Blogfinger

Neptune Township 2014 Tax Map excerpt. Read the name of the Lake on the OG side by clicking on the map.

 

 

Marydoodles.devianntart.com ©

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

The Neptune Township Tax Map is currently sporting a new name since 2014 for Wesley Lake, at least its half of the Lake. How can you give half a lake a different name from the other half ?

Someone had to come up with that new name  “Wesley Detention/Retention Basin,”  and the Township Committee had to pass a resolution for the change.  The Neptune Twp.  Engineer Leann Hoffmann is said to have explained the change as a way to attract grant money, but how do you request  grant money for half a lake?  Doug McQueen of the Wesley Lake Commission says that Hoffmann is responsible for the name change, but she lacks the power to make such a change.

McQueen says that the name change is just that and has no real significance.  After all, he says, no developer could dump dirty ground water into the Lake without DEP approval, regardless of which name is used.

And the Asbury side is still “Wesley Lake,” so were they consulted about the new name on the Ocean Grove side?

Here are the definitions which are part of that new name:

From Aquatic Systems (.com) ——- lake and wetlands management group in Florida:

“A detention pond is a low lying area that is designed to temporarily hold a set amount of water while slowly draining to another location. They are more or less around for flood control when large amounts of rain could cause flash flooding if not dealt with properly. In between floods, they are dry.”   (That’s not Wesley Lake)

“A retention pond is designed to hold a specific amount of water indefinitely. Usually the pond is designed to have drainage leading to another location  (? such as the ocean)  when the water level gets above the pond capacity, but still maintains a certain capacity. These ponds are created to prevent deterioration of natural freshwater bodies  from nutrient and pollutant laden water that drains from paved roads and yards.”  (This sounds like Wesley Lake)

“Don’t be mislead though, both retention and detention ponds can and should function as healthy eco-systems and with proper planning and maintenance can enhance the livability of the area in which they exist.”

But here’s the point:  Originally, in the 19th century, when Wesley Lake was dammed at the east end, it was for recreational reasons.   So the dam was not a “man-made” effort to change the Lake other than to get control over the depths for boating.

So, having spelled out those definitions,  the real question which no one seems capable of answering is, “Why did Neptune Township decide to make this current glaring change to their Tax Map?”  There must be a good reason, but no one has revealed the reason.  In fact, the Neptune Township Committee says that it has no idea.

Unlike Doug of the Wesley Lake Commission, we smell a fox in the hen house.  And we agree with him that Neptune Township must explain to the public the name change unless they want to continue to seem to be sly as a fox or dumb as an ashtray.

And part of this murky mess is the debate over “natural” vs. “man-made.”  This can’t just be simply semantic differences.  It is connected in some way to the map change.

Some non-partisan engineer has to be brought in by an independent party to explain all this to we the people.   The safety and future of Wesley Lake is at stake.

BECK  From A Tribute to Hank Williams: