Brant Beach Bulletin – April 5, 2024
Save the date! Our spring members’ meeting will be Saturday, June 15, at 9am, with Commissioner Allie Meehan and Police Lt. Hartman.
This issue covers beach badges, property tax rates, and Township topics, including the design contest for the new Township logo.
Representatives from the Brant Beach Taxpayers Association including Pete Potochney, John Fiore, Donn O’Brien, Mike F, Janis Metz, and Ben Tonti attended the April 1 Long Beach Township Commissioner’s Meeting.
❖ Beach Badges There are multiple ways to purchase badges this year:
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- In-person at the Beach Badge Shack on 68th Street from 9am–3pm daily. Bring proof of age for purchasing a senior badge.
- Print and mail the order form on the LBT website. You will still need to pick up the physical seasonal badges at the beach badge shack.
- Use My Beach Mobile (an app) to purchase pre-season, seasonal, weekly and daily badges, as well as shuttle passes. The physical seasonal badges must be picked up at the shack. All other badges and shuttle passes are digital and can be displayed and used on your mobile device. Download the app for Apple here or for Android here.
❖ LBT Budget Commissioner Lattanzi announced that LBT’s 2024 budget is ready. Even though it shows an increase of $1,100,000 over last year, the LBT municipal tax rate is “essentially flat” at $.20 per $100 of assessed value. The Commissioner stated that the Township was able to maintain the same municipal rate, in spite of significant increases in the cost of garbage pick-up services and state-required expenditures, by offsetting those increases with increased revenue from assessments and interest from investments.
He noted that tax rates for Ocean County and the Southern Regional School District are $.41 and $.21 respectively.
❖ Causeway Construction Kyle Ominski, Business Administrator, announced that construction on the causeway is expected to cease after Saturday, May 18, and resume in September, with a focus on finishing the work needed on 8th Street in Ship Bottom. The work on 9th Street is 95% completed at this time. The state police have been helpful in managing the traffic flow over the past few weeks and the timing of the traffic lights has been fixed to ensure that the traffic flows on and off the island more smoothly.
❖ Happy Birthday, Long Beach Township. LBT is 125 years old this year, and the Township is throwing a party over Memorial Day weekend at Bayview Park to celebrate. Details about the party will be included in next month’s newsletter.
❖ Calling All Artists In celebration of the anniversary, the Mayor and Commissioners are looking for a new logo to replace the three-masted schooner logo currently used on LBT’s print and electronic materials and on the clothing worn by LBT employees. Your design can be any color or shape, but it must include the phrase “Township of Long Beach”. It can also incorporate something related to the history of LBT, but not to LBI in general.
Submit your design by email to Gina Lotito, LBT Director of Parks & Recreation, at rlotito@longbeachtownship.com. Or, hand deliver it to the receptionist at the 68th Street municipal building during business hours.
Your design must be received by 4:00pm Friday, May 3, 2024. The winner will be announced by May 10. Questions? Email Gina at the address above or call her at 609.361.6697.
❖ Long Beach Island Library April 7-13 is National Library Week and Laurence Krupinski, Branch Manager, noted that the library has many resources that residents may not be aware of, such as free museum passes to over a dozen museums in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia, and mobile Internet hot spot devices that can be borrowed. Stop by the library at 217 S. Central Ave in Surf City or call 609.494.2480.
❖ WaterSmart App The best way (and, currently, the only way) to view your home’s water usage is to access WaterSmart on the LBT website. Click longbeachtwpnj.watersmart to get started.
❖ LBT Chief of Police retires Chief Kevin Mahon (on the left) was celebrated in a proclamation read by an emotional Mayor Mancini, who noted the retiring chief’s many promotions and accomplishments over his 30 years of service.
Captain Edward Bernhard (on the right) will be promoted to Chief of Police and was there as well to accept the mayor’s good wishes and Chief Mahon’s praise for his outstanding contributions.
ORDINANCES
- Proposed on First Reading First reading ordinances are not available on the LBT website because the redesign of that site is still in progress.
24-12C Bicycles (including electric and e-bikes) would be allowed on the beach from October 1 to May 14 only. No vehicles, motorcycles or scooters would be allowed at any time, except for off-season beach vehicles with permits. Also revises the set-back required for entryway roofs, roof decks, mechanical systems and roof deck structures.
24-10C Clarifies regulations regarding the maintenance and repair of water mains and related pipes and fixtures on private easements.
24-11 Authorizes $550,000 for new police communication and dispatch equipment.
- Passed On Second Reading
24-09C Oceanfront homeowners are now required to roll up and safely store their beach access walkways November 2–March 31. Rollover beach access walkways would be permitted April 1–November 1.
24-02 & 24-03 These two bond authorizations for the Water/Sewer and Public Works Departments were reposted from March due to technicalities.
24-07 Authorizes the budget cap of 2.5% imposed by the State of New Jersey to be raised to 3.5%, if needed. Mayor Mancini stated last month that this ordinance, approved annually, has never been used and he does not expect to use it in 2024.
24-08C This ordinance, required by state law, repeals and replaces current regulations related to pawnbrokers and dealers in secondhand goods.
Thank you for being a part of the
Brant Beach Taxpayers Association
