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Margate introduces ordinance to raise beach fees, considers pile driving regulations

  • Margate

Ventnor-Margate senior beach tag 2020.

By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY

MARGATE The city will join Ventnor in raising beach revenue with the introduction of an ordinance revising the cost of purchasing beach tags for summer 2021.

If approved, Ordinance 10-2020 would raise fees needed to maintain beaches for those over age 12 to $10 for a seasonal badge purchased before May 31, up from $7 previously. The fee would increase to $20 after May 31, up from $15 previously. Senior badges will remain at $3.50 for the season.

Margate also has a weekly badge it will sell for $10. Holiday badges, which come with a special design and gift boxed, will be $12 for the following season.

Ventnor and Margate share the same beach tag, which provides the holder with beach access in both cities. The revenue generated from the sale of tags remains in the community where the tags are purchased.

Ventnor is scheduled to hold a public hearing on its ordinance 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8. Margate's public hearing and adoption will be 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15.

The city is also considering revising its developmental ordinance to include requirements for contractors performing pile-driving work.

A resident complained weeks ago that pile driving work performed on a house next door damaged the concrete coating on her foundation walls.

According to solicitor John Scott Abbott, the city is drafting a vibration ordinance that requires contractors to have a monitoring system in place and notify the city of the contractor's insurance carrier to ensure an immediate remedy if damage occurs at a neighboring property.

The ordinance will be introduced at the next commission meeting, Abbott said.

Abbott also reported that the city is making progress obtaining Dept. of Transportation approval to start a 10-year dredging project at Beach Thorofare.

Engineer Ed Dennis said the city met with the NJ DOT and DEP on Sept. 23 to discuss using Dredge Hole #86 in the Chelsea Heights area, instead of Dredge Hole #90 at Shelter Island, which is jointly owned by Ventnor and Margate.

This provides us an immediate path toward implementing a dredge program for the city of Margate, Dennis said. We cleared a major hurdle in the sense of the disposal site, which is often the biggest hurdle.

City Administrator Richard Deaney asked Dennis to provide the city with a finalized proposal and budget for the permitting process by the end of the month, along with a separate proposal for permitting at Shelter Island so costs for the permit can be included in next year's capital budget.

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