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).