Several Holgate Taxpayers Association trustees attended the caucus and public meetings at the Township on Monday, June 4th. The following items were on the docket:

• The second reading of Ordinance 18-16C, regarding the issue of outdoor fire pits, was postponed until July 2, 2018. Essentially this ordinance revises the set backs from property lines and states that no fire device shall be located in any side yard or any area or lot fronting on a public street. Portable AND permanent devices must be a minimum of 5 feet from any structure and 10 feet from any property line. They both may not be under any part of a structure such as a deck or roof; the 5 foot minimum applies.
• Resolution 18-0604.13 was approved. The resolution approved free beach buggy permits and beach badges for active military and their families and for all veterans.
• Two additional buses have been purchased. This brings the total number to eight. Revenues received so far are $18,679 and the Township is looking for revenues of $200,000 to break even.
• The Gators start on June 16th.
• The County’s paper shredding day is on June 16th at the Stafford Township, Southern Ocean County Recycling Center Lot, 379 Haywood Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Water restrictions are in effect from June 1st through September 30th. Details can be found on the Long Beach Township website under the Water and Sewer Department.
• Mayor Mancini stated that 200 truckloads of sand will be brought in next week in an effort to repair the beaches at the south end of Holgate.

We have a number of great initiatives underway including upgrading the “Welcome to Holgate” sign and are working to bring them to fruition in 2018. In addition, below are the notes taken by HTA Trustee, Marianne Hurley, at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Commissioners on April 9th. Please note that the spring membership meeting will be at the Township Hall on Saturday, June 2nd at 10:00 am. The Mayor and the other Commissioners will be available to answer your questions. As you know there is strength in numbers and currently our membership is at an all time high. If you have not paid your membership dues for 2018, please consider making your payment at this time. Further, we encourage you to talk with your neighbors and friends who may be new to the area or who are not members but may be interested in becoming members of the Holgate Taxpayers Association.

April 9, 2018 Commissioners Meeting Notes:

The budget is finished and our taxes thankfully, are only going to be raised quite moderately. Sewer and water taxes will remain the same. We are having a property assessment which has been ordered by the County since we have not had one since the 80’s. The contract with the appraisal company has been signed at a total cost of $500,000, and now it is just a matter of clearing up some of the questions that the County has and the final paperwork has to be completed by June. Some property owners have already been saying that they will not let anyone in to their homes to complete the requirements. They have been told that they can deny access 3x’s but on the 4th time the appraisers will just do what they have to do from the outside without gaining access and then it will be up to the property owner to fight with them if they are not happy with the outcome. The buses will be back but there will be a fee this year. A one way pass will be $2.00 and an all day pass will be $5.00. Bus drivers will not be making change so riders must have exact change or if they presented a $5.00 bill for example for a $2.00 ride, then they will not be refunded any money. Next year they hope to be offering seasonal passes, but there are many questions and kinks to iron out before we get there. They are looking into other shore towns which have been very successful and using their good points. They are also having very late night buses. More details about times and schedules will be available in the Sandpaper. Shredders will be on the Island in April, June and September and once again dates, times and locations will be in the Sandpaper and while there, check the trash/recycling summer schedule. They are still waiting for the permit for the jetty work which is probably about 6 months away as the Army Corps called for a second design/opinion from Stephens Institute besides the one that they have already have from Stockton. The Township has nothing to do with this. Work is being done on various parts of the Island for Beach Replenishment, i.e., Daddio’s and the Township is working on fixing up our beaches here in Holgate. A re-cap of the meeting can also be found in the April 11th edition of the Sandpaper.

On Monday, December 4th we attended the Regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Commissioners. The following salient points were presented:

• The mobilization for the dredging of the Little Egg Inlet began the day after Thanksgiving. The project is expected to be completed by the end of March. The sand dredged from the Inlet will be used to replenish the beaches in southern Beach Haven and Holgate.
• The Terminal Groin redesign (wooden jetty) is still under review. The plan has now been sent to Stevens Institute of Technology for review before the permitting process can begin. The Mayor stated that there were two designs being considered. The first allows sand to pass under the structure and thus, requires a lot of maintenance. The second allows sand to pass over the top of the structure and the design allows some regulation of the amount of sand going over. The Mayor stated that the National Wildlife Refuge is requesting a certain amount of sand flow to the Refuge each year as it has been determined that the nesting of the Piping Plovers is increased when there is a receding shoreline. The bidding process for the new groin is not expected to occur until the Fall of 2018. The Taxpayers of Long Beach Township will possibly bear 25% of its cost.
• Mayor Mancini reported that Moody’s has upgraded the Township’s financial rating to AA1. This is the second highest rating and will allow the Township to borrow at the best possible rates.
• Bidding for the Janet Road Pump House rebuild will go out in January 2018 and the project is expected to be completed by the beginning of the summer. The stones around the area including the parking lot on the west side of the tennis courts will be changed to a white, 3/4″ crushed granite identical what has been used at the 68th street bay beach parking lot. The walking path from Janet to West will be made of crushed shells as was requested by the residents abutting the site.
• Commissioner Bayard reported that P&A Construction was repairing and re-paving the trenches that had been dug for the sewer and water projects over the last year. The longer term plan is to completely re-pave Long Beach Boulevard once the last water and sewer project is done. We also discussed the repair of the half dozen or so intersections of the Boulevard and side streets at the north end of Holgate. Since the County maintains the Boulevard and the Township maintains the side streets, getting this work accomplished is taking more time than. However, the Commissioner is working on it.

Holgate Taxpayers Association
P.O. Box 1326, Holgate, New Jersey 08008
www.holgatetaxpayers.org

The results in alphabetical order of the recent election of Trustees and Reelection of Three Officers are listed here.

Trustees
Tom Beaty
Frank Benintendo
Eileen Bowker
Bill Cannon
Marianne Hurley – Current Recording Secretary
Bill Hutson
Yanni Kaloudis
Frank Lowery
Dan Macone – Current President
Rand Pearsall
Ted Stiles
Bob White

Reelected Officers
Tom Beatty – 1st Vice President
Bill Cannon – Treasurer
Yanni Kaloudis – Corresponding Secretary

Thank you for your membership in the HTA.
Bob White

Elections for trustees and certain officer positions will be held later this summer. A slate of candidates is now being prepared by the Nominating Committee. As stated in the HTA By-laws, nominations may 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. If anyone is interested in being nominated, this petition must be received no later than Wednesday (tomorrow), August 9, 2017.

Further, several standing committees exist within the Organization. They are as follows: Nominating, Membership Recruitment, By-law, Community Safety, Dune Planting, Green Head Traps and Audit. If you are interested in serving on one of those committees, please let us know. This is a perfect way to get involved in the community and work on solutions to the current issues being worked on in Holgate. The Community Safety Committee is meeting on August 14th and the Dune Planting team will be planting a number of beach accesses beginning on Thursday, September 28th and continuing on Friday, September 29th and Saturday, September 30th. In addition, once it is known when the dune grass supplied by the Township will be available, a date for this planting will be scheduled.

Shortly you will receive an invitation to the fall BBQ to be held on Saturday, September 9th at 5:00 PM. There will be an alternate location designated for the BBQ in case of inclement weather.

We attended the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Commissioners on Monday, August 7th. Ordinances 17-29C (permit requirement for non-family groups of 30 or more in residential zones) and 17-30 (authorizing a referendum ballot question regarding the establishment of an open space conservation trust fund) were unanimously adopted. The public comment period was extended to October 3, 2017 for Ordinance 17-31C (prohibition of single use plastic bags).

Commissioner Lattanzi stated that there will be a referendum question on the ballot this fall to give the Township flexibility for a fee collection to fund the buses. Mayor Mancini stated that the Stockton design and blueprint along with the expected cost to replace the wooden jetty at the south end of Holgate is anticipated to be in by the end of the week. He also commented that the new bids to get the contracts in place to dredge the Little Egg Inlet would be going out. The sand from the dredging will be put back onto the beaches in Holgate and Beach Haven. A large crowd of residents voiced their concerns regarding the delivery of mail and other packages to places other than their addresses. Due to having essentially only one zip code on the entire Island (with the exception of Barnegat Light) and in many cases more than a single unique street name, the post office and other delivery services are sending materials to the wrong address. The Mayor set up a meeting at the Town Hall at 11:00 am on Wednesday, August 9th, with the residents to address this problem.

Last evening we also attended the Joint Council of Taxpayers Association of Long Beach Island. All ten Associations were represented. A motion was passed to support the efforts of the six municipal entities to address the inequities in the apportionment of the regional school funding between LBI and Stafford Township. Also, there is need for additional EMT’s for the Beach Haven (and Barnegat Light) First Aid Squad. Anyone interested, please let us know.
—
Dan Macone

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

Volume 25

Holgate Taxpayers Association
P.O. Box 1326, Holgate, New Jersey 08008
www.holgatetaxpayers.org

The Annual Spring General Meeting
Saturday, June 10 at 1:30 (note different time from last year)
Place: Long Beach Township Municipal Building, Brant Beach, NJ 08008

Please try to attend and meet your elected officials. Mayor Mancini, Commissioners Ralph Bayard and Joe Lattanzi are scheduled to speak and answer questions. Coffee and cake will be served. Come join us!

Message From Dan Macone, President

Hello Everyone!

Soon another summer season will be here and we will all be enjoying our corner of paradise once again. The Holgate Taxpayers Association (HTA) has been very active this winter. In addition to following up with the Long Beach Township officials on the ongoing projects such as the Janet Road pump station and the stains on the pavement on Inlet Road, the HTA conducted a survey of homeowners and residents regarding the future development of the LBI Trailer Park. The results of the survey have been posted on our web page here. The Trustees met on April 8th to set the agenda for 2017. The minutes from the meeting have been posted on the HTA website here along with the budget for fiscal 2017 posted here. Also the by-laws committee updated the by-laws and the proposed changes will be voted on at the June 10th membership meeting. The proposed changes can be found here.

We thank everyone for their support of the HTA as we work together to make Holgate the best it can be. Last year we surpassed the 300 member mark for the first time! If you have new neighbors who just moved to Holgate, please let them know about the HTA and encourage them to become a member.

The HTA “Adopt a Dune” Program was established to “stack the deck” in favor of success. Many members have contributed substantial additional funds for this initiative and the HTA is determined to make sure that these funds are being used wisely. Prior to choosing a beach access to work on, several items need to be addressed. The abutting beach access property owners need to be notified of the plantings. A nearby water source needs to be identified and a “caretaker” is needed to commit to watering the new plants for a year until the new trees, shrubs, and grasses take hold. Lastly an “access captain” is needed to coordinate the volunteers and direct the layout of the plantings according to the architectural drawings. This Spring the accesses at Washington, Pershing and Susan are ready to be planted. There are a total of 21 beach accesses in Holgate and the HTA is looking for additional “caretakers” and “access captains” to step forward and volunteer for the Fall 2017 plantings.

Greenhead Traps
We will be repairing and baiting all traps 200+ by June 7 with a second baiting completed by July 21.

Fall BBQ and Picnic
The Fall BBQ and Picnic will be held on Saturday September 9 at 4:30 pm at the Holgate Tennis Courts. Please bring a covered dish to share. Hot dogs, hamburgers and soft drinks are provided by the HTA.

The HTA is organizing a neighborhood cleanup for Saturday, May 27th. We haven’t done a clean-up in a couple of years and this is a good opportunity to come out and join your friends, neighbors and fellow HTA members in the effort to beautify our community.

May 27th (rain date May 28th)
8:30am to noon
Meet at the South End parking lot for assignments and supplies.

This is not a beach cleanup, but rather a cleanup of all the other areas.

To volunteer, or for more details,
contact event coordinator Tom Beaty at Tom@woodenjetty.com

Thank you for your support!

The food

The “Pres”

The commissioners