1905 Wesley Lake postcard. Ocean Grove, NJ
By Jack Bredin, reporter-researcher and Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
On March 11, 2019, at the Township Committee meeting, Blogfinger reporter/researcher Jack Bredin, a full time resident of the Grove, spoke during the public portion and challenged the Committee to tell the public if Neptune Township has ever received a written transfer of ownership of Wesley Lake from the State of New Jersey.
This documentation, if it exists, would go to the issue of who owns Wesley Lake. This is important, because if Neptune Township does not own Wesley Lake, then it would have no right to change the name on the tax map to Wesley Detention/Retention Basin. And thus it would have no right to grant permission to developers to change the Lake’s function which, according to the towns ROSI list, is a public open space reserved for conservation and recreation.
If you click on the link below regarding that March 11 meeting, promises were made to “research” the questions by the Township Attorney Gene Anthony and Township Business Manager Vito Gadaleta.
And Mayor Rizzo promised, ““We will have a discussion to decide if we will discuss it.”
That exchange with the Mayor is recorded in our post of March 12:
Jack Bredin vs, Neptune Mayor March 11, 2019
This brings us to the next Committee meeting of March 25, 2019, during which nothing was said about those promises, and there was nothing on the agenda about the matter. The Mayor decided to avoid any Wesley Lake identity topics, and to, instead, push her plan to ban plastic bags in town.
At the end of the meeting, Jack Bredin went to the mic to make some important points about Wesley Lake:
a. He reminded the Committee that they changed the name of the Lake on the tax map in 2014 without ever documenting that they had the right to do that. These days the Committee doesn’t seem to know why it changed the name in the first place nor do they know who gave the order to do that.
The Township and the Wesley Lake Commission insist that Wesley Lake is not a lake but is a retention /detention basin.
However, the Township’s Master Plan identifies Wesley Lake correctly as a lake, and there is considerable further documentation of that fact including finding the Lake on the ROSI list of Neptune public open spaces and, according to Neptune Township’s Planning Board Engineer Peter Avakian, “Wesley Lake is not a detention basin.”
b. Also the Committee does not seem to know who legally owns the Lake or if they ever went before the DEP or Green Acres to claim the property. Jack says, “This is an embarrassment.”
Ironically, if one looks at the original North End Redevelopment Plan, approved by the Committee, it says that the Camp Meeting Association owns the Lake.
c. Jack Bredin reminded the Mayor that “the State of New Jersey owns the Lake and its banks, because the land is “held in Trust” by the State for all the people, under the jurisdiction of the DEP, managed by the two municipalities, under the authority of the bi-town Wesley Lake Commission and reserved for recreation and conservation in perpetuity, pursuant to the NJ DEP Division of Land Use Regulations. ” (See our post about NJ Land Use Regulations.)
“And, State regulations supersede municipal regulations, leaving Neptune on the wrong side of environmental law.”
d. In 2014, when the tax map name change occurred, Neptune failed to follow the complex official process of overriding the Master Plan. And the Committee bamboozled the Wesley Lake Commission into believing that the “Lake” in their name referred to a basin. This maneuver was a big favor for developers.
e. Finally Jack Bredin asked the Mayor if she discussed these matters with the Township Engineer and the Township Attorney “or with anyone.” But the Mayor refused to say a word about Jack’s question. She simply said, “Are you finished? Time is up. Next.”
Jack says that he received “the silent treatment” from the Mayor.
The next speaker up was the OGHOA Vice-President Richard Williams who said that he has “been doing research” on Wesley Lake, and he believes that Mr. Bredin “deserves a response to his presentation. He deserves an answer.”
For Mr. Williams, Mayor Rizzo offered an answer. She said that she consulted no experts on these issues, but that she has “made up her own mind.” She said, “I am aware ” of this matter. She admitted that she received no legal advice or technical advice. Instead she decided that “Wesley Lake could be both a lake or a detention basin.”
Jack concluded that the Mayor is “100% wrong.”
He was appreciative of the support which he received from the OG Home Owners Association Vice President Williams in provoking a response from the reticent Mayor.
LUCINDA WILLIAMS:
It says Wesley Lake.
I’m curious -am I right in assuming that since the municipal boundary runs down the middle of the lake that it appears on Asbury’s tax map as well? If so how is the Lake designated on Asbury’s tax map?
The Camp Meeting Association has shown deep weakness on the dredging and rehabilitation of Wesley Lake. That lake is Ocean Grove’s Lake. The recreation and joy belong to us, not some drunk passer-overs from New York. After sandy, they dredged up feelings of protection for the Boardwalk, Pier, and their rich friends. But nothing for the Lake. Even as a retention basin, it got short shrift.
Belmar’s basins got dredged and rehabilitated after Sandy, straight away. The glorious bridges were built by Grovers, not some idiot vacationing from Staten Island. Neptune Township doesn’t have a leader. The CMA doesn’t have a leader. There is no leader on free Ocean Grove parking and a dead chocolate lake. They just cash checks.
Joe, it’s not just the tax map.
There is a tax map and a tax book.
A zoning map and a zoning ordinance.
Master Plan maps and a Master Plan.
A public open space map and a list of Land reserved for public open space.
The Tax map is the official map, and all other town maps must be consistent with the tax map.
When viewed together you have all the information necessary to properly develop every square inch of property in town.
All these documents must be consistent with each other.
You cannot reach into the middle of these 8 complicated and well thought out documents, pull one out, change it, and then put it back without a resolution, because it throws everything out of balance.
Anyone who gets caught falsifying Government documents could find themselves shuffling up the steps of the courthouse in handcuffs,
Joe: Thank you for your very important comment. That map prevails over all other maps in town, but I’m sure that Jack Bredin will be happy to go into the weeds with you about your questions. Stay tuned.—Paul
Does what the Township calls the Lake on its tax map matter to zoning? Does Neptune Township have the right to change a designation on the tax map?
Is the tax map used for purposes other than tax assessment? Does the tax map hold any weight in regards to use of that property?
I would think the tax map is for tax purpose and nothing else?
The unacceptable conditions of Wesley Lake can be found in many other NJ coastal lakes.
Mayor Carol Rizzo of Neptune Township and Mayor John Moor of Asbury Park still have the opportunity to set an example and the standards for how to restore
all of New Jersey’s polluted lakes with a little help from their friends in the legislature and the DEP.
The lake appears on old maps as Long Pond with feeder streams to the West and direct outflow to the ocean which means the eastern end was a tidal estuary at one time.
The Green Acres signs are still in place, btw. I don’t know how one town or the other can claim ownership since the town border runs down the middle of the Lake.
I guess elected officials no longer feel the need to be respectful and accountable to the good citizens. Can’t decide if I’m more sad or more angry.