VENTNOR – The Board of Commissioners will hold several public hearings at their meeting on Thursday. Two of them involve capital spending, while others address quality of life issues, such as noise from pile driving and riding bicycles on the boardwalk.
The city seeks to approve a capital bond appropriating $1.8 million to fund various general capital improvements and purchases for the Police and Public Works departments, Beach Patrol and information technology.
Bond Ordinance 2025-014 will fund $400,000 for vehicles, a license plate reader and improvements to the Police Records storage room, and replace flooring and purchase furniture for the Police Department; $1.3 million is allocated for equipment and infrastructure for the Public Works Department, including a dump truck, plow, field maintenance equipment, beach mats and various facilities improvements; $50,000 will cover the purchase of a surf boat, jet ski, rescue sled and ATV for the Beach Patrol; and $100,000 is reserved to purchase computers, servers, monitors, telephones, cameras and recording equipment.
Bond Ordinance 2025-015 appropriates $400,000 for the Water and Sewer Department. The city is requesting $225,000 for fire hydrants, water meters and showers on the boardwalk, and $175,000 to replace a wastewater pump at Ski Beach.
Ordinance 2025-010 will expand the hours for bicycle riding on the boardwalk. New bike riding hours will be 5-10 a.m. and 5-10 p.m. year-round. It does not include electric bicycles. The commissioners held off introducing ordinances regarding e-bikes for more discussion.
The commissioners said they discussed adding bicycle riding hours in the evening to accommodate diners who may be riding their bicycles to dinner at area restaurants, lifeguards leaving the beach at the end of their shifts, and commuters going to and from their jobs in Atlantic City.
“As long as policed appropriately and nobody goes crazy with speeds…I would be in favor of that,” Commissioner Lance Landgraf said.
“Once the public understands and gets used to it, I think it will be a positive,” Mayor Tim Kriebel said. “There may be some pushback and complaints, and we will take them as they come through. In general, I think the majority use the boardwalk as an alternative to the road for bikes.”
Ordinance 2025-011 would codify state legislation to allow outdoor dining in public rights-of-way. It keeps in place Gov. Phil Murphy’s Executive Order regarding the expansion of outdoor dining.
Attorney Nicole Curio called the outdoor dining legislation “the silver lining” that came during the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited indoor dining and permitted restaurant owners to serve food and liquor in outdoor spaces and parking lots.
The board will also hear from the public on Ordinance 2025-16, which would limit the hours for pile driving. Under the new regulations, pile driving will be permitted mid-week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. No pile driving will be allowed on Mondays, Fridays and weekends.
Prior regulations banned pile driving completely during the summer months, Landgraf said.
“Right now, the permitting process is holding people up,” Landgraf said. “Nowadays, they are doing it so quickly, it can be done in one day. This gets them to do the work they need to do to get the start done, the foundation poured, and those things.”
Kriebel said the new ordinance is “construction friendly” and allows contractors to get projects completed in a timely manner.
The public hearings will be held 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 12 at Ventnor City Hall and on Zoom.
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