Wesley Lake looking toward Ocean Grove. Photo by Paul Goldfinger
By Charles Layton
The Wesley Lake Commission intends to embark on a fund-raising campaign this fall to rehabilitate the lake, which, as we all know, is polluted and degraded from years of neglect.
According to an analysis by the Commission’s engineer, Peter Avakian, the rehab project will require $12 million, of which $2,312,000 has already been funded.
Dr. Michael Brantley, the Commission’s chairman, said a forum would be held in late September, attended by various officials including the mayors of Asbury Park and Neptune Township, to lay plans for the fund raising. The Commission hopes to get help from corporations and “other interested groups,” he said.
“We are trying to get this lake restored to its original beauty.”
The Commission revised its rehabilitation plan in February, based on Avakian’s cost analysis. That analysis includes an estimated $2 million to dredge the entire lake, an estimated $1.7 million for storm water management, an estimated $7 million to make repairs to the wall and $1.3 million for streetscape improvements.
Some of this work has already been completed or funded by the City of Asbury Park, the Township of Neptune and the Wesley Lake Commission. For instance, Neptune Township has come up with some $800,000 from various sources for wall repairs. Some parts of the wall — particularly at the eastern end on the Ocean Grove side– are in such bad shape that they are in danger of collapse.
The Commission completed a partial dredging of the lake last year, at the western end, but much more dredging needs to be done.
Brantley said the Commission will formalize the place and time of the fall forum at its next meeting, which is scheduled for August 21.
I know this is just a visual fix. But what would it tak to clear the surface of the lake say once a month in the summer? Walking along the lake would at least be more pleasant as $ are raised for an in depth fix.
Gosh… I didn’t misunderstand your comment at all. It amazes me to think think that some people in our nice town, Ocean Grove, think that they pay a different tax rate than the “other” town of Neptune. When someone makes a definitive statement like Shark River has a different tax rate I just shake my head. People don’t understand the tax structure but each year they pull a lever to elect those most capable to SPEND the taxes… amazing.
This situation with the bad water quality must have been faced by many other communities in analagous situations, as there are many lakes along the shore in NJ. What is the solution that others have found to maintain water quality? A cool bit of reporting would be to look at what some other lakes do like the one up in Elberon that is surrounded by Lake Drive.
Also, is there some sort of New Jersey database of lake water quality? It would be interesting to see just how bad (or good) things are relative to other lakes.
A couple on-line searches led to some old maps of the area. Rutgers has a nice map collection. One particularly old map labled the area below Deal, Long Branch wasn’t even listed, and Shark River as a swamp with several outlets to the ocean. It looks like what we now call Wesley Lake was one of them. By the time the rail lines were added the lake ended at the Turnpike or 71 to the west and at the beachfront to the east. It’s interesting to note the there used to be an island
The water that flows into Wesley Lake is from a large watershed area which encompasses many Monmouth County communities besides Asbury Park and Ocean Grove.
I was told that to create Deal Lake they took the tributary that once fed Wesley Lake and diverted it. I wonder if they can open that river back up so that Wesley Lake could get some fresh water.
Pretty much all bodies of water are polluted to an extent. Wesley just looks really bad. Fletcher, too. It’s amazing that we live in a society where we can just ignore it…. yeah, we’ll get to that later. Uhhhp, it’s later.
Here we are, trying to figure out what to do with a giant storm basin that happens to be a lake — a lake that happens to function as a storm basin. What is it, again? I know stuff lives in it. That’s the frightening part. What is the impact on birds (ospreys that swoop down, cormorants, etc.)? We probably won’t know that for a long time, if ever. What will be done in the future? Will adequate screens and filters be added and maintained? Didn’t Ocean Grovers remove the cloth lining on the storm drains on Broadway during one of the storms to allow drainage? That’s completely understandable, but I also think it’s a sign of how we think in the moment, not in the future.
The Asbury Park Rain Garden is a small start. We need about 100+ more of those.
Gosh & Sal : To clarify : Tax rate times assessment = total taxes paid. All of Neptune which includes Shark River & OG & rest of Neptune pay the same tax rate. However as houses in OG & Shark river are assessed higher then say midtown Neptune, higher taxes are paid in OG & Shark River areas of Neptune. This is generally true.
If I recall both Wesley and Fletcher used to feed naturally into the ocean and were tidal. They have since been closed off. Now there is a gate on Fletcher that can be manually opened when the water level gets too high. Ii assume it is similar in Wesley
I don’t understand. How does Shark River have a different tax rate than OG? The tax rate is the same for township, county and school taxes, no?
Hi Sal. You must have misunderstood my post. I didn’t say I have 3 homes in Neptune. My taxes that I pay in O.G. can pay for 3 homes in Neptune. Also, Shark River has a different tax rate then us.
There must be some way to clean up the water. Was the lake engineered to collect the run-off from AP and/or the Grove, or is that happening because of broken/faulty storm drains? Is there a spring or any natural water source that feeds the lake or is the only source of water the rain and run-off? Frankly, I think they have to fix the water before they fix the lake. Otherwise it will still be gross, even if they fix the other problems.
Suprises me how people can bring themselves to ride the swan boats on Wesley Lake. Just the thought of that murky water splashing on someone gives me the creeps.
Bullets-I am very aware that the Ocean Grove Drainage Project has not been completed, because we still have flooding on Broadway. What I am saying is, before the construction of the Broadway Drainage, there were some major issues around the lake that consisting of numerous bulkhead problems and other structural and land issues. Those problems along with the current construction site conditions such as dug up areas, an unusable playground, stored materials/equipment, pipes taking up parking spaces,debris, etc. do not make this area appealing to use the lake for recreation.
I am very happy that Wesley Lake might get some money to pay for some very needed work, but what I am saying is to please not forget Fletcher Lake and its problems and issues. Twelve million dollars sounds like a lot of money to use on one lake. Maybe the Neptune Township and the Fletcher Lake Commission can work on getting some money for Fletcher Lake improvements.
Gosh… aren’t Ocean Grove and Neptune taxed at the same rate (except for the Fire District portion)? If your “Neptune” house was worth one third of what your “Ocean Grove” house is then you would surely save on taxes. You remind me of people that complain about paying taxes on investment income. While its no fun it sure beats the alternative of getting a small tax break AFTER losing money on an investment. You can’t have it both ways.
I could be wrong but I have never attended a Committee meeting and heard Mr. Bascom announce two different tax rates.
Re Fletcher Lake, that is not the responsibility of the Wesley Lake Commission. That lake has its own commission, totally separate.
Isn’t it a privately owned Green Acres area? Aren’t there some environmental standards that have to be maintained? I’m sure the three-eyed fish would appreciate it. I’ve seen the sign by the Western Footbridge.
Can we get the EPA involved? I have to believe that the lake, in its current state, must violate clean water standards. If they require an enforcement action to meet standards, that would force folks to take steps that prevent it from just being a polluted detention basin. Is there an interested party in OG that would invite an EPA analysis of the lake?
The Camp Meeting let the wall fall apart for years. There is one spot along the wall by the footbridge that was fixed up years ago when they filmed a movie on the spot and the production company paid for that. Take some of the beach revenue and fix up the area or just give up all rights to Neptune Twp.
Concerned Resident: I would hardly say anyone is forgetting about Fletcher Lake. They are replacing the retaining walls while they build the outfall.
How can you say the drainage project doesn’t work when it hasn’t been finished?
Added bonus of dredging Wesley, think of all the crimes that will be solved.
From what I see, all the storm water runs into the lake from the streets and as the water runs along the curb it picks up all sorts of debris and oil.
I’m in town since 1981 and I live near the lake, and if Neptune would have kept up with wall maintenance, they wouldn’t be in this mess.The residents are the only concerned people that have tried to help keep the lake clean.
I can see from the end of Beach Ave at the lake. Neptune has done nothing structurally to improve the falling wall except install plastic saw horses about 10 years ago. One time, a firetruck trying to pump water to a fire fell into a sink hole and had to be pulled out with a crane.
For what we pay in taxes in Ocean Grove, we receive the least. For our 40 x40 foot parcel of land that our home is on, I could pay the taxes for 3 homes in Neptune,and all we get is garbage pick-up.
Please do not forget Fletcher Lake. We need a lot of bulkhead repairs and the fixing of various other problems with the ground and land surrounding the lake. Also, the Broadway drainage construction has not helped the situation. This lake was always known for its passive recreation in the good old days. It would be lovely to bring it back to those days (walking paths, boating, fishing, etc.).
Jason,
I think the big issue is that isn’t really a lake anymore, it is a storm runoff retention basin. All of the oil and trash washes into it from the north end of AP. I hope some aeration and trash catchers will be part of the improvements! What ever happened to the ‘Friends of Wesley Lake’, they were very active two years ago, but have not heard much from them lately!!
12 million dollars. Say it slowly. $25,000 to restore nearby OG urn. Eye candy sure may be sweet but it ‘aint cheap. Also think of what else might be able to be accomplished with this money.
My real issue with this lake is a water quality issue. The water is foul, oily, brown, and has lots of stuff floating in it. I do not see how any of the improvements mentioned above fix that. There needs to be fresh water circulating or a filtration system or something. What is the plan to improve and then maintain the water quality???
By comparison, the lake in Spring Lake (called Spring Lake) has clear and non-oily water. I can look down and see fish and the bottom up to about 5 feet deep.
Drain it and start over. It’s not like the overflow isn’t running into the ocean already. Then you could get some heavy earth moving equipment in there and work on the wall replacement/repair while it’s dry.
I’ll never forget when I first moved to Ocean Grove 8 years ago, “A Taste of Asbury” was held along Lake Avenue. On the morning of said event, as restaurateurs were setting up their tents for the big day, a dead body was pulled out of Wesley Lake.
I feel ashamed when I see parking in Asbury or walking over the west bridge and seeing a chocolate colored stew of garbage and unhappy-looking birds, cracked and overgrown walkways and a rusty retainer wall. It reads inner-city when it could read Downton Abbey.