Aqua Man: Wally Bishop is SHPOA’s Citizen of the Year

Wally Bishop

Imagine Bryce Harper playing on a local softball team.

That’s the national prominence Stone Harbor enjoys in the sustainability realm with Wally Bishop, the newest Citizen of the Year for the Stone Harbor Property Owners Association.

The longtime resident of 106th Street has more than a passing passion for flood mitigation, beach management, and water conservation. Bishop is a highly decorated engineer whose influence includes serving an important role shaping the national drinking water policy.

Bishop also is a past member of American Water Works Association’s Water Utility Council, International Council and Strategic Planning Committee. His career as an engineer and leader in the water and wastewater industry spans 40 years. Bishop has also advised members of Congress about how to conduct water conservation.

Bishop’s marquee – similar in his realm to Harper, the Phillies slugger – gets put to use here.

He has raised the profile of sustainability. Bishop created the SHPOA’s Sustainability Committee and made it a vital force for the many years he ran it.

Bishop, who travels between homes in Stone Harbor and San Francisco, has been a tireless advocate for protection against Mother Nature.

For residents of the borough, that might be his biggest gift. What he advocates may not be what they wish to hear, but it’s for their benefit. The borough also benefits mightily due to its close proximity to the Wetlands Institute.

“Issues like sustainability, flood mitigation and beach management were not even on the radar screen a number of years ago,” says SHPOA president Richard Fuchs. “Now, the ideas of rising seas, damage to the beaches, and conservation are front and center, one of our top issues in the borough.

“Over the years, people in Stone Harbor have listened to and learned about all of this from Wally. The person who made the case, who carried the water for us and who pushed back on the doubters was Wally.

“He’s not only an advocate, but he flies in from California, he meets with us, and never seeks any reimbursement. It’s all out of his pocket.

“I would hate to get a bill from a professional like Wally,” Fuchs says with a laugh.

Geoff Woolery, the current head of the sustainability committee, believes Bishop educated a wide range of Stone Harbor residents, including Woolery himself.

“Wally put forward the plan of what we need to do and has indeed been the strategist in how we have moved forward with the issue of sustainability,” Woolery says. “Wally raised the awareness. Our membership now indicates to us that sustainability is our top priority.

“Our members are both financially and emotionally invested in Stone Harbor,” Woolery adds. “What Wally has helped everyone see is that while we love Stone Harbor and we love the bay and the ocean here, we don’t want to be gobbled up by it.”

The 71-year-old Bishop is happy to help a town he’s been connected to for more than six decades. His family began renting here when he was “about 5.”

And the traditional Seven Mile Beach cycle – come for a week, stay for a lifetime – played out.

“My parents bought here when I was a junior in high school,” says Bishop, who grew up in Washington. “I remember coming back during college and then when my dad retired, he came up more.

“About 26 years ago I bought here, and we have been up here with the kids. They relocated, start families and now we can enjoy Stone Harbor with the grandchildren.”

Bishop has enjoyed the mix of Stone Harbor’s aesthetic and family appeal. What better place for traditions to grow?

“People come to Stone Harbor for the beach and the weather,” he says, “but they also come to Stone Harbor because of the memories. People have grown up here, or visited here as a little kid. They played miniature golf or they had ice cream at Springer’s. It is one family handing off to another family.

“There is a volleyball group I have been part of at 106th Street for 50 years. The city allows us to put up poles. Now our kids are playing. Soon our grandkids will be playing. All of this comes from a volleyball connection.”

Bishop and his wife Patty will celebrate their 50th anniversary next June. They have two children and four grandchildren.

He wants future generations to enjoy the beauty of Stone Harbor and he thus gave the borough a battle plan. He authored a document outlining four legs of the barstool.

Wally and Patty Bishop with their grandchildren.

One leg is maintenance of the beach, regarding dunes and getting more sand.

Another concerns the bay and dredging. It relates to homes, coves and docks. Homeowners need access to the waterways for their boats.

A third is how the water supply is being used. The rising ocean and lower ground table invites ocean saltwater to invade the borough’s drinking water.

The fourth is flood management, which includes getting water off the island.

Stone Harbor is protected on the ocean side by dunes, but it must have homeowners raise bulkheads on the bay side, Bishop says.

The four legs of the barstool sit atop the 10-year financial plan, which must juggle all the priorities in the borough. Bishop says the borough needs to reserve its 30-year bond notes for items that will last at least that long, including a pumping station.

Bishop knows that the solutions are expensive, and could substantially hike taxes, but issues a caution.

“You are not asking if, but when the next major storm or hurricane hits,” he says. “We are playing Russian Roulette with [millions of dollars’] worth of property in Stone Harbor.”

Bishop advocates many concrete ideas for Stone Harbor.

Among them: Don’t pay for dredging or sand removal with 30-year bonds. The new sand won’t outlast the bond duration. And form a stormwater utility, which allocates a cost to the homeowner based on stormwater runoff incurred.

Bishop has boundless enthusiasm and has been generous to the borough with this availability and expertise.

Stone Harbor not only understands the need to plan ahead in this area, it has a walking, talking encyclopedia on the subject.