Wesley Lake retaining wall. Photo taken Oct. 20 by Mary Walton
While people worry about a controversial condo/hotel project at Ocean Grove’s North End, the immediate problem there — the slowly collapsing retaining wall — keeps getting worse. The part most in danger of failure is a 500-foot section running westward from the boardwalk, on the site of the proposed North End Redevelopment project.
Asbury Park has completely repaired the wall on its side of Wesley Lake. Neptune doesn’t have the money to repair the entire 3,400-foot wall on its side, but Mayor Randy Bishop, Committeewoman Mary Beth Jahn and others have said they expect the North End developers to fix the part adjacent to their proposed construction. So far, the developers have not agreed to do this.
This is such a joke. I keep saying you have to elect politicians that actually work to improve the town, not tear it apart.
Neptune needed to file for a grant like A.P. had done in order to replace the wall. Previously Neptune said they had half a million dollar grant money that they were going to use West side of Wesley lake. What happened to that money?
I will not understand that the building of the N. End is going to consume eight or ten million dollars that Neptune grants would pay for. It’s just another pass the buck from the mayor as usual. What has he actually done to improve O.G.?
Most of the bulging wall was due to the last fire when a firetruck backed up too close to the wall and had to be boom lifted out of the hole it made. Where do our tax dollars go in O.G.? I don’t see it. Roads need repaving, lack of police presence, the only time the police show up is to write tickets for people parking in the yellow at corners during events.
Jan — I believe I can answer some of your questions. Neptune has received a $250,000 grant. That, plus additional money, some to be raised through a bond issue, would allow repairs on the highest-priority sections of the wall. The Township has been postponing work on the worse part, next to the North End Redevelopment, because officials expect the NE developers to bear the cost of fixing that. The Township would prefer to apply the grant money to a section just west of the North End.
So why not make a “deal” with the North End developers for what would be their share and get the project done. Easier said…..
This conversation is ridiculous. Neptune Township needs to maintain the Wall — this is not an optional repair. The North End will not be rebuilt for years. BTW, Wesley Lake needs a lot more help than just having a section of the Wall replaced (it needs to be drained and dredged). Is Neptune so poor they cannot come up with $2 million or whatever to fix this disaster in the making? How about floating a bond or whatever. It will be much more expensive once a section of the Wall collapses. Penny wise and pound foolish. The Broadway project is great, but that can’t be the sum total of the infrastructure improvements for OG in this decade.
I agree that I do not see Neptune Township put anything close to even 1/2 of the money OG contributes in taxes back into OG. Virtually no one here uses the schools (that’s another disaster), and there are quite a number of things that need to be repaired/replaced — the lake wall being but one. Basically we just get ripped off. It would be interesting to determine just what percentage of our taxes actually benefits OG I bet less than 25%.
This crumbling wall is the only thing keeping large sections of the North End west to Founder’s Park from sliding into the lake. Heavy equipment rumbling around that lot before repair or replacement appears to be a disaster waiting to happen.
So does that mean the NE developer will get to do anything he wants with the site, as long as he agrees to fix the wall at his cost?
anon — No, I don’t think it means that. But I certainly agree that the wall must be reinforced before any heavy construction begins. In the bargaining that is imminent, this fact should be helpful to the Township’s negotiators.
Why does Asbury Park have more money to fix Wesley Lake walls than does Neptune? Is Asbury Park a better managed town?
Asbury is class A in development, and Neptune is class D. I am hoping that the Neptune Out-tunes will call the Madison Marquette IN-tunes to get sure advice on how to build a class A town’s future. All Neptune seems to know how to be is just-another-shore-bland-place like Spring Lake, and all the other suburban look-a-like-losers. This area needs to stand out, and I am hoping humility will sink into the Neptune brains.
We love our neighbors in Asbury Park, but Neptune is a town that is managed more successfully, in the financial realm and others. Neptune does not receive the millions in special aid that Asbury does; we make do on our tax revenues and “state aid,” which is really a small portion of your utility tax monies coming back to Neptune (this program was originally designed to offset property taxes. It doesn’t accomplish that, as the state general fund takes more and more of that money every year.). The section of North End wall with which this article is concerned is under engineering review for repair.
Under engineering review? I wish this was reassuring, but it’s not in MHO. The B’way drainage project comes to mind.
I would have hoped that this section of the wall would have been under engineering review quite some time ago, not now that it’s falling into the lake.
Under review? It’s been bulging and crumbling for at least 10 years, if not longer. Isn’t this a Green Acres area? Aren’t there ‘standards’ to be met?
The Surf Ave fire was 2 years ago and nothing has been done. It should have been done then, not waiting for a development project that isn’t even off the paper.
Are the two lakes in OG meeting clean water standards? Both are continually oilly, filled with trash, and generally insalubrious. Is there someone we can call to report these lakes for possible violations? Maybe then we can get this place cleaned up. If you visit lakes up and down from here, they do not have the same pollution problems. Why do we tolerate such pollution when other communities do not?
If you clean up the water in the lakes, someone, somewhere will complain you are endangering the unique three eyed fish species of Wesley Lake. Seriously, after a heavy rain, the floating and semi-submerged debris is quite extensive. The odor ain’t too sweet either.
For the same reasons that OG tolerates many other issues that affect us – the inability to get the Twp. and all those who govern it to be on Ocean Grove’s side. Aren’t the funds, the rules, or whatever always unavailable when it comes to this small communitee that feeds it with tax revenue?
I have a friend who is teaching his son to fish by catching catfish out of Wesley Lake. However, they don’t dare eat them, they just throw them back. Surprising to me that such creatures can even live in that lake, but they do.