Month: October 2021

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Utility Fees and Bond’s Park

The proposed water and sewer charges have created a great deal of controversy. For most homeowners, costs will increase significantly and this raises a lot of questions. To obtain as many answers as possible, representatives from the six taxpayer associations in Long Beach Township met with Commissioner Ralph Bayard and Administrator Kyle Ominski last Friday.

Please carefully review our Question & Answer document on the HTA website at this link:

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT

Keep in mind a few things as you read the document:

  • New Jersey is behind the move to meters with the goal of forcing everyone to economize on their water usage. This was not an LBT initiative.
  • Water and Sewer fees have not been raised since 2013. Had the Township increased the charges by 3-5% each year, the cost increase from 2021 to 2022 would not have been so large.
  • Costs to the Township for the Water and Sewer services have greatly increased
  • Significant investments have been made to update most of LBT’s water/sewer infrastructure. Much of this was deemed necessary after Superstorm Sandy and the rapid growth of new construction. It is considered by the Township to be a strategic decision to avoid main breaks and shutdowns due to aging pipes.
  • The Water/Sewer budget must be separate from the Municipal taxes and self-sustaining; rising tax revenues from new and higher value homes cannot offset increased Water/Sewer expenses.
  • Budgeting for 2022 revenue was determined to be based on fixed charges and could not take into account anticipated revenues based on water use above the quarterly allotments; upon being clearly established, the variable charges due to usage and the resulting surpluses can be used in the future to lower the fixed charges. Any surplus cannot be used for anything outside of the Water and Sewer budget.

Bond’s Park

The Township has confirmed their intention to extend the Bay Terrace paper street to allow creation of a new driveway for the home known as the old Coast Guard Station. This will result in the likely removal of all of the vegetation between 24 Joan Road and the new nearly-completed walkway. The work is scheduled to begin within the next 1-2 weeks.

The HTA looked into the transplanting of the existing foliage but because they are mature plants, our experience is there is little likelihood of doing so successfully. We have asked the Township to replace as much of the foliage as possible, putting plants around the walkway and recreating a foliage barrier on the border of 24 Joan Road and the new driveway. It is unclear what, if anything, they will do.

The Township did meet with the owners of the Coast Guard Station home last week to review the changes about to be made.

The HTA proposed alternatives to the Township to avoid this change. We also clearly advised them of the tremendous dissatisfaction this would cause with the Joan Road and Bay Terrace neighbors. In the end, the Township asserted its legal right to determine the best use of the property it owns.

Lastly, the Township has acknowledged the results of the HTA survey which called for no new recreational facilities to be added. There is no indication they have any plan for any of the property they own other than creating the easement/driveway to Bay Terrace/Joan Road, although the existing basketball court is expected to shift slightly to the south to allow for the new driveway entrance.

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October Update

Thank you to all who supported our Fall Refuge Clean-up and our Dune Planting!

Highlights

  1. Bond’s Park Survey
  2. Township Plans for Bond’s Park
  3. Fall Membership Meeting
  4. Membership Record Smashed (again)
  5. Resilient LBI
  6. Offshore Wind Development and Virtual Open House Updates
  7. Upcoming Water Usage Rates
  8. Taxes
  9. Dune Grass Available
  10. Shuttles and Gators

Updates

  1. Bond’s Park Recreation Survey: The results of the survey were sent in a separate email but can be found here: https://bit.ly/HTABondsParkSurvey2021
  2. Township Plans for Bond’s Park:
    Based on recent HTA discussions with Town Hall regarding Bond’s Park:

    • The Township has seen the survey and seems to have no interest in putting pickleball in Bond’s Park. As we’ve mentioned before, they appear to be pleased with the idea that the community is not calling for further investment in Holgate at this time.
    • They remain intent on taking back all of the land in Bond’s Park that the Township owns (without any indication of how it may or may not be used at any point in the future).
    • We requested but were not able to obtain an agreement to have the Township meet with the Palotta family to review the situation as the Township believes it has already had several conversations with the family about this. The Palotta family does not concur with this belief.
    • There has been no indication that the Township is willing to consider other alternatives to running the driveway out to Joan Road/Bay Terrace. The HTA made sure they were clearly aware this is not what the neighborhood wants.
    • We have requested that the Township announces to the community the property access plan when it is finalized. So far, there is no agreement to do so although we will keep trying to achieve this.
  3. Fall Membership Meeting: Special thanks to Dan Macone for overseeing this event and thank you to the Trustees for hosting a successful meeting that so many turned out to attend. While I was away at a family wedding, it was wonderful to know so many from Holgate could gather for great food and friendship.
  4. Membership Record Smashed (again): It wasn’t that long ago that membership was below 300 (out of approximately 800 homes) and we are thrilled to announce we are now at 477 and counting. We thank returning members for their continued support and welcome our new members!
  5. Resilient LBI: As a barrier island, LBI is at risk due to severe weather and climate change but the potential solution costs are significant. As part of a statewide effort, the Resilient Long Beach Island project is in the scenario planning phase. The project team will present future flood maps (impact scenarios) and resilience scenarios that will provide options for island conditions now and several years to come. Please consider attending one of their Scenario Planning Workshops or Open House this week to learn more, share your opinions and help shape the resulting regional resilience action plan. https://bit.ly/ResilientNJLBI
  6. Offshore Wind: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced its intention to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation Plan that Atlantic Shores has submitted. The scope of the review of the EIS is subject to public comment and comments are welcomed now through November 1. This is a great opportunity for people to express their concerns about the environmental impact that the off-shore wind project may have. Comments are really directed to BOEM regarding what aspects of impact it should study.

    There will be three virtual scope meetings that the public can attend to learn more or express views.
    Link to the announcement
    Link to BOEM’s website

  7. Upcoming Water Usage Rates: The following rates were published in the last Commissioners Meeting and are expected to pass when the second reading of the ordinance takes place on November 1.

    Schedule No. 1
    Residential Water Rates

    Annual base charge per residential water meter with 1 residential unit up to 15,000 gallons per quarter per unit: $650.00

    Annual base charge per residential unit at properties with 1 water meter and more than 1 residential unit located at the property up to 15,000 gallons per quarter per unit: $650.00

    Standby rate (when the property is cut and capped): $200.00

    Quarterly consumption per meter (per 1,000 gallons)

    0-15,000 Included
    15,001-25,000 $2.00
    25,001-50,000 $4.00
    50,001-100,000 $8.00
    100,001-150,000 $12.00
    150,001+ $16.00
  8. Taxes: Based on figures posted in the last Commissioners meeting, Long Beach Township in 2021 will have the lowest tax rate of all LBI municipalities. The tax breakdown is:
    • County (including Library and Open Space): $37.5 million
    • School (including Regional and Local): $25.3 million
    • Municipal (Open Space): $21.4 million
  9. Dune Grass: Dune grass is now available in the Township’s municipal yard. Our experience is it is better to plant as soon as possible to give the grass the best chance to grow.
  10. Shuttles and Gators: Commissioner Lattanzi reports that the very popular shuttle program operated in the black this year and new buses will be ordered. The free gator service has also been extremely well received. However, the Township is reviewing if there should be any method for charging since the operation is a significant cost. Given the benefit to seniors and the disabled, we commented in the Commissioners meeting that the gators should be considered a community service and not a revenue generator.