Despite the lack of a boardwalk, it was a record-breaking summer for Long Branch beaches, which generated a new high of $1.87 million in revenues during the 2014 season.
Carl Jennings, director of recreation for the city, said the money collected in beach fees over the summer topped the previous record of $1.8 million in 2012.
“This year is our most productive revenue year, even without a boardwalk,” he said during the Sept. 9 City Council workshop meeting. “We were really hoping that we’d reach the $2 million mark, but we just fell short at $1.87 million.”
According to Jennings, the city did not cross the $1 million mark for beach fees until 2010, and that total has nearly doubled in just four years. He said the city took in $1.67 million in 2013.
Along with the beach revenues, the city collected approximately $550,000 from parking meters, according to Finance Director Ron Mehlhorn Sr.
Mehlhorn said previous projections were close to $500,000, and that he is thrilled with the numbers for the meters, which will remain operational until Sept. 30.
Stan Dzuiba, Office of Emergency Management coordinator, said the 2014 revenues would have been even higher if it weren’t for some bad weather.
“We lost Fourth of July, which is usually a $90,000 to $110,000 day,” he said. “Then we had like three weekends in a row where we lost Saturday or Sunday. So overall, it is very good; we can’t do anything about the weather.”
According to Dzuiba, the city stopped charging for beaches on Labor Day but will continue to staff some beaches with lifeguards until the allotment of salary funding runs out.
“We still have lifeguards on. We have a skeleton crew of lifeguards on during the week, and a few more on the weekends,” he said. Beaches currently being staffed include the Great Lawn, Laird Street and Melrose and Morris avenues.
According to Dzuiba, guards also patrol to the north and the south of the guarded beaches on all-terrain vehicles.
In 2012, the council opted to extend lifeguard hours from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in response to the drowning of an after-hours swimmer.
Dzuiba said city lifeguards made 509 total rescues over the summer — 51 of which occurred during the late shift.
Councilwoman Kate Billings, a frequent beachgoer, was impressed with the operation.
“I want to commend the entire beach staff; I was down there a lot,” she said. “It was a spectacular summer on the oceanfront — the beaches were clean, the lifeguards were attentive and ticket takers were polite.”
In July, due to concerns over unsupervised swimmers and other issues, the city opted to staff lifeguards at the beach at the former Takanassee Beach Club site.
Mayor Adam Schneider said during the meeting that there were issues at that location with behaviors that are prohibited at city beaches, and next summer the city will charge fees for Takanassee Beach.
Schneider also nixed the idea of the city allowing dogs on one of the beaches during the summer.
“If you talk to the Health Department, it is not a good idea in the summer,” he said.
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.
In June, the Army Corps of Engineers completed a replenishment project in Long Branch, packing each of the city’s 15 public beaches with an additional 250 to 300 yards of sand.