Group adopts beach access point by Tradewinds

By Neil Schulman
Sea Bright — The Surfer’s Environmental Alliance will adopt and maintain a beach access point in the borough.
At Tuesday’s Borough Council meeting, the borough voted to allow the SEA to adopt the North Tradewinds Public Beach Access Point. According to Mayor Dina Long, the resolution says that the Alliance will “keep the area clean, the landscaping attractive and neat.”
The borough has about eight access points, and a limited budget to maintain them.
Councilman Read Murphy called the gesture from the Alliance “very honorable.”
The site that the Alliance is taking over is an interesting one, Murphy said.
“There’s a bit of history there,” he said. That site used to be a favorite of surfers due to the good breaks there. It also housed the old Surf and Sea Night Club. That building was moved a few blocks north, and converted into Borough Hall, where the council meeting took place.
Congressman Frank Pallone recently announced $12 million in federal funding for more sand to come to Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach. Murphy said that sand would shelter the borough during storms, though at a small price.
“Though we all support the sand for a bigger cause, we’ll lose a good break,” he said.
Members of the Surfer’s Environmental Alliance at the meeting said that they would support the borough if it looked into supplements to sand replenishment, such as getting a reef built offshore. That might help keep the sand from washing away to Sandy Hook, as well as maintain some of the breaks.
In other beach-related news, Murphy announced that things will be different for beachgoers this summer.
“There’s going to be major, major changes to beach operations this year,” he said.
That includes reducing personnel, and removing much of the fencing. Instead, there will be signs reminding people they need to have beach passes, and a police officer will issue heavy fines to those who don’t have them.
“I just don’t like the way the beach operates now, and it’s time to take the bull by the horns,” Murphy said.

Originally published Feb. 23, 2012