July 19th meeting Minutes in Brief - Part 2

[OPRA Reporter]

ALBERT J BATTAGLIA, JR., 207 N WISSAHICKON a proud 52 year resident has fond childhood memories of the pier since father was a part time doctor and full time fisherman on the pier. Because of the uniqueness of the pier and the articles about the county and state looking for open space it behooves us to continue to look for additional funding to maintain the pier and make it more open to the public. He commended the Commissioners for their efforts in seeking additional monies and wished them good luck. The Mayor explained that Atlantic County has Open Space grant monies for acquisition of lands for open space purposes. He sits on a committee that reviews such applications. He has been relentless in asking the County Executive and County Board of Freeholders to consider using some of these grant monies for maintenance of existing open space facilities or possibly reducing debt service on open space projects such as the fishing pier.

VINCENT CANNUSCIO, 5401 FREMONT a Ventnor resident for 40 years although not a fisherman, is a member of the fishing pier. He enjoys going out and sitting on the pier in the evenings. His father is a fisherman and using the pier is a part of his life, as it is with the other members of the fishing pier. MR CANNUSCIO said he is willing to pay a little extra for his father’s enjoyment. We should take advantage of the grants and low interest loans - the pier cannot stay in the condition it is now.

STEPHEN GAYNES, 20 N MARTINDALE likened paying repair/maintenance of the fishing pier to paying school taxes even though you don’t have children in school or paying for street maintenance even if you don’t drive. The $50 to $100 increase is well worth the status the pier gives to Ventnor. It would be a crime not to have the pier and suggested to anyone who could not afford the increase to move to Atlantic City.

ALLAN RICKEL, born and raised at 8 S MARION originally came to this meeting to speak against the pier project but now believes the pier is a good thing and energies should be directed toward finding ways to pay for it. He suggested fund raising efforts by volunteers and the private sector. CMR SCHAFER commended Mr. Rickel for his ideas and explained that sponsors have been sought with no success. He explained that the actions tonight were just to put monies in place, no decisions will be made tonight to go forward with the project. The Mayor and Commissioners assured MR RICKEL that they fully supported volunteerism, noting their active participation in projects such as laying sod, installing lights, building dugouts, etc at the ball fields and suggested he speak with Marsha Galespie who has been working this past year to raise money to redo the playground at Somerset Ave.

MICHAEL HURCHIK, 15 N LAFAYETTE, a member of the fishing pier for 15 years, now disabled, works part time on the pier. He reported that although there are only 287 members, 600 people have accessed the pier this year.

CLARA SALAMONE, 351 HAMPSHIRE spoke in favor of the pier stating that it is beneficial to beachgoers - good for the city and visitors. On a busy day you see many people sitting under the pier for shade and going onto the pier to use the restroom facilities.

RICHARD GOBER, 26 N HILLSIDE agreed on the benefits of the pier but not at the cost of millions. He suggested that the Commission “slow down” before committing to spending so much money and seek funding (not loans) from all sources (County, State, Federal) as well as casinos, sponsors, etc. $50 increase in taxes for the pier does not seem like much but $50 for this, $100 for that, $50 for something else adds up. Additionally, the membership fees should be increased. If this is the only public fishing pier in New Jersey surely the members would be willing to pay more than the modest amount they are presently charged. It is also MR GOBER’s opinion that taxpayers should not have to pay anything to walk out onto the pier. CMR VESPERTINO spoke of the dangers of allowing the public unrestricted access on the pier to which it was suggested that the public be allowed access up to a certain point with the remaining distance accessible to pier members/fishermen only. CMR VESPERTINO also wanted the public to know how diligently the Mayor and engineer (not in attendance) are working with the state and county to receive additional grants/funding. In response to MR GOBER, the Mayor pointed out that the cost of rehabilitating the pier continues to escalate. When we went out to bid 6-8 months ago the bid was $2.6M, the successful bidder “walked away” from the bid forcing the City to rebid. This time the bids come in at $3.2M ($600,000 more). If we put it off again the bids may come in even higher - the costs continue to escalate. If we allow free access to the pier, we would have to eliminate all user fees (beach fees, tennis courts, recreation programs) - that is a lot of revenue for the City. As with these other programs, support should come from the people who use it. MR GOBER again implored the Commission to take their time and get the taxpayer cost down to $1M-
$1.2M instead of $3.2M + interest over the next 15 years.

HY NEMIROFSKY, 24 S CORNWALL, a pier member who enjoys fishing and feels the pier is a Ventnor treasure and to lose it would be a drastic mistake - that it is imperative to fix it in a timely fashion before there are bigger problems. In answer to his question regarding the availability of funds for historic landmarks, the Mayor reported that the State is working with the City in that regard. MR NEMIROFSKY’s questions regarding taxes included: whether it would be possible to break down other budget expenses in the same way the Mayor explained how the fishing pier repairs would cost the taxpayer approximately $50 more (Ans: it would be possible to do it as a percentage, but not in $) and why can’t tax bill be on a January to December basis (Ans: Because of the State’s July 1- June 30 fiscal year).

DENNIS KELLY, 106 S CAMBRIDGE, stated that as [Ventnor School] Superintendent, he prepared school budgets for 12 years. He kept worksheets that detailed each line item and suggested that if he does not already do so, the Administrator should consider doing the same so that budget questions can be readily answered. (ADM MCCROSSON nodded affirmatively that worksheets are kept) MR KELLY asked for a clarification of the point made by the Mayor earlier in the meeting regarding the financing of the pier rehabilitation. The Mayor reiterated that the city was getting $400,000+ in grants from NJ DEP, $600,000+ in 2% loan and City financed bonds in the amount of $2.2M but also felt confident that we would be receiving additional funding in grants and 2% loan from the state of NJ to reduce the cost to the taxpayers.

The Pier Master wished to correct the figure given out as to the number of fishing pier member. MR TIERSTEIN said there are 370-380.