News
Storm Destroys Dune Grass, Fencing, Along SB Beaches
By Ryan Fennell
SEA BRIGHT - While the devastation sustained by the borough beaches from heavy winds and rain permeated each discussion at Sea Bright's November 16 council meeting, the council came away with several plans for the coming year.
While no official action was taken due to not knowing the specifics involved when a State of Emergency has been declared, Councilwoman Dina Long described the damage done to the beaches in the borough for the council.
The dune grass and fencing had been washed away nearly all along the entire length of the beaches while the dunes themselves were "chopped in half" creating six-foot drop-offs where there used to be sloping dunes. Mayor Maria Fernandes said that she had planned to be in touch with Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ-6) to discuss the next steps in repairing the borough's beaches.
Sea Bright officially merged its municipal court offices with neighboring Oceanport after, nearly one year ago, Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson charged the borough with rectifying it's non-compliance with state regulations regarding judicial offices.
Sea Bright had been operating its court offices out of a trailer situated behind Borough Hall for approximately 15 years.
While the discussion and implementation of merging court operations with Oceanport had been ongoing and necessary, Councilman William "Jack" Keeler and Councilman C. Read Murphy voted against the merger.
According to Fernandes, Keeler had presented an alternative plan in a recent meeting with the mayor and Lawson. However, Lawson was not interested in the alternative plan. Neither Keeler nor Fernandes elaborated on what the alternative plan was.
The Council also put the finishing touches on bid specifications for a cell tower, but no action was taken and the item was re-listed for the December 1st council meeting.
Fresh off her re-election to the Borough Council, Long proposed implementing several ideas that emerged during the campaign season.
Long proposed holding quarterly open-session meetings on Saturdays that would have no set agenda and where residents could come to ask questions and express concerns or ideas to the council.
Long also suggested that department heads and other borough professionals possibly attend these quarterly meetings to give residents access to the various departments in town.
"I personally don't ever want a good idea to get away so I'd like to implement some of the ideas that were talked about during the campaign season," Long said. "I propose holding an open forum meeting on a Saturday for Sea Bright residents to ask questions and express their concerns."
After a brief discussion, Long motioned to implement the idea in order to place the four Saturday meetings on next year's calendar. Murphy seconded the motion.
"I like the idea," Murphy said.
The motion passed unanimously.
"I've heard that meetings are not really easy for people to get to and when they can get to these meetings they sit and listen to us for an hour and a half, maybe two hours before they get a chance to say anything," said Long. "A lot of times people come because they have something to say, and they have to wait two hours, sometimes more. It's almost like we're punishing them for coming."
Long also suggested that the current agenda format be amended at the January 2010 reorganization meeting to include a public comment period earlier in the meeting in addition to the established public comment period at the end of the meeting.
Long also recommended the creation of a "Cat Committee" to address the large population of stray and feral cats in the borough.
Long said that the purpose of the "Cat Committee" would be "for the long term, humane management of Sea Bright's stray and feral cat population.
"It would be for members of the public to bring together the varying interests and try to find a common ground," Long said.
The "Cat Committee" proposal was scheduled to appear on the December 1 council meeting agenda for further consideration.
