Monday, May 20, 2013
Planning a vacation or just a day trip? Patch has all the information on the Shore's best beaches
More than six months after Superstorm Sandy caused unprecedented damage to the Jersey Shore region, the beaches will be open for Memorial Day Weekend and the summer. While certain access points and facilities might be closed as municipalities continue to work on restoration, for the most part, the beaches will be operational. The only beach that remains off limits to the public is Mantoloking. The borough was home to a breach that split Ocean County's northern barrier island in half and was one of the hardest hit communities in New Jersey during the storm. So as you prepare to stick your toes in the sand, are you wondering what will be accessible after Sandy? Need to know how much it will cost to buy badges to your favorite beach? Curious …
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Residents rally outside the Sandy-ravaged Surf Club in Ortley Beach
On any given day or night in the past, Joey Harrison's Surf Club parking lot on Sixth Avenue in Ortley Beach would be packed with cars. But that was before Oct. 29, 2012. There is no parking lot left. And soon the Surf Club will be a memory. Superstorm Sandy took care of that. Two oceanfront homes battered by Sandy served as a backdrop for the latest meeting of the grassroots group Stop FEMA Now. The meeting was held in the Ortley Beach section of Toms River - the spot many consider the epicenter of devastation in Ocean County. Stop FEMA Now founder George Kasimos pointed to the pale-yellow house knocked off its foundation, as seagulls wheeled overhead in a cerulean sky. The Atlantic Ocean roared beyond the new dunes. "Six months," he said…
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Officials hoping project will begin this summer from Manasquan to Barnegat inlets
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Daniel Nee
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Thursday, March 14
Oceanfront homeowners between Manasquan and Barnegat inlets are being urged to sign easements necessary for a beach renourishment project to get off the ground by May 1, officials said Thursday. U.S. Rep Jon Runyan (R-3) wrote to the mayors of a number of northern Ocean County municipalities this week urging them to secure all necessary easements for the massive dune and beach project by May 1, the date the Army Corps of Engineers must submit a work plan to Congress. The project's design – which would include the construction of approximately 25-foot high dunes, 75 foot wide berms and 175 acres of dune grass in the project area – was completed in 2007, but has languished after some oceanfront homeowners refused to sign easements that would…
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Four months after Superstorm Sandy slammed into Ocean County, signs of devastation still very apparent
This is not going to be over soon. Superstorm Sandy has forever transformed the lives of those who were directly affected by it. There is no going back to life the way it was. And only those who are living this nightmare each day and night can understand the constant daily stress, fear and worry. Those who never had to leave their homes on that dark and terrifying day of Oct. 29, they cannot understand. Maybe they lost power for days and they were cold. Maybe some trees came down. And there are some who wonder why storm victims can't just get on with their lives and forget about Sandy. They do not and cannot understand. We can't forget. The old cliche "unless it happens to you" is particularly apt here. Sandy is not over for too many of us…
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Service line work, meter replacements progressing
New Jersey American Water Company has reported that its work in the Brick and Toms River sections of the northern barrier island are on track. While water service has been restored to the mains island wide, some side streets still needed work and service to some homes needed to be restored as residents repopulated. "Restoration of service lines and water meters in Brick and Toms River is progressing well," the company said in a statement. As part of the ongoing work in Toms River's Ortley Beach section, NJAW crews will begin using GPS devices to "pre locate" meters, valves and hydrants, the company said. The one town that does not have water service at all is Mantoloking Borough, due to the fact that sewer lines have not yet been repaired…
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Panel of experts address issues such as compliance, mitigation, insurance, financing, resale and rebuilding after Sandy.
Recognizing that real estate professionals are “on the front lines” when it comes to answering questions about homes and businesses after Sandy, the Ocean County Board of Realtors convened an information session this week in Toms River. Tom Wissel, of the Ocean County Board, invited representatives from FEMA and the SBA (Small Business Administration), as well as a real estate attorney, insurance professional and mortgage banker, to attend the first of two planned “After Sandy” panels. “What I first learned, was a lesson on the Constitution because federal agencies need to be invited to sessions like this that deal with state and local issues," said Wissel. "They can not call for them on their own,” he added. In addition, federal agencies…
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Since Hurricane Sandy caused massive destruction to the Ortley Beach amusement center, the sidewalk has been a graveyard for destroyed arcade machines.
Barnacle Bill's arcade and miniature golf course has been an Ortley Beach landmark for decades. During Hurricane Sandy, both the arcade and golf course suffered significant damage. During the cleanup of the arcade, dozens of arcade cabinets, pinball machines, and crane games, all of them destroyed by flooding ocean water, were pulled out to the sidewalk creating a video game graveyard of sorts. Though the destroyed machines account for about 30 years of collecting, Bill's owner Bill Petruzel said, Barnacle Bill's will be rebuilt, hopefully by this summer.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Ortley Beach the only neighborhood which will not be open
Unfettered access to barrier island neighborhoods of Brick and Toms River, as well as Seaside Heights, will resume Jan. 7, officials announced Friday. Brick Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis and Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher both signed a formal request to Gov. Chris Christie's office certifying that public utilities and roadways would be restored by that date. The request was also signed by Seaside Heights mayor William Akers, who did not attend the ceremony because he was attending the funeral of long-time Ocean County Sheriff William Polhemus. The access plan, if approved by Christie, will allow full public access to all of the barrier island neighborhoods in Brick and Toms River, as well as Seaside Heights, with the exception or Ortley …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
If the owners of private beachfront property in Ortley Beach want their dunes replaced by the township, they need to grant public beach access, township says.
Toms River has replaced the sand dunes on publicly owned oceanfront property in Ortley Beach that were washed away during Hurricane Sandy. The township is willing to extend the same courtesy to the owners of private beachfronts, too, but on one condition. And it’s not a small one. According to township solicitor Ken Fitzsimmons, the township is legally prohibited from spending taxpayer funds to replenish dunes on private property destroyed by Sandy. That’s no longer a problem should the property owners grant the township an easement. As a condition of the easement, however, Toms River is requiring property owners to grant the township public access to the beach between the dunes and the Atlantic Ocean in perpetuity. Suddenly, the private …
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Debris everywhere in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy
Ortley Beach will have a way to go to cleanup the damage wreaked by Hurricane Sandy. Volunteers from Viridian Energy helped in that effort spending the better part of a day moving debris to curbsides in the town.
Deep Throat
10:07 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
It's great to see that Toms River is going to charge its residents $35 this year for a beach the size of a postage stamp. How about letting the town residents on for free and just charging the out of towners!!!!!!! I for the first time in 35 years will not pay for a badge and many in our neighborhood feel the same. In this case to somewhat quote a movie- greed is not good. more ›