January 15, 2013

To: Generic Letter
From: Holgate Taxpayers Association Officers and Trustees
Re: Beach Replenishment Easement

Dear Homeowner,

On October 29th Super Storm Sandy devastated Long Beach Island. The community of Holgate suffered the most severe damage of any community on the Island. No one could have ever imagined that a storm of that magnitude would hit Holgate and cause so much damage to our wonderful community. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. However, Holgate is now extremely vulnerable to future storms as in most areas there are no longer any sand dunes to protect not only the ocean front homes but many other homes to the west. Many homeowners whose homes were destroyed are uncertain as to whether or not to rebuild and new investors in the community will be reluctant to make such a risky investment. Not only have our homes sustained damage, but the values of our homes have also declined for this very reason. Replenishment of the dunes is one of the only ways homeowners and businesses can have some assurance that they are making a good investment and the value of our homes will rebound to pre-Sandy values. Since Sandy, all but four (4) homeowners have now signed their easement. Despite this recent disaster you remain one of those homeowners who have not signed the required easement and you stand in the way of protecting our community, our homes and our businesses from future storms. We will have a short window of opportunity to get our community protected again or the funds will be used elsewhere. As an organization that represents the concerns of Holgate homeowners, we urge you to sign the easement so that we can get 100% of the ocean front homeowners signed. Without that, the future of Holgate remains uncertain.
In August 2012, prior to Sandy, we wrote to you asking you to please let us know if you were inclined to sign the Easement. The same thing applies now as it did then in that we can make arrangements to send a Township Notary to your home if needed so that you can complete the paperwork. It’s that simple! All you need to do is sign the document; no hassle. If you are hesitant about signing the easement for some reason, then as a community organization representing the interests of all homeowners in Holgate, we would appreciate the opportunity to understand your point of view. Please contact Dan Macone (732-575-0773 or dkmacone74@gmail.com), Bill Cannon (917-685-7219 or billcannon@earthlink.net) or Bill Hutson (609-492-6363) at your earliest convenience to share your concerns and any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Holgate Taxpayers Association

During this past week we have been working on getting the correct contact information for the remaining four holdouts in Holgate. I have provided the most current information I have below. At this time, I would encourage each of you to send your own personal letter explaining why dune replacement is critical to you and your community. This may help anyone sitting on the fence to make a decision. Two of the properties are not individuals; one is an estate and one is a time share. The people representing the ten-member time share have told us that no one is against signing and that’s it’s a matter of getting the paperwork signed by the time share’s three directors. They are in the process of getting that done. Thanks for your help in this regard.

4401 S Long Beach Blvd. – Marianne Von Volkenburgh – 1 Stillery Road, Lebannon, NJ 08833

4209 S. Long Beach Blvd. – Piperata Estate – Attorney Bruce A. Jones is handling the Estate. His address is 8 Market Street, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865

4303 S. Long Beach Blvd. – Marilyn Kaufman – 7351 Monteverde Way, Naples, FL 34119 – Property is being represented by Attorney Kenneth Porro 12 North Rte. 17 PO Box 1827 Paramus, NJ 07653

4801 S. Long Beach Blvd. – Time Share Property – Managed by Mr. Brooke Tidswell 112 High Street, Mount Holly, NJ 08060

There was a Town Council Meeting on December 21, 2012 in which a number of questions were asked and answered. To vie the Q&A click here or read below

Questions Town Council Meeting – Friday, December 21, 2012

Q: How long will the Township be accepting sand at the South end of Holgate?
A: At least two more weeks. At that time, the effort will be reevaluated.

Q: Will the Township continue to pick-up the debris? The Bobcat consolidated the debris at the south end today but no truck came to pick it up.
A: No debris will be picked up during the Holiday week. The Clean-up will resume on January 2nd to pick up any debris remaining. No additional debris should be put out as of today.

Q: Many residents think that the hazardous waste items that they are being placed in front of their homes will be picked up by the Township. What arrangements are being made and what should residents do? I went to the Ocean County Hazardous Waste Disposal site. They would only take paint cans that had an original label on them. Most other materials I had to bring back home.
A: The Township has started picking up the hazardous materials and will be getting to it.

Q: Is the south end parking lot, including the bathrooms, going to be rebuilt?
A: Yes, initially it may not be paved due to lack of resources.

Q: Will W Cleveland Avenue remain a dead end street?
A: It might not be.

Q: Will our beaches in Holgate be replenished? Starting when? How many ocean front owners still need to sign easements? Will the names be made public? Will the township/state now use eminent domain to seize the homes of the holdouts?
A: There are five (5) unsigned easements as of today. They are 4803, 4801, 4405, 4303 and 4209. There is a bill in the US Senate to provide funds to address the issues caused by super storm Sandy. Some of the money being requested is to be allocated for beach replenishment for Long Beach Island. There will be a finite period of time to utilize the allocated funds or they will be lost. In other words, it is imperative to get the remaining 5 easements signed.

Q: What can we do as a community organization to help the Township with rebuilding? The disaster also presents us with the opportunity to make improvements. Improvements to the community that the Association can recommend as the rebuilding process is underway ie, parking lot, beach access, ways to better protect the community from future storms in addition to beach replenishment – what else
can be done?, etc.
A: Put our suggestions together and they will take a look at them.

Register your vacant home with the Long Beach Township police department at LBTPD.org. Vacant home forms must be renewed each winter season to remain active.