Long Branch beaches have become safer and more profitable just one month after the City Council’s decision to extend lifeguard hours from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the weekends, according to Dan George, Long Branch beach manager.
George said during the July 24 council workshop meeting that the extra revenues would cover all the expenses related to keeping the beach staffed with lifeguards and ticket takers for the extra two hours.
“I think it is definitely going to cover the cost of what we would incur from keeping it open,” he said. “From a lifeguard standpoint, we have a natural resource that everyone flocks down to, especially with these heat waves.”
The decision to extend lifeguard hours came after two drownings off local beaches. A 17-year-old swimming with family members drowned on May 27 at an unprotected Long Branch beach. His body was not recovered until June 2 in the ocean off Pier Village.
A second incident occurred off the coast of Bradley Beach, where a 24-year-old swimmer drowned while swimming after hours on May 29.
George explained the procedures for the extra two hours that the beach now remains open.
“Basically we are keeping it open from Morris Avenue to Laird [Avenue] because that is where the concentration of lifeguards are,” he said. “We have lifeguards patrolling the north and the south just to keep an eye out.”
George said that even during poor weather, the four beaches will be staffed on the weekends.
“We will still have lifeguards down there just in case, because we do say we will be open until 7 p.m.,” he said.
Because of the extended beach days, Business Administrator Howard Woolley Jr. said the city would need to reappropriate about $40,000 to beach operations. “Basically with the additional hours we authorized for the beach to be open, the ticket attendant time is going to be necessary to man those hours,” he said. “The other thing we didn’t anticipate is the preseason beach office expenses for 14 days.”
George said he expects the extra two hours of revenue to more than cover the salaries for lifeguards and ticket takers.
Since implementing the 7 p.m. closing, he said, the lifeguards have been given flex schedules, meaning some will start the day at noon. Because lifeguards and ticket takers are considered to be seasonal employees, they are not eligible for overtime. George said the beaches have become more and more crowded later in the day in recent years.
“The nicest part of the day is night time when the water is clean and everyone is down here,” he said. “You walk down to the beach at 5:30 p.m. on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it is mobbed.
“People are staying late, bringing a lot of food down to the beach and camping out,” he added.
While city officials had hoped the extended lifeguard hours would eliminate the risk of unguarded swimmers, George said there are still some swimmers at the unguarded beaches.
“The message can’t be made enough, but at the end of the day, people are swimming way after hours,” he said. “It’s mind-boggling, really.
“I really think people are starting to get the hang of where the lifeguards are going to be, and they really are going to flock to those areas to swim,” he added.
George said he has seen people swimming on unguarded beaches during the recent “red flag” days warning swimmers not to enter the water, and had the lifeguards tell the swimmers to get out of the ocean waters.
In recent years, the city has seen an upswing in revenue from beach operations, amounting to $1.3 million in 2010 and $1.6 million in 2011.
Long Branch has 15 beaches: Seaview Avenue, Great Lawn, Madison Avenue, Laird Street, Chelsea Avenue, Melrose Terrace, Morris Avenue, Pavilion Avenue, North Bath Avenue, South Bath Avenue, Matilda Terrace, Cottage Place, West End, Brighton Avenue and New Court.
The beach season runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day.