Blogfinger

7/30/22    Grovers waiting on the pier for the  dedication to start. Paul Goldfinger photo.  It was an occasion of happiness, anticipation and relief. Most in attendance were up on the old pier.

7/1/22. Dedication .Not everyone was enthused at the dedication. The crowd was small, and she left early. Paul Goldfinger photo

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net.  2022-2024

The  Blogfinger paragraph  below is from the pier dedication event of July 30, 2022 .  The plan was to start work in September 2022.

After Michael Badger delivered a pier prayer/blessing, the best part of the show was a presentation by the chief engineer Peter Avakian.  He spoke quickly in construction lingo, so I suspect that most of the crowd could not follow much of what he offered.

Here  are  some of his quotes,  and  the most impressive of his words were when he promised that “no future storm could knock down the new pier and that the pier will be bigger, better, taller and longer.”

He said that the pier would “extend 500 feet into the ocean–250 feet  longer than the current remains,  and that the decking will be 6 feet higher at the end; 5 feet higher than waves could be.”    (??–my question marks…)

“The piles will be impressive–up to  60 feet long and driven 20 feet into the sand.  The pile caps will be made of cast iron, and there will be ‘extensions’  at the end of the pier which would provide a ‘pavilion area”’where someone could get out of the sun and there will be a place where lifeguards can survey the ocean and beach areas for safety.”

(We later learned that the new pier would not be made of all new pilings.)

In October, 2022,  the Coaster reported:  “The CMA  has received two notices of violation of waterfront permit conditions, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.”

An excellent Coaster reporter, Carol Gorka Williams, provided some insights in an article dated  Oct. 12, 2022:  “DEP issued Sept. 22 to Steve Colombo, CMA  operations director, its most significant finding perhaps that the project requires a permit under the provisions of the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act.

Badger said when association officials first met with the DEP, a CAFRA permit was not deemed necessary. A waterfront development permit was needed, however, and was approved Feb. 17, 2022.

Williams  also brought up the subject of whether or not Neptune Township should have been involved in the pier project in the first place.

The Coaster reporter mentioned Grover Shane Martins of Neptune United,    “An objector to the design of the pier and other issues arising out of the CMA’s  ownership and management of the Grove.”

She reported,  “He maintains that a local construction permit is required but Neptune does not want to exert authority over the  project.”

“Township Business Administrator Gina LaPlaca informed Martins  of the decision not to require local permits, he said.  LaPlaca said the project was reviewed before officials determined it was subject to state and not local permits.”

And the APP said, “The state Department of Environmental Protection, which approved the pier’s permit in August 2022, does not require safety inspections of piers, a spokesperson said.”

Williams  also reported on some relatively minor DEP violations in 2022 having to do with beach grading and excavating and, in addition, there were some concerns about at-risk plant life at the shore.

In March 2023, Blogfinger.net  posted this photo of the work in progress:  Note our  caption:

March, 2023.   New Ocean Grove pier under construction. Neptune and the HPC did not inspect or approve this project.  Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net. Click to enlarge.

In that March 2023 post, we addressed some of the touchy issues that have arisen, especially church vs state, during this time when a new pier will soon bring joy to the Grove:

https://wp.me/pqmj2-Q7eThe pier was opened to the public in April, 2023.  

The pier was open all summer 2023 and enjoyed by many

The pier was closed in October 2023 because of piling issues and then again in December for the same reasons.   Safety concerns became even greater by December when it was closed for the second time and not reopened.

OG pier pilings . Paul Goldfinger photograph.. December 24, 2023

In December, 2023, the APP reported that Neptune Township was taking an interest in the pier’s safety:    “The Camp Meeting Association announced the decision to close on its website and Facebook page on Dec. 12, saying, “The pier is temporarily closed. The construction company and the engineers have been made aware that a single piling is loose.”

On Dec 20, 2023, APP reported:

“8 months after opening to fanfare and controversy, the $1.3 million, Christian cross-shaped pier here has been closed after engineers found a loose piling, officials said.

“The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which owns and governs the community within Neptune Township, closed the pier a week ago, marking the second time the structure has been temporarily closed due to safety concerns.

“Neptune Township officials, who have been updated, said the project’s engineering firm, Neptune-based Leon S. Avakian Inc., recommended that the Camp Meeting Association close the pier and undergo a more thorough safety inspection.

“I can’t speak for the whole committee, but I have concerns, and we are asking for further investigations be done to make sure this isn’t a systemic problem,” Neptune Mayor Keith Cafferty said.

Blogfinger:    On February 8, 2024, the Coaster gave front page coverage to  a CMA  press release which Blogfinger  acquired the day before and posted below.  The CMA  announced that an outside engineering firm will investigate the pier situation.

The Camp Meeting Association has long been reticent to share information with the public.  The Coaster is the ideal repository for what they do say because the Coaster has no questions in its vocabulary.  (With the notable October exception described above.)

If the CMA does  succumb to interviews by the APP or the NJ.com,  the result will often be a mish mash…Michael Badger was a master of the art of gobbledygook.

But now there are serious safety concerns at the pier, and hopefully the CMA will be forthright–and they undoubtedly will be because the State of New Jersey/DEP will certainly  be lurking close at hand.

Latest  Coaster report of 5/2/24 will be discussed on 5/3/24. am on Blogfinger.net. They tell us that part of the pier (proximal) can be reopened safely.

CANNONBALL ADDERLEY.     “You’re a Weaver of Dreams.”      From a Coltrane album