Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
According to the Camp Meeting Association, “The OGCMA continues to invest in making the award winning Ocean Grove beachfront the best place for everyone to enjoy.” (Quote from yesterday’s announcement by the CMA regarding North End boardwalk repairs.)
According to FEMA and the CMA, the Boardwalk is a public thoroughfare.
According to the Neptune Twp. Buckley ordinance, “All snow and ice on sidewalks of public streets and highways must be removed within 12 hours under penalty of fines.” That would have to include the boardwalk which is owned by the CMA but which is the recipient of public (FEMA post Sandy) funds.
So why was the boardwalk left in such a dangerous condition this morning that a citizen could slip, fall and suffer a significant injury?
We are told that icy conditions prevail today throughout the Grove. Is the Township enforcing its snow and ice ordinance, or is that “sidewalk” ordinance just window dressing to be ignored as are other Township ordinances in the Grove?
Kennedy Buckley, Trustee of the Home Groaners, pushed for that law, but has he and the OGHOA seen to it that the law which bears his footprint is enforced to protect the citizens? We have not heard of anyone actually being fined in the Grove for failure to remove snow and ice from town sidewalks.
And, by the way, when did the OG Boardwalk become “award winning?” Who gave the CMA that “award” and for what? They have yet to repair the entire boardwalk or the entire pier which is, according to them, a part of the boardwalk.
Ironically, the CMA announced yesterday, January 10, that the North End boardwalk repairs would soon begin, just 6 years since Sandy. That million dollar project will cost a lot more than paying for ice remediation on the boardwalk.
If you have any doubt about the OG boardwalk being a public thoroughfare, you might recall that the CMA was initially denied FEMA Sandy funds because it was privately owned, but subsequently (2014) the Feds caved in to CMA appeals which stressed that our boardwalk was about public “safety.” How ironic given today’s unsafe ice issue.
Here is a 2014 quote from a national magazine about this matter of private vs public in Ocean Grove:
The Weekly Standard: “They {the CMA} then constructed a second appeal, in which they changed the rationale for the boardwalk. Instead of saying that it was a public accommodation (which it is), they claimed that the boardwalk’s essential purpose is to act as “a public thoroughfare in providing emergency access and life-saving operations.” The boardwalk isn’t there for people to enjoy it—it’s there for safety!”
There is a genre of lawyer specialists called “slip and fall.” Who will be the defendant (s) in that suit?
Please click on the comments section below for more information regarding this topic and more safety information regarding the Boardwalk construction at the North End. (see the comment dated 1/12/18).
I am still confused as why we move our cars during snow emergency to one side of the street ( dark side) as plowing is suppose to happen on the other side. Then we dig out our cars, move to the other side and never do we see a plow again. Barry
Hippie Chick. The CMA should take care of Tent City walkways. Since they have no renters at this time, who else would be responsible?
They don’t fence off that property, people probably still walk over there, so it makes sense that the Township should apply the Buckley ordinance to them as well.
But, as I have pointed out, I have yet to receive information from anyone in the Grove that they have been fined. Maybe it’s all about warning notices.
And hippie chick, does your name mean that you have broad hips or that you are a survivor of the sixties? —Paul @Blogfinger
The Tent city area is still not shoveled, so does OGCA get fined too?
Surfer. The first load of boardwalk money(2014) from FEMA was not earmarked for the north end from the Pavilion north to Sea View, but recently the CMA received more FEMA money for the North End;
FEMA refused to pay for the pier after they promised to do so…The CMA decided not to appeal that pier decision.
Also, it’s not fair to compare OG to Bradley Beach, because the BB boardwalk and beach is controlled by that town, while in OG the beachfront is managed by the CMA which actually owns only the boardwalk (but not the sand under the boardwalk) plus the Pavilion building and the pier itself. A private individual owns the White Whale, and the Casino is owned by Asbury Park.
Living in OG for more than 20 years, I have noticed that while Bradley Beach and other nearby towns make a concerted effort to remove snow/ice from their “boardwalks,” OGCMA has been conspicuously negligent in their responsibility.
The OGCMA wants to maximize profits, and clearing a boardwalk of snow/ice costs money.
And a final point since Blogfinger brought it up. Sandy was October, 2012. OGCMA pleaded in 2013, “FEMA won’t help, please help us!” and received $1.5 million in Together donations, but then they got $2.3 million from FEMA in 2014. And in 2018 OGCMA is planning to finish the boardwalk? Perhaps the pier will be fixed by 2020!
Yes they plowed in the path we paid to have dug out on Webb.
This is from the Township in an email dated Jan 11:
“On Thursday, January 11th, beginning at 6:30 am, a snow task force will begin the removal of snow along the north side of Main Avenue between Central Avenue and New York Avenue.”
Clear the sidewalks? When is Neptune going to clear the streets?
In my north end of town a front-loader came through during the storm, and I thought Neptune was really on top of it this year.
They never came through again! And a top-loader is not a plow. Snow was left piled on both sides of the street so there is no clean place to move a car so the opposite side can be cleared.
Once again the highly taxed citizens of Ocean Grove are treated as second rate.
When approving the North End Redevelopment Plan the Neptune Township Planning Board determined that the Boardwalk and Lake Ave were streets, and the Committee and the OGHOA agreed with this nonsense.
I guess it depends on which way the wind is blowing.
OK, so the boardwalk is not technically a “sidewalk,” but it is a walkway–in fact the word “walk” is part of its name.
The lawyerly assessment by JC would seem perhaps to absolve Neptune Township from applying its snow/ice ordinance, but why wouldn’t they make sure that the boardwalk is safe anyhow?—the OG boardwalk may be the busiest walkway in the entire Township.
After all, when we were fighting with FEMA, Neptune was very much in support of the idea that the OG boards are a public walkway.
Clearly the Buckley ordinance was passed in order to provide safe walking for OG walkers. I say that Neptune has some responsibility here at the busiest walking place in the Grove. Let’s not nit-pick over whether the OG boardwalk can be called a sidewalk or not. It is what it is—a walkway.
And also, Lake Avenue is a walkway and not a sidewalk despite the new cement sidewalk from Founders Park to Beach. So who is responsible for shoveling Lake Ave according to the Buckley ordinance ?
Grover Ken needs to put on his cape, tights and briefs to straighten this all out. Would he want a slip and fall on Lake Avenue which technically is not a sidewalk?
As Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name?”
JC Thank you for that definition. I hope you understand it.
Nevertheless,someone needs to be responsible for the dangerous conditions on the OG Boardwalk. –Paul @Blogfinger
Regardless of language used to obtain boardwalk funding, the boardwalk fails to meet the legal definition of “Sidewalk” as defined by NJ Motor Vehicle Statutes. Specifically:
39:1-1 Words and phrases defined:
“Sidewalk” means that portion of a highway intended for the use of pedestrians, between the curb line or the lateral line of a shoulder, or if none, the lateral line of the roadway and the adjacent right-of-way line.
Since there is no roadway east of the curb line, the boardwalk cannot legally be considered a sidewalk.
This article is really interesting. Curious as to how it will play out.
Thanks PG