July 3 Board of Commissioners Meeting

We attended the Regularly Scheduled Meeting of the Board of Commissioners yesterday (Monday, July 3) and the following very important items were on the agenda:
The first reading of Ordinance 17-29C was passed which will require a permit to be obtained when groups of 30 or more people gather in a residential zone for commercial purposes. It does not apply to family gatherings. This ordinance is the result of MTV renting a home in a residential area of Loveladies during the MTV Beach House event.

The first reading of Ordinance 17-30 was passed which authorizes a Referendum Ballot Question regarding the establishment of an open space conservation trust fund. The tax for this fund will be a 1 cent assessment. This will result in the accumulation of approximately $800,000 per year for open space and since the County will match this amount, the fund would accrue approximately $1.6 million per year. The taxes on the average home in the Township will increase about $80.00 per year for this initiative. A Referendum for this type of initiative had been turned down by voters previously. Harvey Cedars has recently passed such a Referendum. The Public Meeting for this Ordinance will be held on Monday, August 7, 2017 at 6:00 PM. Anyone with questions or comments are urged to attend the meeting.
The first reading of Ordinance 17-31C was passed, which if passed on second reading, will adopt an Ordinance that will prohibit businesses in the Township from distributing single-use plastic carryout bags and will encourage the use of reusable bags at businesses. This initiative is to protect the environment and the public health, welfare and safety. The Township will not address this Ordinance again until the October Meeting following a 90-Day Hearing Period in which the Township is seeking feedback.

Bus shuttle ridership has gone through the roof. Two more buses will be needed. One of the most common complaints is that the buses are full. The Township is working on a solution to fund the service as opposed to being partially funded by the taxpayers as it is now. It will put forth a referendum question in the future to permit charging a nominal fee for the service. There is talk of having daily, monthly and/or seasonal passes available for purchase.
The Township will be installing a camera at 38th Street. There will be an app that will allow users to log on and view the traffic conditions at that point on the Boulevard on-line.

Just a reminder, the minutes to the Association’s June Membership meeting have been posted on the Association’s web site (www.holgatetaxpayers.org). Initial planning for the Chili Cook-off got underway. We have received some inquires regarding dune walk-overs. A permit is required. The Ordinance 64-17 (Dune Walk-Overs) can be found on the Association’s web site under the Dune Vegetation Project listed at the top of the main page menu. After clicking on this item and the subsequent page being loaded, it will be the 5th item down on the list. The following information is on the Township’s web site:

Dune Walkovers

Before installation of all rollaway dune walkovers, they must be registered with the township zoning department. Call 609-361-6679 to register the walkover.

DO NOT CUT ANY INSTALLED DUNE FENCING TO THE BEACH!

You must call the zoning department. The township will cut all dune fence openings to the beach.

The HTA is looking for a member who can represent the Association and cook up a mean chili and enter it in the contest for best chili on Sunday, October 8th. Please get in touch with us if interested in entering the contest. We are continuing to work with the Township to have a bench placed at the Jacqueline Avenue beach access and to add more benches at the south end of the south parking lot. As stipulated in our by-laws, all trustees are up for election for a term of 2-years at this fall’s meeting (BBQ – September 9th). Trustees shall be elected from a slate of candidates selected by a Nominating Committee. Nominations may also be made by any member based on providing a nominating petition with 5 signatures (which may include the signature of the nominee) to the trustees. Said petition must be received by the President no later than 30 days prior to the election. The officers of the Corporation shall be elected every year at the Fall meeting from a slate proposed by the nominating Committee. Nominations may also be made by a member but must be received at the President’s home postal or e-mail address no later than 30 days prior to the election. The First Vice-President, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer are up for election this year.

The next meeting of the Land Use Board will be on Wednesday, July 12th at 7:00 PM. The next Regularly Scheduled Meeting of the Board of Commissioners will be on August 7th at 6:00 PM.


Dan Macone