By KENNY WALTER
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — The contractor charged with rebuilding the Long Branch boardwalk is on the homestretch, with time to spare before the original July target date.
Business Administrator Howard Woolley Jr. said during the March 22 Workshop meeting that the city has set an April 19 grand opening and ribbon cutting on the boardwalk.
“We are down to the punch-list items, we got the opening set for the 19th at 3:30 p.m. in West End,” Woolley said. “It’s moving right along.”
The council authorized a contract with the Howell-based George Harms Construction Company in April for the replacement of the boardwalk, which will be rebuilt twice as wide in some areas.
The contract also funds repairs to the protective bluff in front of the boardwalk, a 40-foot-deep protective metal wall and road work on Ocean Avenue.
Woolley said once the boardwalk is completed, the city will have several other decisions to make about reconfiguring traffic on Ocean Avenue, configuring a bike lane and where to place bike racks and benches.
“We are trying to get the boardwalk open, and a lot of these things will follow,” he said.
Fred Migliaccio, the director of the Department of Public Works, also said the three concession stands being constructed will be finished in two weeks, and then the concessionaire will be able to outfit each building.
Long Branch has 16 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, New Court and Takanassee. Beach season runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
The two concessions stands at West End Avenue and North Bath Avenue will have full cooking stations. The concession stand north of Cottage Place will not initially have a kitchen set up for cooking.
During the meeting, the Council also introduced an ordinance setting parking meter fees and regulations for the 2016 season, which runs from May 1 to Sept. 30.
Public Safety Director Jason Roebuck said among the changes are a price increase and the elimination of the time limit in Pier Village.
“What we discussed earlier was raising the prices in Pier Village to try to get the spots to turn over faster,” Roebuck said. “We decided that $4 was probably too high, so we are going to $3 an hour on the weekends and $2 an hour during the week.
“Everything else will stay the same and there will be no time limit.”
Last summer the city charged $1 per hour on the weekdays and $2 per hour on weekends in Pier Village, but also set a two-hour time limit on parking.
Roebuck said the changes are designed to incentivize beachgoers to park elsewhere, including the Chandler and Maps lot on the foot of Broadway and leave parking in Pier Village open to business patrons.
Other changes include additional meters on Ocean Avenue between Joline and Seaview avenues.