The Beach Haven Borough Council recently introduced an ordinance authorizing emergency appropriation in the amount of $200,000 to pay for the complete revaluation of all properties within the town, Borough Manager Richard Crane announced during the council’s regular meeting, held Feb. 9. The revaluation, ordered by the Ocean County Board of Taxation, must be completed by Nov. 1 so the new values can be put into effect for the 2016 tax year.
“It was, I have to say, a little unexpected,” Crane stated.
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| Photo via Google Beach Haven's ratio of assessed value to true value has slipped 83.57 percent. |
The order is based on the fact that the town’s ratio of assessed value to true value is down to 83.57 percent. The town’s last evaluation was conducted in 2004.
The project requires the borough to hire an outside firm “because it is a very labor-intensive process,” Crane said.
“They do have to visit every property within the borough,” he emphasized.
The firm will be working under the direction of the borough tax assessor. The revaluation is expected to take place in the mid-spring and summer months.
More details will be available once a contract award is given and a timetable is laid out, Crane noted.
“Time is of the essence,” he said. “We have to get this process moving.”
Also during the meeting the council executed a task order to extend a contract with Louis Berger Group, which, Crane said, the borough has “relied heavily on … to assist us in working to obtain the maximum reimbursement from both FEMA as well as our insurance carrier for all of our damages incurred post-Sandy.”
“Superstorm Sandy, though it is well over two years old, continues to be pretty much an everyday project for us here. … We’re making slow but steady progress,” he added.
Councilman Don Kakstis noted there have been several architects interested in designing the new municipal building. Candidates will be interviewed, and a selection will be made within the next couple of weeks. Construction is expected to begin sometime this summer.
During public comment, a representative from the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey introduced two new state programs available to those affected by Sandy. Applications can be filled out online at renewjerseystronger.org, or in person at OCEAN Inc. The deadline for both is March 4 at 5 p.m.
The Low to Moderate Income Homeowners Rebuilding Program is designed to provide reconstruction, rehabilitation and elevation assistance. It is also designed to serve LMI homeowners of limited English proficiency, and owners of manufactured housing units as well as those LMI homeowners who did not apply for the state’s Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation Program.
The Sandy Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Program, available to renters and homeowners, provides assistance on a temporary basis in the form of a voucher. This assistance is for a 12-month period, with an option to renew for up to an additional 12 months. The program’s maximum assistance is 25 months.
Despite one last plea from the public to keep the allowable tent permits in town at eight per residence per year instead of changing it to four in 2016, a hot topic between the council and the public for many months, the council adopted the amended ordinance as written. The permit fee has also been increased from $25 each to $100 each.
Mayor Nancy Taggart Davis told The SandPaper after the meeting that “a lot of what happens (next) depends on this summer.” Although some council members are adamant the policy will not change, she said, “There’s always a possibility” it would. She emphasized that there are no current plans to reconsider the ordinance.
The council also adopted an amendment to the noise ordinance, a main concern for many surrounding neighbors, to help people better understand the provisions.
The problem is “not the tents totally. It’s the noise that’s created by the parties under the tents,” Taggart Davis noted. “We really have to be responsible to the residents as well as the business people in town, all the taxpayers. And we’re very aware of that.”
Enforcement of the noise ordinance, which Taggart Davis said was practically non-existent in the past, will require disrupted neighbors to contact the police with a complaint.
“If there are complaints, we will have enforcement. We are going to strictly enforce these ordinances,” she said.
Other ordinance amendments for fencing; beach parties; special events and block parties, including bonfires; streets and sidewalks; water meters for unimproved lots; seasonal rental dwellings; as well as scrap metals, precious metals and other secondhand goods regulations were adopted at the meeting.
An ordinance amendment that would permit private garages as an accessory use, with certain requirements, for all residential properties located in the borough was tabled for further review on behalf of the land use board.
Ordinance amendments regarding alternate relief drivers or riders for peddling and soliciting; a general penalty provision to be raised from no more than $1,250 to no more than $2,000; as well as borough worker salaries for the 2015 year were all passed on introduction.
In direct implication of the recent killings of police officers across the nation, the council passed a resolution honoring law enforcement officers. A plaque was given to Beach Haven Police Chief Kevin Kohler on behalf of the entire department. A handful of borough cops were also there to accept the award.
“On behalf of the mayor and the rest of the council, we want to tell you all that this is not just some words that were put together; it’s from the bottom of our heart,” Councilman James White said. “We really feel that you do a great job for our town. We know even above law enforcement there’s many things that you do for us. We want to say thank you, and we want to do it publicly. So that’s the idea of the resolution. Thank you, all, for the great job you do for us every single day and night.”
In regard to a public question on the status of beach replenishment, which includes a $128 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. to complete the initial construction of the Long Beach Island Coastal Storm Damage Reduction project, Taggart Davis noted the work is expected to be completed by April 16, 2016. She said that “is much faster than we initially thought because, basically, they have more equipment, more barges.” If the project is not finished by that date, the company has to start paying penalty fees. The project is a joint effort of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District and the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection.
Replenishment will start in Loveladies at the north end of Long Beach Island and go south, “which makes a lot of sense because that’s the way the sand moves,” Taggart Davis said.
“The nice thing for Beach Haven is we will not have this happening during this coming summer, but the project should be done before the following summer,” she said. “… It’s really moving ahead, so it’s exciting. ”
Even though the Army Corps will be doing a “tremendous amount” of dune planting, White said, they will not be planting sustainable shrubs. Taggart Davis said she would like to get some shrubs planted this spring at the far western side of the dunes, where there will not be any dune grass planted. White encouraged local groups to help take part in the project.
In response to a public question about leaks at the new lifeguard station building, Taggart Davis said there is some work scheduled.
“There are concerns with the building that we are addressing, so hopefully it’ll be taken care of by the time summer comes,” she noted.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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