Margate residents review Amherst Avenue promenade, street configuration plans.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE The Board of Commissioners Thursday, Aug. 20 agreed to move forward with the promenade project on Amherst Avenue after Labor Day and said efforts to improve living quarters at Firehouse No. 2 are underway.
On Thursday, plans for the promenade project were spread out on the conference room table for those in attendance to peruse. After minor revisions, the promenade plan created by engineer Arthur W. Ponzio will be posted to the city's website for public scrutiny.
The plans show traffic will be changed to a one-way direction heading toward Longport from Washington to Coolidge Avenue with a dedicated bicycle lane and angled parking along the bulkhead. Plans will be revised to include several bicycle racks along the bulkhead.
According to Commissioner of Public Safety John Amodeo, the board will approve a bid solicitation at its meeting on Thursday, Sept. 3.
Mayor Michael Becker said it is likely the project will be completed by summer 2021.
Also in the works is an addition and remodeling of Firehouse No. 2 on Fulton Avenue.
Rendering Firehouse No. 2 living quarters addition.
Amodeo said architect Peter Weiss developed three conceptual plans and Fire Chief Dan Adams and firefighters reviewed them to determine the best fit.
What Dan picked out was exactly what I would have wanted to see, Amodeo said. It's a residential area back there and this fits right in. It looks like a residential house.
The project will be put out for bids in October, he said.
Amodeo said the city has been putting aside $100,000 a year to fund the project and has $300,000 to use to build an addition that will house firefighters serving 12-hour shifts.
He said the current condition of the building is almost deplorable.
They deserve to have conditions that are right, Amodeo said.
The addition will include separate men's and women's facilities and will be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant. The floor will be raised nearly 3 feet to current flood elevation and allow it to be used as a base of operations during major flooding events.
Amodeo said rehabilitating the firehouse has been under consideration for about 10 years. A plan to spend $1.3 million to replace the building was cancelled in 2011.
In other business, the board agreed to suspend issuing parking violations on street-sweeping days for the remainder of the summer. City officials will review the existing ordinance before recommending revisions to its street-sweeping schedule.
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