Sandy...Aftermath.....Future of Beach Access.......

[jigfreak]

I'm right behind you hook. Let me at em when you are finished. Can't believe the arrogance of some. Thats going to ruin it for us in the long run.

[fishinmission78]

I'm right behind you hook. Let me at em when you are finished. Can't believe the arrogance of some. Thats going to ruin it for us in the long run.

X3 - we had some good access in Brick beaches and Mantoloking. It would **** me off when dudes would come off the beach and use a hose from a homeowners driveway after cleaning fish to wash off. Do that **** at home. People don't care about any one other then themselfs nowadays.

[baitstealer]

I don't understand why guys would do that. Possibly they don't go on the internet and would not be aware if this was bad behavior or not?

[DarkSkies]

Just remember people, nothing gets solved by violence......
The way to get results is to get involved, and make your voice heard......


As the years go by I am getting very cynical about fighting for fisherman access....because of the arrogance and entitlement of some of the fishermen I have come across...I have spent hundreds of my own dollars on attending access meetings over the years, and see the same old faces.....while the majority of the surf anglers out there don't want to get involved.


You have to think how we as fishermen are looked on in the areas we come in to fish...

Ask yourselves if you always conduct yourself the way you would want someone coming through your neighborhood to conduct themselves.

[jigfreak]

J.because of the arrogance and entitlement of some of the fishermen I have come across...I have spent hundreds of my own dollars on attending access meetings over the years, and see the same old faces.....while the majority of the surf anglers out there don't want to get involved.


You have to think how we as fishermen are looked on in the areas we come in to fish...

Ask yourselves if you always conduct yourself the way you would want someone coming through your neighborhood to conduct themselves.

Guys don't do this that's part of the problem. Baitstealer some of these are internet guys. There was a thread on another site where they were asking for volunteers to clean up Sea Bright. One idiot said he wouldn't help them because he felt they closed off beach access to him. News flash the people who lost their houses didn't close the access the town gov't made those decisions. Penalizing people by not helping them get their life get back in order is just plain selfish and stupid. And yes these are the guys who should be informed and better evolved because of all the fishing they do. They aren't. I hate that elitist attitude on the part of fishermen. I hate that many surf guys have reasons why they won't help one cause or another. Bunch of freaking prima donnas most surf fishermen are. Little girls who cry when access is blocked but do nothing to be responsible when we have access. Pick up some freaking trash once in a while it wont give you the cooties. Even that is too much trouble for these internet fishermen. "Shouldn't the towns have trash cleaners to help clean the beach after the surf fishermen are there, like totally!" that is the mentality out there. Makes me sick. Part of the reason why I hate the guys who look like they stepped out of a surf fishing catalog. They are the worst offenders and least likely to help others. My .02.

[buckethead]

Latest on beach assess from npr.
Dark i know and agree with your points that a lot of surf fishermen are pigs, but we do have a right to be there. JMO


http://www.npr.org/2012/12/12/166988308/in-new-jersey-renewed-debate-over-fees-to-access-public-land-after-hurricane-san
N.J. Spars Over Free Beach Access Post-Sandy

by DAVID SCHAPER
December 12, 2012 3:33 AM

Superstorm Sandy caused massive beach erosion and damage to the Jersey shore. Some people say the beach restoration work, which will largely be paid for with federal tax dollars, will mostly help to protect expensive homes for the wealthy — people who have free access to the beach — while most communities would still be charging fees for public access.


At an oceanfront park in Long Branch, N.J., Tim Dillingham looks out over the beach in awe of how much the pounding waves and high waters of Hurricane Sandy have changed the Jersey shore.

Dillingham is the executive director of the American Littoral Society, a coastal conservation group. Before the storm, he says, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent years building up the beaches by pumping sand onto them.

But that shouldn't be a solution to restoring the shore, he says.

"We need to design the beaches to be sustainable, to be open to the public, in a way that everybody can get to them, everywhere, and we need to design them so they're ecologically sensitive and they provide for habitat," Dillingham says.

The huge beach restoration cost will be shouldered by the public: Seventy-five percent of it is likely to come from federal taxpayers, with the state picking up a significant chunk too.

Yet much of the beach restoration work will end up protecting private property. The relatively few beach areas now accessible to the public on the Jersey shore often charge fees of $8, $10 and even $12 a day for access. And some towns are considering hiking those fees to help pay for the renovations.

Jeff Wulkan owns Bikini Barbers, a barbershop just off the beach in Long Branch. He says he's fed up with the fees and won't pay them. "I think that they're ridiculous," he says. "I mean, I think the towns make enough money through taxes and fines and all this other stuff."

One of his employees, Jennifer Leotis, isn't a fan of them either but says she pays up to go to the beach in nearby Manasquan. "It's almost $90 for the year and I think it's kind of a rip-off because it's not that nice at Manasquan," she says.

And both Leotis and Wulkan say the fees shouldn't go up to pay for restoration costs.

"Most of it's probably going to go to protect the homes of the superwealthy people that have these multimillion-dollar mansions on the beach," says Wulkan. "So their houses don't get destroyed, you know."

Wulkan and Leotis are hardly alone. In fact, there are similar sentiments in the N.J. state Senate.

Republican Sen. Michael Doherty says he has long been frustrated that N.J. is one of the few states that allow communities to charge beach fees. "The Jersey shore is the domain of single-family homes and they really are not welcoming to outsiders and day-trippers coming in," Doherty says. "They don't want you in their town. That's why there's no place to park, no place to use the restroom, and they charge you seven, 12 dollars just to get on the beach for the day."

And Doherty says for communities to continue charging beach fees after Sandy is even more outrageous.

"They now have their hand out and they want us to send them hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to rebuild their beaches, yet when it comes time to enjoying the beaches, we're told we have to pay before we can step on the sand," he says.

In response, Doherty is sponsoring legislation that would make public beach access free in all Jersey shore communities that accept federal and state funding for shoreline restoration.

But some officials in beach towns that collect the fees oppose the measure. Thomas Kelaher, mayor of Toms River, N.J., insists they're necessary. "What we do with that money is that pays for the lifeguards, the beach cleaners, and the crossing guards along the highway leading up to the beach," Kelaher says. "And we just about break even every year with what we collect and what it costs us."

Kelaher says if the state wants to pick up those costs, he'd support getting rid of the fees. But it wouldn't be fair to charge his town's property-tax payers more to cover those expenses when mostly out-of-town visitors benefit, he says.

The bill banning beach fees is expected to come up for a vote in the N.J. Legislature in January

[buckethead]

The latest, Sweeney behind it. I hate that JO, I think there was a time when something was important to fishermen and he voted several times against us.

nj.com
Dec 26-2012
The Jersey Shore is still digging and drying out from Hurricane Sandy, the most destructive natural disaster in its history. So what’s the latest recovery strategy from Trenton?Free beaches!
It’s an idea that panders to bennies everywhere who resent being forced to shell out $5 or more to sit on the sand. But it ignores the reality that Shore-goers are used to safe, clean beaches — and that someone has to pay the lifeguards, cops and cleanup crews.

A proposal from Sens. Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Michael Doherty (R-Warren) ties beach tags to the money Shore towns want for post-Sandy beach repairs. Under the bill (S2368), any town that takes state or federal aid would have to offer free beaches and restrooms.
“Where taxpayers are paying for beach restoration, they shouldn’t be taxed a second time just to walk on the sand,” Sweeney said.
But the plan pinches off money to maintain the beaches.

Take Belmar, which sold $3 million in beach tags last summer for lifeguards, police, bathrooms and other beach-related costs. That’s roughly 15 percent of Belmar’s total budget.
Or Long Beach Township, where $1.7 million in 2012 beach tag sales paid the lifeguards. Taxpayers covered everything else.
The bill comes, too, as Sweeney considers challenging Chris Christie for governor.

“It’s a good sound bite,” said Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph Mancini, who doesn’t like the bill. “But it just doesn’t work.”

would let Shore towns keep 2 cents of the 7-cent state sales tax to recoup lost fees. But that requires a constitutional amendment.

Wherever you go to the beach, someone pays for lifeguards or trash pickup. Instead of taxes, like most other states, New Jersey sells beach tags. It rankles, but the user bears the cost.
Taxes fund highways, but we still pay Parkway tolls. NJ Transit will get millions for Hurricane Sandy repairs, but no one suggests they stop charging commuters.

Beaches belong to everyone, and increasing access is noble. Repairing storm damage is a public responsibility, however, separate from summertime maintenance.
Who doesn’t want to see beach tags disappear? But keeping beaches safe and clean isn’t a cost Shore towns should shoulder alone.