Sea Bright plans for future Smart Growth

SEA BRIGHT - - The purchase of Donovan's Reef is no longer an item on the borough's Smart Growth agenda.

At a special Smart Growth meeting Aug. 30, Borough Council President William Keeler noted that the negotiations to purchase Donovan's are off the table for the borough because the asking price was ultimately too high.

The asking price for the beach club and bar was $4.5 million and the borough did not disclose the offer made.

"Once Donovan's is no longer the way we know it now, the beach reverts to public beach so we'll have a continuous beach from our facilities all the way down," said Councilman Thomas Scriven.

He noted that one of the things the council envisions is a boardwalk that would go north and south from the municipal offices as far as Chapel Beach Club and as far south as Donovan's Reef.

"We want the borough to be a destination and not a drive through town," he said.

Other aspects of Smart Growth that were discussed include the cost of renovating the current municipal complex verses building a new one, the beachfront facilities, and shared services.

Because the borough's facilities are for multiple uses, Keeler noted that there are certain limitations on what they can do with municipal renovations.

He said that the major consideration in deciding between building new or renovating the existing facilities is cost.

"We were given three options from the basic Smart Growth study that was done in March by New York and New Jerseybased planning firm Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates Inc.," he said.

"The first was to build a new borough hall, court and police station all in one building in the municipal parking lot where the firehouse is," he said.

Keeler said the second proposal was to build a new borough hall and a court and renovate the police building, and the third was to maintain the present facilities and renovate the complex.

"To renovate the current municipal building we're in now would cost $600,000 and to build a whole new facility would be around $2.3 million," he said.

"We have an engineering-architectural firm [Monteforte Architectual Studio] looking at all three of the facilities and once their evaluation is done we will compare it to the Smart Growth study and decide what to do with the buildings," he said.

Scriven also said there is a dire need to replace the lifeguard station and offices.

"One good wind and it's gone with the way it is now," he said.

He noted that the borough recently had an ocean inspection on the beach facilities and was given 60 days to provide a solution to the insufficient nature of the facilities.

"The lifeguard station and all those buildings are beyond repair, so we are going with the idea of rebuilding them," said Keeler.

Borough officials would like the lifeguard station and offices to be located at the center of the beachfront, he said, which would place the beach facility east of its current location, in the area that is currently occupied by the playground.

"We think it will also allow for better security in this location," said Scriven.

He also said that the idea of a beach club is still in play.

"We're not sure yet if it will be yearround or seasonal, but we're having a feasibility study done right now to see what our options are," he said.

Keeler said that the borough is small and there is a need to use facilities for multiple services. In addition, shared services are being investigated.

At the meeting, Kim Guadagno, commissioner of Public Works in Monmouth Beach, said that since both Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach are smaller towns, it makes sense to try to blend their public works departments.

"Our salt dome issue is what prompted this. We all have to cover our salt, and Sea Bright has no place to put it and has some money and Monmouth Beach has some place to put it and no money, so it's a good match," she said.

Since this was going to work so well, Guadagno said that officials want to take it even further and see what other aspects of public works could be shared.

"A couple of weeks ago, we filed a joint application with the state to see what aspects of our public works departments can do together, and once the application is processed the state will make us some recommendations," she said.

The next meeting on Smart Growth issues will be held at borough hall on Sept. 27.