Clean Energy Program, the Borough has requested an Energy Benchmarking analysis. The study will asses the energy performance of the Borough facilities compared to similar sized and functional government buildings. The Borough anticipates a BPU Program Representative to track and score our electric usage and provide a detailed report with information on implementing better energy efficient technologies including available financial incentives for the Borough to explore equipment replacement and/or upgrades. The attached documents consists of the Building Inventory, 12 consecutive months of electric bills for each facility and the record of submissions for the BPU Benchmarking analysis.

  • Green Design

    Upgrade/Retrofit-Water Conservation

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough of Cape May Point operates its own water utility for its residents and visitors. The water is purchased from the City of Cape May from its desalination plant and stored in an onsite water tower where it is pumped into the municipal water supply. In 2015, the Borough developed a plan to replace its aging water meter system with a new efficient electronic Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) System which included new water meters and meter interface units throughout the utility operations. Two significant outcomes are resulting from these installations. 1) upgrade system to reduce the Borough's water loss ratio by immediately detecting leakage to make repairs. As you can see from the attachment of water usage comparison, the Borough purchased 4,355,000 less water from the City of Cape May between 2015 and 2016 when the system became fully functional. This reduction predominantly reflects leaks from pipe breaks being immediately identified. During the winter months when pipe breaks are most prevalent, the utility authority combs the borough 3 times per week with the Automatic Meter Reading System to capture any spikes of water use that would indicate a water leakage. 2) develop a new billing system that will encourage residents and visitors to be more conscious of their water usage to promote conservation. Under the old system, the Borough could only effectively calculate property usage on an annual basis. Homeowners were allotted 40 gallons per year. All overages were billed for in the last quarter of the year. Under the new electronic system, the Borough is moving toward allocating 10,000 gallons a quarter with overages being charged each quarter. Since the Borough is predominantly a seasonal community, many homes exceed a 10,000 gallon quarterly allotment but stay within the annual 40,000 gallons usage so they avoid excess overage charges. Once the new system is in place, seasonal residents will be encouraged to conserve water use during the peak season to avoid paying an excess overage charges for each specific quarter regardless on how much they used on an annual basis.

  • Land Use & Transportation

    Bicycle and/or Pedestrian Plan

    10 Points

    Program Summary: Through a grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation's Local Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning Assistance Program, the City of Cape May and the Borough of Cape May Point are finalizing "BikeWalk Cape May", a joint bicycle and pedestrian plan that seeks to improve mobility and safety for non-motorized traffic. This plan included a detailed review and inventory of pedestrian and bicycle traffic generators, crashes, and overall conditions at major intersections and along key corridors. Following that review, a series of conceptual recommendations have been developed to address many existing deficient conditions. Ultimately, the recommendations are intended to create a robust bicycle and pedestrian network that better links the two communities, enhances connections between neighborhoods and key destinations, expands the existing on-street bicycle network, leverages the communities' historic and natural assets, and strengthens Cape May and Cape May Point as major tourist destinations. The uploaded supporting documentation includes a draft of the plan as well as flyer advertising public meeting to solicit public input to the proposed plan before its final adoption by the City of Cape May and Borough of Cape May Point. Reviewer Feedback The "Must Revise" component requests a copy of the governing body resolution incorporating the Bicycle Plan into the Municipal Master Plan within 10 years of the June submission date. Please note, the governing body does not produce the Master Plan. It is developed and approved by the Municipal Planning Board. We have attached the 2017 Amended Master Plan. Also attached are the Planning Board's approval of the Plan in addition to the governing body's acknowledgement of the Plan. The Master Plan approved by the Planning Board and acknowledged by the governing body incorporates the Bicycle Plan within its circulation element.

  • Natural Resources

    Natural Resource Inventory

    20 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: Cape May Point’s 1999 Environmental Resource Inventory (aka Natural Resource Inventory) was reviewed and revised over the past six months by Environmental Commission members. A consultant reviewed the draft document, the same consultant who conducted an extensive survey and inventory of plant and animal species in the Borough in 2014. The new ERI includes Vegetation and Wildlife chapters based on the consultant’s report, much of the original text of the 1999 ERI, updated information from Cape May Point’s Master Plan (2007), the Master Plan Reexamination Report and Master Plan Amendment (2017), and from online sources including the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist at Rutgers University, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Maps were developed from online GIS applications as well as taken from other Borough publications. An Open Space Inventory was developed for the first time. New to this edition is the chapter on Critical Environmental Areas. This is of particular importance for assisting in the protection of undeveloped parcels for the benefit of endangered and threatened species of plants and wildlife. As a largely built-out residential community that values its natural vegetation, wildlife, recreation, and seaside setting, those elements that are most relevant to the community have been addressed in this edition. The draft Environmental Resource Inventory Re-Examination and Update, 2017 was approved by the Environmental Commission at the September 13, 2017 public meeting. A resolution to incorporate it into the Master Plan was passed by the Planning Board at the October 18, 2017 public meeting. As the ERI is too large to upload, it can be found on the Borough website on the Downloads and Links page. http://www.capemaypoint.org/downloads-links.html

    Environmental Commission

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Cape May Point Environmental Commission (EC) was established in 1988 and has been an active component of local government ever since. The EC meets monthly throughout the year and works closely with Borough Commissioners (one of whom serves as a liaison member) and community groups to restore and preserve natural resources in the Borough of Cape May Point. An early accomplishment was the writing of CMP's landscape ordinance specifically to preserve natural habitat as town continued development. Following the adoption of the ordinance in 1990, the New Jersey Audubon Society gave its Conservation Award to the EC "for leadership in protecting New Jersey habitat for migratory birds.” The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions gave Environmental Achievements Awards to the EC in 2009 and 2010 (see ANJEC awards). Please see the 2016 EC Annual Report for the past year's accomplishments.

    Habitat Conservation Ordinance

    10 Points

    Program Summary: Cape May Point was the first municipality in New Jersey to enact a Landscape Ordinance specifically to preserve natural habitat as the town continued development. Following the adoption of the ordinance in 1990, the New Jersey Audubon Society gave its Conservation Award to the Environmental Commission "for leadership in protecting New Jersey habitat for migratory birds.” As a result, the majority of developed properties in Cape May Point have a minimum of 60% overall area of each lot covered by vegetation to include the retention or replacement of trees and shrubs which benefit migrant and resident wildlife. When a property is developed, significantly altered, or more than 25% of the vegetation is removed, trees must be retained or replaced per the ordinance. See the 150-21 Landscaping and Vegetation Plan on page 7 of the Zoning Ordinance.

  • Waste Management

    Prescription Drug Safety & Disposal

    10 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: The Borough of Cape May Point, the CMP Green Team and the Cape May City Police Department are partnering a Prescription Drug Safety and Disposal Program. To publicize this program, an event was held on July 8th, 2017 at the Cape May Point Volunteer Fire Company at 412 Yale Avenue, Cape May Point, NJ. To give this event more publicity, it was held with Cape May City Police Department’s “Coffee with a Cop” Program. The Chief and a detective from Cape May City Police Department were there to answer questions, and they brought with them a portable disposal unit for unused/expired prescriptions. 50 people attended this event and brought their unused/expired prescriptions. This event was publicized on the Cape May Point Website and the Cape May City Police Department’s website and Facebook page. The attached poster was put up at different bulletin boards in Cape May Point. This event was also publicized in the Cape May Star and Wave Newspaper. As a follow up to this event, a permanent poster was hung in the lobby of Cape May Point Borough Hall 215 Lighthouse Avenue, Cape May Point, NJ describing the Prescription Drug Safety and Disposal Program with links to national websites and directs residents to the permanent 24-hour Prescription Drug Safety Disposal Drop Off site in the Cape May City Police Department lobby located at 643 Washington Street, Cape May, NJ. This information is also available on the Borough website (www.capemaypoint.org/environment.html). This 24-hour Permanent Drop-off Location was also advertised via CMP Taxpayer’s Association e-bulletin which went out to approximately 700 members.

    Recycling Depot

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough of Cape May Point has a conveniently located Recycle Depot. It is located at the Borough Pole Barn grounds on Sunset Blvd. It is easily accessible, and it is open on Wednesday through Saturday between 8 AM and 12 PM and on Sunday between 12 noon and 4 PM. Materials such as cardboard, newspaper, glass, plastic and metal are collected there. Also, Cape May Point contracts with a trash collector that performs curbside single-stream recycling pickup once a week on Mondays. In addition, Cape May Point also has curbside pickup of organic materials stored in yard-leaf bags on Tuesday and larger branches on Wednesday. Cape May Point residents can also bring recycle materials to the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority (CMCMUA) transfer station located in a nearby community. Cape May Point is a tourist destination for summer rentals and birders alike. Cape May Point Recycle Depot is very busy during the summer tourist season. The summer rental season is an opportunity for local residents to offer tourists a chance to enjoy the tranquility of Cape May Point, our lovely beaches and an environmentally-friendly neighborhood. Our summer residents and tourists can set out their single stream recyclable material for curbside pickup or drop off their recyclable materials at the Cape May Point Recycle Depot. The Cape May Point recyclable material diversion rate is approximately 28%.

    Backyard Composting Program

    5 Points

    Program Summary: The Cape May Point Environmental Commission and the Cape May Point Green Team co-sponsored a Backyard Composting Workshop. The purpose was to encourage Cape May Point residents to start doing backyard composting. This event was held on July 22, 2017 at the Cape May Point Volunteer Fire Company meeting room at 412 Yale Avenue, Cape May Point, NJ. It was widely publicized in Cape May Point through the Borough’s website, posters, and the Cape May Point Taxpayer’s Association e-bulletin. The workshop was led by Master Gardener Linda Conover from Rutgers Cooperative Extension. Fact sheets from Rutgers Cooperative Extension regarding Home Composting were distributed to the 23 attendees. Also, free Geobins (www.geobins123.com) for starting a backyard compost site were provided by the Cape May Point Environmental Commission, and they were passed out to the attendees after the presentation. As a follow up to this Backyard Composting Workshop, Cape May Point residents can see a permanent poster in the lobby of Cape May Point Borough Hall at 215 Lighthouse Avenue, Cape May Point, NJ giving information, composting websites and fact sheets to take away. As advertised on the permanent poster in the CMP lobby, residents can also get answers to any composting questions they may have by sending them to the Environmental Commission’s email listed on the poster. Also, the permanent Backyard Compost poster and fact sheets were advertised on the CMP Taxpayer’s Association e-bulletin which went out to approximately 700 members. The Home Composting Fact Sheets is posted on the Borough’s website page “Our Environment” www.capemaypoint.org/environment.html. The Green Team of Cape May Point wants to encourage backyard composting because it promotes waste reduction. It saves energy, and it decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.