Study to determine future of former OCHS building
Press of Atlantic City
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Thursday, March 30, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 30, 2006

OCEAN CITY — City Council plans to study the benefits of remodeling the old Headley Library versus just knocking it down and building new.

The city saved this section of the old high school when the three-story school was demolished last year. Most recently, the building has been used primarily for storage.

The original intent was to move Community Services employees here from the City Hall Annex. The brick building also would serve as an office for the new tennis courts. But bids to renovate the 5,000-square-foot building on Ocean Avenue to suit its new purpose came in at about $800,000, or twice as high as the city expected, Council President Jack Thomas said.

The city's estimate to demolish the old building and build a new two-story office is $1.4 million.

Council this week agreed to perform a cost-benefit study to examine the financial and practical advantages of both options. That will cost between $10,000 and $20,000, Thomas said.

Councilman Larry Carnuccio said a new building would suit the needs of both the tennis program and the Department of Community Services.

“The current configuration or layout is not conducive to what they want to do,” he said.

Building a new two-story office would free enough land to add 30 metered parking spaces. This might raise about $30,000 per year in new parking revenues.

“The issue I saw is, OK, we're going to spend $600,000 more for 30 parking spots. Is that really worth it?” Thomas said. “Council thinks it's worth the additional money to check everything out thoroughly before we commit.”

The building has been in the shadow of a wrecking ball several times dating to 1995 when the Board of Education spared it for classroom use. The building was named for the late Harry Headley, mayor of Ocean City from 1911 to 1915 and 1931 to 1935.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:
MMiller@pressofac.com

Bridge weight limits restricts bus lines into Ocean City
Press of Atlantic City
By J. STAAS HAUGHT Staff Writer, (609) 272-7253
Published: Thursday, March 30, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 30, 2006

Public transportation into the Ocean City area is being trimmed due to weight restrictions on the Route 52 causeway, NJ Transit said Wednesday.

Starting April 8, direct-line bus service to Ocean City will be cut off on one route, a stop in Somers Point will be skipped on another line, and run times will be adjusted on two others, the agency said.

The changes are needed to accommodate weight restrictions and traffic concerns on the Route 52 causeway connecting Somers Point and Ocean City. The road was temporarily shut down in January after routine inspections found structural damage to the aging corridor.

NJ Transit said the 551 line, starting in Philadelphia, will no longer extend to Ocean City, instead, it will end in Atlantic City. Riders can then hop on either the 507 line running direct to Ocean City or pick up the 509 with a stop in Somers Point. Run time schedules for both of those lines are being adjusted to accommodate detours around the causeway.

Shutting down the road, also known as the Ninth Street Causeway, was originally considered as a permanent move, but state Department of Transportation officials eventually opened up two lanes and said by Memorial Day all four lanes will be flowing — at reduced speeds and with upgraded guardrails.

The entire causeway is to be replaced by 2012, but the state is adding incentives to the plan to get the job done by 2008. Meanwhile, weight restrictions are still in place along the narrow stretch.

“We've been advised that the work could take four or five years,” NJ Transit spokeswoman Courtney Carroll said. “So the route adjustments will be in place for the length of the project.”

The 319 line from New York to Ocean City, via Atlantic City, will no longer stop in Somers Point, because buses along that route will instead use the Garden State Parkway. Riders needing service to Somers Point from that line will have to catch the 509 bus in Atlantic City. Morning weekday trips on that run will pick up at South Carolina Avenue at 7:55 a.m., instead of at Atlantic and Ohio Avenues at 7:59 a.m.

“Riders will have to make some adjustments for that line,” Carroll said.

Plans for the Route 52 causeway project had to be adjusted after an initial round of bids came in well above the projected cost. Once completed, the new causeway will have two elevated bridges between Ocean City and Somers Point. But instead of being elevated their entire length, the bridges will dip to ground level along Rainbow Island.

Bus-line changes, including other adjustments to routes in northern New Jersey, are available at www.njtransit.com

To e-mail J. Staas Haught at The Press:
JHaught@pressofac.com

Ocean City school board approves $41M. budget
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 30, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 30, 2006

OCEAN CITY — The Board of Education approved a $41.2 million school budget Wednesday that calls for a small decrease in the tax rate.

The board voted 6-3 to approve the budget, but not before two hours of discussion, primarily among teachers who want a second guidance counselor at the primary school.

The Upper Township representatives showed their displeasure with the district's high per-pupil spending by voting against the budget. Per-pupil spending is the basis for Upper's tuition at Ocean City High School.

“We're getting close to college-education tuition,” board member and Upper Township representative Sandra O'Brien said.

Board member David Winslow cast his yes vote by telephone via a conference call loudspeaker.

The district's total budget is going up by about $1 million over last year. But the school-tax rate will drop from 26.5 cents to 25.6 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation.

With a proposed tax levy of $20.5 million, the owner of a $100,000 property would pay $256 in school taxes. The owner of a $500,000 home would pay about $1,280 in school taxes this year.

The board will ask its personnel committee to review teachers' request to hire a second guidance counselor at the primary school. If filled, that position — estimated at $100,000 in salary and benefits — will be paid through budget transfers that will not affect this year's tax levy, Business Administrator Doris Isaacs said.

Acting Superintendent David Moyer did not recommend filling the position because doing so will increase per-pupil spending at the school.

“You're spending $18,466 per child. How much more do you want to spend?” he asked the teachers. “The money is going into classrooms.”

O'Brien noted that the budget called for significant cuts for instructional materials in the K-8 budget and significant increases in instructional materials for the high school. The latter costs presumably would be shared with Upper Township's taxpayers.

Likewise, she noted the district was budgeting $214,000 more for guidance counselors even though initially there are no plans to add any positions. Isaacs said that increase accounted for salary hikes and other expenses.

The district budgeted $50,000 for a proposed stellar observatory to cover costs associated with permit applications and design fees.

Meanwhile, the board postponed a vote Wednesday on a plan to change health-insurance carriers until the teachers union can get more information. As proposed, the change will save taxpayers at least $476,675 or a half-cent on the tax rate, Moyer said. Isaacs disagreed, saying she did not think the savings would be as great.

Voters will get their say on the budget April 18.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:
MMiller@pressofac.com

County to pitch tourism in TV ads in April
By W.F. KEOUGH Staff Writer, (609) 463-6710
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 30, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 30, 2006

CAPE MAY COUNTY — The county will start airing its newest tourism commercials in April as part of a $55,000 television blitz aimed at luring residents in Pennsylvania, Maryland and northern New Jersey.

The three 30-second ads are the latest under the regional “Escape to the Jersey Cape” campaign that started four years ago. The ads are meant to build upon earlier commercials, which stressed the county's beaches.

“We know that's primarily why people come here,” tourism director Diane Wieland said.

But the new ads move beyond the beaches and focus on more adventurous activities.

The newest ads flash the standard photographs of the Boardwalk, shopping districts and ocean surfing. They also include shots from the region's famous birding sites to the AJ Meerwald, a tall ship that's actually docked in Cumberland County. Car shows, camping activities, Cape May's historic homes and Ocean City's Night in Venice boat parade are also part of the photographic montage in the commercials.

The county paid $5,000 for three new 30-second television spots.

“Discover. Play. Escape to Cape May County” will begin airing Saturday on Comcast stations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Wieland said the county will pay $50,000 to air the commercials, which will appear 2,100 times April to June.

To e-mail W.F. Keough at The Press:
WKeough@pressofac.com

Somers Point loses $135,000 in state aid for its schools
By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7237
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 29, 2006

SOMERS POINT — Local school districts have complained for the last four years about state aid being held flat. But flat state aid would look pretty good in this town right now because district officials found out just before unveiling their proposed next budget that the state plans to cut Somers Point's aid by more than $135,000.

In a town where a penny on the tax rate raises about $68,000, that aid cut alone accounts for 2 cents of the proposed school-tax increase of 6.1 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The total budget for the next school year would go up by less than $100,000, to about $14.57 million, if voters approve it in the April 18 school election.

Along with the loss of aid from Trenton, major contributors to the tax increase include projections of higher utility and insurance bills and salary increases under staff contracts, district Business Administrator Nancy Steinhauer said.

She added that the aid figure is based on declining enrollment, although the schools actually expect to gain about eight students next year, to a projected total of 1,006 children.

The district didn't cut any programs but plans to cut some spending through attrition. Officials expect three veteran employees — a teacher, a secretary and a custodian, all with more than 30 years of experience — to retire before the next school year, and their replacements would come in at lower salaries, if they're replaced at all, the administrator said.

“And some part-time positions may be eliminated,” she added. “That will be something to discuss.”

So will other possible savings on supplies and reductions in field trips, Steinhauer said.

The district hasn't gotten its insurance bills for the next school year yet, but the budget projects 10-percent increases in its coverage. It also anticipates higher energy costs, but the administrator noted that utility bills were abnormally high last summer because several school buildings were having renovations done.

“We're hoping that was a one-time thing,” Steinhauer said.

And as for construction projects, which included reopening the historic New York Avenue school earlier this year, she expects only good financial news.

“I think we're done for a while,” she said.

A public hearing on the budget is set for 7 p.m. Thursday in the New York Avenue School.

There are also three school-board seats on the ballot for the April 18 school election, but only three candidates, all incumbents, filed to run for them. They are Walt Wilkins and Karen Broomall, both longtime members, and Greg Pfund, who is running for his second term. Each spot is for a three-year term on the board.

To e-mail Martin DeAngelis at The Press:MDeangelis@pressofac.com

Cape pressures DOT to open Beesleys Point Bridge
By W.F. KEOUGH Staff Writer, (609) 463-6710
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 29, 2006

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — Cape May County officials are demanding that the state take action to open the Beesleys Point Bridge before another summer brings more gridlock to area roads.

In a four-page resolution, county freeholders there demanded immediate action from the state Department of Transportation. The resolution called on the state to either force the bridge's owners to make needed repairs, or take over the Route 9 bridge, which has been closed since June 2004.

Freeholder Len Desiderio said the county passed its latest resolution — which amounts to an angry letter — out of pure frustration.

“It's imperative that someone up there wakes up and starts giving answers to the people of Cape May County,” Desiderio said following Tuesday's freeholder meeting. “Being nice hasn't worked for us.”

County officials here said the Beesleys Point Bridge closure is just one issue affecting them. Their letter lists a series of bridge woes, including the emergency closure of the Ninth Street Causeway into Ocean City in January, as reason for concern.

The county says all the various road problems will create massive summer traffic jams. The freeholders say they're not just worried about image and tourism dollars: The resolution also hints at the dangers that would arise during a hurricane evacuation.

The resolution blames the state for many of the traffic problems, including not staying on top of bridge-safety issues in the region.

A state DOT spokeswoman would not comment on the charges, saying the DOT had not yet seen the resolution.

Beesleys Point Bridge spans Great Egg Harbor Bay, connecting Upper Township with Egg Harbor Township. Its private owners had hinted for years that they couldn't afford to keep it open without more state aid. The owners closed the bridge, saying a collapsed concrete pier threatened motorists' safety.

The bridge has been closed ever since.

Efforts to get the owners to open it have failed. The state has threatened Beesleys Point Bridge Co. with the default of $1 million in grants if they don't reopen. The state gave the company the money in 1997 to keep the bridge open.

County freeholders say it's time the state took the money — and the bridge.

DOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon said the state's options are limited.

“This is a private bridge,” Phalon said.

But state Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said that he's had ongoing discussion with the state DOT to get the bridge open.

“The odds are better than 50-50 that it will be open before summer,” Van Drew said.

Phalon wouldn't comment on whether the state would take the bridge, but allowed “it's something we would consider if legislators brought it to us as a concern.”

Cape May County officials say they want answers. They're sending their latest resolution to the DOT and Gov. Jon Corzine.

To e-mail W.F. Keough at The Press:WKeough@pressofac.com

Market Conditions
by Carla L. Davis
Realty Times
3/29/06

Cape May, New Jersey, is one of the southernmost cities in the state -- and it boasts some very sustainable prices compared to many of its eastern counterparts. Why? Because this region is planning on seeing a rapid influx of retirees over the next few years.

In the Cape May area, 9 properties sold in the month of February. The average selling price -- $560,000.

The entire county surrounding Cape May is developing quickly. Prices range dramatically for this region -- making it a steal for many of the baby boomers that are planning on retiring to the area. The lowest prices property sold: $2,000. The highest? A cool $8,000,000. You can, however, find very decent housing that may need a little work for around $250,000.

Finally today, we look to Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. A buyers market with rising prices, this city is seeing an average selling price of $199,000. This is only a 2 percent increase over prices seen last year at this time.

Experts predict that the area will continue to see growth and development, especially in the business sector.

The average time on market has dropped to 3 and a half months, but with a substantial inventory – buyers still have plenty of homes to choose from in most price ranges.

Ocean City orders up Mickey Rooney for Doo-Dah Parade
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, March 28, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Publicist Mark Soifer was looking for a grand marshal for this year's Doo-Dah Parade, the city's annual spring folly.

Mickey Rooney's name came up.

With a hugely successful appearance last year by Carol Channing, the bar for comedic talent was set especially high. But Soifer had no idea how to contact the star of “National Velvet” and “The Black Stallion.”

Naturally, Soifer Googled him.

Rooney, 85, has his own Web site

www.mickeyrooney.com

and Soifer ordered up Rooney like a bouquet of flowers. Somewhat pricey flowers, as it turns out. Rooney agreed through his online booking agency to participate in Ocean City's second-favorite parade for $5,000.

This was far more than previous honorees, which have included the late Ernie Kovacs, the late W.C. Fields and the late Charlie Chaplin.

“When we honor the dead people, it's always more economical,” Soifer noted.

As always, the city will provide celebrity treatment: airfare from his home in California, limousines, meet-and-greets with city officialdom and accommodations at the Port-O-Call Hotel.

Since the booking, Soifer has been planning a full weekend of activities around the star of “Boys Town.”

The city invited Rooney to the Basset Olympics, in which dozens of the hounds waddle for gold at the Ocean City Tabernacle grounds the day before the April 22 parade. After the parade, the city will host a vaudeville-style tribute to the actor at the Ocean City Tabernacle.

“It's not like we're making him perform. We're honoring him,” Soifer noted.

Not that Rooney wouldn't oblige. The actor is still working at the craft he helped define in more than 200 films. He is scheduled to appear in an ensemble comedy this year with Robin Williams. In April, Rooney will embark on a European tour for “Let's Put On a Show,” a stage act he does with his wife, Jan. Rooney has been married eight times.

Meanwhile, Soifer has been busy writing and re-writing the script for Rooney's musical tribute. If ever a writer were up to the task, it's the creator of city mascot Martin Z. Mollusk. Soifer even penned an audience sing-a-long with Elvis impersonator Ted Prior for the big finish.

“I don't know of a more versatile performer in Hollywood. He sang and danced, played instruments. The guy was in a movie every year. That doesn't count the plays and things he was in,” Soifer said.

Having a household name gives the parade more media pull, he said.

“It helps the prestige of the event,” Soifer said. “We certainly can't compete with the casinos for having celebrities. But considering Rooney was a legendary actor and comedian, you're doing pretty good.”

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

These OWLS (older women living single) give a hoot
By DEBRA RECH For The Press, (609) 463-6719
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Monday, March 27, 2006
Updated: Monday, March 27, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Volunteering isn't what members of Older Women Living Single, or OWLS, do. It's who they are. This 6-month-old nonprofit organization is more of a support group for volunteers than a volunteer support group.

Although every member of OWLS volunteers for something, not all of them volunteer for an organization. Many help friends and neighbors on a daily basis. They may drive a neighbor to the doctor's office or to buy groceries, pick up a daily newspaper or help clean a sick friend's home.

Joining OWLS is a way to connect to other women who love helping others. Members must be single women age 55 or older, although anyone, male or female, can join the Friends of the OWLS and help with OWLS projects.

OWLS hold monthly meetings, with guest speakers, and publish a newsletter called “OWLS Give a Hoot.” They love having bake sales, but they also enjoy going to dinner together and just having fun.

Jodi Puckett, of Ocean City, got the idea for the group in 2004 after she was hit by a car and seriously injured. Puckett, 74, needed lots of help as she recovered. She refused extended treatment because she couldn't afford it and came home wheelchair-bound, unable to do many things for herself. She expected that some friends and neighbors would help her out, but was surprised at the kindness of strangers.

“A woman who worked at Wawa around the corner from my house found out I was hurt and came right over to help me,” Puckett said. “I knew her, but just barely. I had others come to help me who didn't know me at all. It was that kind compassion that prompted me to start the OWLS. I knew there were many other older women who lived alone and needed help. I also knew there were many older women who spend a good part of their days volunteering. I wanted to start a group that would help people and help the people who help people.”

OWLS now has about 30 members with chapters in Atlantic and Cape May counties. There are two groups, one that meets in the evening and one in the daytime to accommodate members who no longer drive at night.

The OWLS creed is: “May we be loyal to each other, be helpful to those in need; may our higher power bless us and keep us together.”

“First OWLS do whatever we can for our own members, then we help people who are recommended to us by members,” Puckett said. “We want to be sure that people who ask for our help really need it and aren't just using us.”

At meetings, members usually break into small groups of three or four so they can get to know each other better and share both good and bad volunteer experiences. “Many women have never met before, yet we have an instantaneous bond because we all have the same spirit,” Puckett said.

You have to look hard at Puckett to see a 74-year-old woman. Small and silver-haired, she prefers to wear sneakers and a sequined denim jacket because she's “always on the go.” Although her accident left her unable to stand for long periods of time, this plucky lady has confidence that she will soon be back taking her daily walks over the Longport Bridge.

“When I got hurt, I was a volunteer for 10 different organizations,” Puckett said. “I had to stop a lot, but I'm coming back strong. I will be able to do all those things again. You just have to have the right attitude. The OWLS has helped me to heal.”

EMM Manning, of Egg Harbor Township, treasurer of the OWLS, volunteers for the Arc of Atlantic County and other community organizations.

“OWLS celebrate the little things we do daily and the bigger things, but more so, I think OWLS celebrate who we are,” Manning said. “We volunteer because it's just natural to us. Some people have to think about volunteering. Not us. We just do it.”

For now, OWLS is like Puckett's fulltime job. She has plans for the organization, and she's not thinking small.

“When (not if) we become a national organization,” Puckett says, “we'll be able to do so much for communities all over the country. Oh, yes, I absolutely see OWLS becoming a national program. You can do a lot with one group of determined older ladies!”

To e-mail Debra Rech at The Press:DRech@pressofac.com

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

OWLS meet from 2 to 4 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at Brandall Estates in Linwood and from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. the third Thursday of each month at the Ocean City Library. For more information, call 399-1630.

Cost to Cape towns: Fee for State Police
Upper, Dennis townships, Woodbine would be asked to chip in for patrols
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 22, 2006

A proposal by Gov. Jon S. Corzine could spell the end of “free” State Police coverage in all three Cape May County towns that rely on it.

Under the governor's budget presented Tuesday, towns with low municipal tax rates or high property values would have to pay for State Police coverage. Doing so will raise about $24 million, or one-third of the $74 million in state taxes that pay for State Police coverage each year.

State Police provide full-time coverage for 73 towns and part-time coverage for another 24 in New Jersey.

Under the governor's proposal, any of these towns with ratable bases higher than their county average or tax rates lower than their county average would be asked to reimburse the state for a portion of the cost of State Police cover-
age.

Three Cape May County towns are patrolled by State Police: Woodbine and Upper and Dennis townships. Judging by their ratable bases alone, the three towns would be exempt from the State Police contribution. All three towns combined do not have a tax base approaching the 2005 county average of $1.9 billion per town.

But municipal tax rates are something else.

Upper Township benefits from more than $6 million in energy receipts taxes for hosting the B.L. England power plant. As a result, it has no local purpose tax.

Both Woodbine and Dennis Township have municipal tax rates below the county average of 50 cents per $100 of assessed property. Woodbine's tax rate in 2004 stood at 41 cents. Dennis Township's was 14 cents, the second-lowest in Cape May County.

Under this criterion, all three would have to ante up to the state.

State Police coverage for years has been a sore spot for towns that budget as much as one third of their tax dollars for local police salaries and equipment each year. Taxpayers in these towns help share the police burden in New Jersey's rural towns, too.

“The people in Lower Township are paying for police protection there and they're paying for Upper Township, too,” Lower Township Councilman Mike Beck said. “In 2003, the police represented 40 percent of our payroll. That's a heck of a lot of money these towns are avoiding shelling out.”

Woodbine Mayor William Pikolycky said rural towns such as his have environmental restrictions that prevent him from attracting businesses to help pay for services such as a local police force or paid fire department.

“The State Police were designed to cover rural towns like Woodbine's,” he said. “We're a Pinelands community. We're already limited to what we can do for economic growth. I don't think Woodbine will be affected by this.”

Upper Township Mayor Richard Palombo was skeptical the proposal would affect Upper Township, either.

“We'll work with our legislators to keep the status quo,” he said. “We have to determine whether we're in that criteria. The (governor's) budget has to go through a lot of review before it's finalized.”

In Dennis Township, Committeeman Ed Beck (no relation to the Lower Township councilman) said the state's proposal would be vastly unpopular.

“Our local assemblymen provided a promise that police would not charge us,” he said.

Beck said he has heard the same criticism about “free” State Police coverage in rural towns. This complaint is unfair, he said.

“We feel it's an entitlement. We don't have the crime rate. We don't have the genuine criminal influx you'd have at the shore communities. We don't have the same kind of problems, therefore we don't need the same services,” he said.

State Sen. Nicholas Asselta, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said the governor's proposal drives a wedge between towns.

“I never liked the idea of pitting one against the other,” he said.

If necessary, the state should move officers off highway details to cover rural towns, he said.

“Law enforcement must be maintained in rural areas. If we have to pick and choose what law enforcement does, I want it to protect homes, families and properties,” he said. “Not having (police) out on the roadways.”

Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, noted that former Gov. James E. McGreevey made the same proposal four years ago, but the Legislature killed it. He said towns in Cumberland and Cape May counties simply can't afford to pay for State Police.

“The deal is there's something on the table that's been on the table before, and we're going to have to get it off the table,” Van Drew said. “My goal is to make sure those communities that should not be paying for State Police do not.”

(Staff Writer Pete McAleer contributed to this report.)

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:

Ocean City to spruce up entrance at 34th street
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 23, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 23, 2006

OCEAN CITY — The city hopes to make its 34th Street entrance more attractive to tourists and residents.

The improvements are coming at a time when more motorists likely will use this entrance to avoid Ninth Street during construction of the new Route 52 causeway.

City Council plans to adopt new design standards for this busy entrance to the island, calling for pavers, crosswalks, benches, pear trees and decorative streetlights.

Best of all for taxpayers, local businesses will pay the tab. Under the proposal council is considering, businesses that renovate or rebuild on 34th Street would have to incorporate these elements in their reconstruction.

“It's to provide a sense of place. Give a sense of arrival when coming into town,” city Planner Randy Scheule said.

The plan is very specific, down to the exact make of lights and benches and the species of trees (pyrus calleryana) and flowers (royal purple liriope) that each business must use. The city hired a landscape architect to draw up the design.

Businesses that expand or rebuild would have to incorporate the streetscape in their plans, Scheule said.

“We're not trying to penalize them,” he said. “We just want the improvements done to give that corridor a better sense of place so when you get there, you know you're someplace different.”

City Council considered asking Cape May County freeholders for money for the streetscape as part of the county's recreation initiative.

The improvements are centered on 34th Street but include businesses at cross streets, too, Scheule said.

Council will conduct a hearing on the proposal March 30.

A new Sturdy Savings Bank planned for 34th Street likely will be the first to add the benches and trees, Scheule said. But several other new development projects are in the works.

“We've been surprised by the willingness of businesses to take hold of this,” he said.

The street improvements likely will help business there, said Joann DelVescio, director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce.

And with more visitors relying on the 34th Street bridge, the improvements are timely, she said. The chamber is considering opening a second welcome center there, at least until the causeway is finished.

“That could become our major access into Ocean City for a number of years,” she said. “Anything that will have a calming effect on traffic as you come into the city will be a positive.”

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

Opponents zone in on development
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 23, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 23, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Four candidates for mayor are sparring over one issue that affects virtually everything on this resort island: development.

The city's booming property values keep investors buying, construction crews working and Realtors smiling.

Homes here are shore retreats, rental assets and retirement nest eggs balled up in one tidy ocean-scented package. But with any limited resource, building bigger in one area often means encroaching on another.

“It's the No. 1 issue in this campaign,” Councilman Jody Alessandrine said.

He said the city needs to retreat from its philosophy of block-by-block zoning in favor of more uniform and consistent standards. This is the only way to make zoning rules mean anything, he said.

“Our zoning book is thicker than the Manhattan phonebook,” he said. “When it becomes so technical with more than 100 different zones, it becomes unenforceable, especially with the small staff we have on the island.”

Alessandrine said he voted against the latest revisions to the master plan, the city's blueprint for development, because it allowed greater building coverage and a more generous definition for what constituted a half-story on a home.

Councilman Frank McCall said he is less concerned about each property owner's home height or outdoor deck. Instead, he thinks the city should restrict larger projects like the high-rise hotels that have been sprouting in the Wildwoods.

“We don't want to become like Ocean City, Md., where people don't know the sun's up until 3 p.m. They never see a sunrise. Moss grows on the west side of buildings. We don't want that in Ocean City,” McCall said.

McCall voted against Boardwalk Plaza Suites, a hotel proposed next to the Flanders, but favored the smaller Soleil that won council approval. And he is proposing the city purchase a bayfront lot on the north end to keep public access to the bay.

“Jody's philosophy is that smaller is better. My philosophy is that we should take a reasonable approach and allow someone to build something comfortable. You need to give someone a chance to build living quarters for themselves and their family.”

In a statement, candidate Sal Perillo criticized McCall and Alessandrine for letting the city's zoning rules change the face of the island for the worse.

“Zoning in Ocean City is a mess,” he said. “And Alessandrine and McCall during the last eight years have been part of a City Council that has created the mess.”

Perillo, who represented the developers of Boardwalk Plaza Suites, said the city should have enacted zoning changes to discourage restaurateurs from replacing longtime eateries with residential condos. Likewise, Council adopted rules that allow bigger homes to be built on the island, he said.

“This has allowed oversized, out-of-place buildings to be constructed which dwarf their neighbors,” he said.

If elected mayor, Perillo said he would not support new hotels that exceed the current height limits.

Candidate Robert A. Miller said the key is reining in the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment.

“Too many variances are granted that shouldn't be,” he said. “They have to check what they're doing. If we keep granting variances like this, we'll be more overcrowded.”

The city should be more vigilant to check that what's proposed on paper is built as specified, he said.

“They should have violations where property owners build higher than allowed,” he said.

The election is May 9.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

Upper, condos reach deal
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 16, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 16, 2006

UPPER TOWNSHIP — The Township Committee agreed this week to pay for snow removal at Osprey Point.

By doing so, the township conceded Osprey Point's argument that private condominium associations and gated communities are entitled to the same township services afforded any other residents.

With more condo associations in the works in Upper Township, Osprey Point will set the standard for future agreements, Mayor Richard Palombo said.

The mayor said fighting the association would have been a losing battle based on the township's research into similar court fights in New Jersey.

Under the agreement with Osprey Point, the township reimburses the condo association for trash collection. The township will pay for snow removal, too, based on a formula of man hours and township road miles, towship Engineer Paul Dietrich said.

The township agreed to sweep the association's private roads twice a year.

Township employees ordinarily plow snow, pick up leaves and collect household trash. But letting the association contract out the services will save the township money, Palombo said.

“We're only reimbursing them for what would be a comparable amount,” he said.

Palombo and Committeeman Curtis Corson Jr. recused themselves from the vote this week because of potential conflicts of interest. Palombo's father, former North Wildwood Mayor Aldo Palombo, is moving to the age-restricted neighborhood.

Osprey Point is the only condo association of its kind in Upper Township, but more age-restricted communities are in the works. The township will examine the cost of providing these services to other condo associations as they are built, Dietrich said.

“We can't treat them differently than apartments or duplexes or single-family homes,” Dietrich said.

Osprey Point resident Hedi Scheyder said the decision was just.

“We're paying exactly the same taxes as anyone else. I feel, and others feel the same, that we're paying high taxes and we're supposed to get these services,” she said. “I think that should be a given, the street-cleaning and snow removal.”

The same rule will apply to the township's annual leaf collection each fall. But for the moment, that is not a contentious issue in Osprey Point.

Most of the trees in the new development are mere saplings.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

O.C. considers time limits on hotel stays
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, March 17, 2006
Updated: Friday, March 17, 2006

OCEAN CITY — City Council on Thursday backed off a proposal to limit the stay in city guesthouses and rooming houses to 90 days in a year.

Some private studies conducted by the owners of two proposed hotel projects — Boardwalk Plaza Suites and Soleil — suggested the city needs more rooms at hotels and motels to accommodate visitors who come for a weekend or single night.

To keep the resort from losing more transient lodging to condominium conversion, the council on Thursday considered an ordinance that would force hoteliers to get approval from the Planning Board before they could change the property's use.

And it limited the stay to 30 days in any fiscal quarter or 90 days total in a year. Galloway Township and Wildwood placed similar limits on hotel stays last year.

The proposed ordinance would have affected all hotels, motels, rooming houses, guest houses and multi-family homes.

Councilman Gregory Johnson spelled out the implications to council on Thursday.

“You're putting people out on the street,” he said. “I lived in rooming houses for a long time. I could not afford to live anywhere else.”

The city has only a handful of guesthouses or rooming houses remaining, which makes these accommodations especially scarce.

Business Administrator Richard Deaney said the time limits might put the city in the awkward and expensive position of relocating people under the law.

The council removed guest houses and rooming houses from the time-limit restriction. The ordinance passed on first reading 6-0. Councilman Ronald Denney abstained, saying he feared his colleagues misunderstood the ordinance.

A public hearing is scheduled for March 30.

State fines O.C. park in drowning
Guards lost track of girl, 13, in shift change, report says
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Saturday, March 11, 2006
Updated: Saturday, March 11, 2006

OCEAN CITY — A coincidental shift change among lifeguards might have cost the life of a 13-year-old girl who drowned last summer at a Boardwalk water park, a state report concluded.

The state fined Gillian's Island Water Park $25,000 this week for five safety violations in the Sept. 2 drowning of Jasmin Winder, of Olney, Pa.

The state Department of Community Affairs concluded that human error was to blame for the accident. The agency said lifeguards lost track of the teenager during a shift change that coincided with her plunge into the pool off a water slide at 3:49 p.m. that Friday, the start of the long Labor Day weekend.

Investigators with the state Bureau of Code Services inspected the ride, reviewed police reports, conducted interviews and reviewed security tapes of the water slide Shotgun Falls.

Jasmin was riding the twin water slides with her older sister, 16-year-old Michele, that day. Jasmin went first on the left slide. The report said the teenager followed all posted and verbal instructions and dropped uneventfully into the receiving pool, but she never surfaced.

Michele took the right slide immediately afterward and landed in the same pool. A security video of the ride showed Michele leaving the pool and searching the area around it for her sister. At Michele's request, the park paged Jasmin five times to no avail.

According to the security video, a lifeguard dove into the pool at about 4:45 p.m. to retrieve a pair of sunglasses. The guard apparently did not see the girl. A second guard dove into the pool at 5:20 p.m. to retrieve another pair of sunglasses and this time found Jasmin about three feet from the bottom — 91 minutes after she disappeared beneath the surface.

The lifeguard called for help and began administering cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The girl was pronounced dead at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point.

“Given the rotation at the start tower and the distractions at the lower pool location, the guards lost count of the rider sequence and thus the rider,” the three-page report concluded.

The Cape May County Medical Examiner ruled that Jasmin drowned. The examiner found no evidence of physical trauma such as a head injury, according to the autopsy report.

Investigators concluded the Shotgun Falls water slide did not have enough ride operators. Lifeguards who supervised the ride were not trained properly on safety procedures. And the pool where riders plunge into the water was too turbid or cloudy for operators to see to the bottom.

Jasmin's mother, Karen Fields Winder, in February filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the park. The lawsuit alleges that the ride was understaffed when Jasmin drowned.

In a court affidavit, Michele Winder testified that she asked a lifeguard about the whereabouts of her sister.

“I asked him, ‘Did you see my sister come up?'” she said. “The lifeguard on the bridge responded to me, ‘No, I didn't see anyone. Go to the office and have her paged.'”

Karen Winder could not be reached for comment. She has an unlisted phone number in Pennsylvania. Her lawyer, Gustine J. Pelagatti of Philadelphia, declined to comment Friday.

Gillian's attorney, Lary I. Zucker of Cherry Hill, filed court papers Thursday denying any negligence by the park. In court papers, Zucker noted the ride met all industry standards.

“The alleged accident was the result of plaintiff in failing to heed posted warnings,” the attorney wrote. “Plaintiff's alleged injuries came about or were caused by forces or persons or parties other than defendants and over which or whom defendants had no control.”

Zucker did not return calls seeking comment Friday. The owners of Gillian's Wonderland Pier and Gillian's Island Water Park could not be reached for comment. The park is closed for the season.

In 1999, a mother and daughter were killed after they were thrown from a Wonderland Pier roller coaster that malfunctioned. After a five-month investigation, the DCA fined Wonderland Pier and the ride manufacturer $25,000 and $30,000, respectively, for codes and standards violations.

Trump Taj to rise again, by 45 stories
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 8, 2006

ATLANTIC CITY — Rising 485 feet above Atlantic City, it will give Donald Trump's gaming empire some much-needed upward mobility.

Plans were submitted Tues-day for a 45-story addition to the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort that will serve as the centerpiece of the company's post-bankruptcy turnaround.

Besides the financial benefits, the new 800-room hotel tower will allow Trump to reclaim bragging rights for Atlantic City's tallest building. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, which tops out at 479 feet, eclipsed the Taj Mahal's existing 42-story tower by 64 feet when it opened in 2003. Now Trump will take back the title by a mere 6 feet.

“That was not a major factor in our thinking,” Trump said, denying any deliberate plan to build the tallest structure. “But I always like height.”

Architectural renderings show the Trump name emblazoned on the top of the tower in gigantic letters. Pending regulatory approvals, construction of the estimated $250 million project is expected to begin in June, with completion by summer 2008.

James B. Perry, president and chief executive officer of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., said the tower should put to rest any criticism that the company “talked a good game” but never carried out its expansion plans.

“We're not all about announcements. We're about making things happen,” Perry said.

Since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May, the company has slashed its debt, reduced interest payments by $102 million annually and secured a $500 million line of credit to spruce up and expand its three aging casinos.

The new tower is the next phase of a capital plan that started last year with $110 million in renovations to the Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and Trump Marina Hotel Casino.

Trump Entertainment's spending spree will help the company catch up to well-heeled rivals that have been adding hotel towers and elaborate retail and entertainment attractions to fend off new competition from Pennsylvania's slot parlors, which are scheduled to open in 2007 or 2008.

“We did a wonderful deal when we did the recapitalization,” Trump said of the bankruptcy restructuring. “We have a lot of cash on hand and access to a lot of cash. I think the Taj was always No. 1 in Atlantic City, but then it was supplanted by investment made by other companies. Now we're going to make a big investment in the Taj and have a super tower.”

The city's skyline has been dramatically reshaped in recent years by new casino projects, and more profound changes are coming in 2007 and 2008. The Taj Mahal's expansion will be under construction at the same time as Borgata's new 800-room hotel tower and a 964-room addition to Harrah's Atlantic City.

Borgata's $325 million tower, scheduled to open in late 2007, is the second phase of a $525 million expansion. This spring, Borgata will open a $200 million addition featuring new casino space, retail shops and trendy restaurants. Harrah's $550 million expansion project includes new retail-entertainment attractions opening in early 2007 and the hotel tower in 2008.

The height of the new towers for Borgata and Harrah's has not been announced yet, so Trump may have to fight to keep the crown for having the city's tallest building.

The Taj Mahal's tower is proposed on the Boardwalk side of Pacific Avenue, between Maryland Avenue and States Avenue. It will rise between the Taj Mahal's existing tower and the Showboat Casino Hotel.

Although plans for the tower were originally announced last year, Trump Entertainment provided new architectural renderings and more details about the project Tuesday as part of a construction application with the state Department of Environmental Protection. The tower will need DEP approval for a Coastal Area Facilities Review Act permit.

CAFRA regulations govern construction along the shore and will be the most rigorous and important regulatory approval for Trump. Perry said the company does not anticipate any problems with the approval process.

While construction proceeds on the tower, Trump Entertainment will begin the planning for the transformation of the adjacent Steel Pier into possibly new retail-entertainment attractions or a new hotel facility or luxury condominiums. The historic Boardwalk pier, owned by Trump, is operated as an amusement park by the Catanoso family. The Catanoso contract with Trump expires after this summer, Perry said.

“The planning process for the Steel Pier will begin this summer, but probably it will be a year before any announcements are made,” Perry said.

Steel Pier's fate will depend on the success or failure of another Boardwalk project, the redevelopment of the old Million Dollar Pier into The Pier at Caesars, a $175 million upscale shopping and entertainment complex opening this summer.

“If (The Pier at Caesars) shops are real successful and create a real buzz, it will be much easier to attract restaurants and retail to a pier location,” Perry said of the Steel Pier's redevelopment. “If they are slow, then it would probably move us toward hotel rooms or condo projects.”

To e-mail Donald Wittkowski at The Press:DWittkowski@pressofac.com

Town's recreation complex growing
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 9, 2006

UPPER TOWNSHIP — Township work crews this month moved dirt around what will become new baseball and softball fields at Amanda's Field.

This sprawling patch of mud will soon become the epicenter of recreation in Upper Township.

The 72-acre complex off Route 50 is slowly taking shape, Committeeman Jay Newman said.

This year, the township finished a new walking and bike path that carves a 1.4-mile-long circle around the complex.

The township is in the third year of a decade-long plan to build ballfields and basketball courts in Petersburg. The center is named for Amanda Field, a 15-year-old girl from Petersburg who died in a car accident nearby in 1999.

While the township is on schedule, the work is going somewhat ploddingly. The township is relying exclusively on development fees from new subdivisions to pay for everything, Newman said. The township budgeted $100,000 for Amanda's Field in 2006, or half as much as it budgeted for improvements here last year. And it cut recreation funding by 10 percent this year.

But the township's decision to acquire this former turf farm with Cape May County Open Space money seems like a better one every year, Newman said.

“I don't know where we have room for anything else. We just don't have the space,” he said.

When he was growing up in Upper Township, he played on the township's inaugural football team, the Indians, coached by his father. Now, more than 140 township children play football each year.

Another 450 children play organized baseball, 600 play basketball and about 1,000 play soccer, Recreation Director Brenda Layton said.

“If you have a kid in this township, there is a program for them. We've always got something going on. There's no excuse for them to be sitting home watching TV,” Newman said.

Meanwhile, local sports groups have stepped in to speed improvements.

The Upper Township Baseball Association raised $27,000 to build indoor batting cages in a heated pole barn at Amanda's Field with the help of local contractors. The Upper Township Soccer Association plans to install practice lights at a field nearest the concession stand.

These light stands won't be as tall or as bright as those used in games, association President Ron DiGiovanni said.

“We're cognizant of the neighbors. We don't want to interfere with people who live there,” he said.

But the lights will provide enough illumination to give the traveling teams more practice time during the darker months of early spring and late fall, he said.

“Upper Township has a good (soccer) tradition. Unlike other sports, size doesn't matter. And we keep it in proper perspective. It's fun first,” he said.

While baseball fields are still a year or more away from completion, the recreation complex is starting to live up to its potential, baseball coach Eric Ortolf said.

“I think it's wonderful. It becomes a real focal point for the township. The strength of the township has been recreation, kids and schools,” he said. “It's moving along.”

The batting cages have been a popular diversion in the wet, cold winter.

“You could have almost a whole team in there at once,” he said.

The club has its own pitching machines, but coaches prefer to let players do the throwing.

“As long as the arms are good, we like to have the kids hitting live balls,” he said.

The new skate park is in its third year. And some parents are already taking advantage of the new walking path, Layton said.

“When I pulled the Port-a-Potty from the soccer field, I got calls,” she said. Walkers wanted to take a pit stop.

The field soon will open its own restrooms and concession stands. And because this was a former turf farm, there is a ready supply of water from the old well and pump, Newman said.

The township will need it. Some day soon, all this mud will be topped with acres of green grass.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

Cape May wins restored-beach award
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 9, 2006

CAPE MAY — The city's sandy strand has been named one of the nation's “Top Restored Beaches” for the year 2005.

The award came from The American Shore & Beach Preservation Association. Deputy Mayor Niels Favre went to Washington, D.C., on March 2 to receive the award for the city. Cape May joined three other sites, in Texas, Florida and California, to win the distinction that only goes to beaches that have been engineered.

A 1990 picture that came with the award shows how the beach looked before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' beach replenishment project here. The waves were breaking on The Promenade. The city now has wide sandy beaches.

“We're trying to build a brand for Cape May and have a marketing program for our city and beaches. This helps what we're trying to do,” Favre said.

The city was not the only entity that won the award for the Cape May beach project. Other players include the Army Corps, U.S. Coast Guard and state Department of Environmental Protection. U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd., made the presentation after a luncheon.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:RDegener@pressofac.com

ALERT: Job’s Point Bridge closed, days earlier than expected
e-published 03/03/2006 - Ocean City Gazette
By NANCY RUMP
Staff Writer

SOMERS POINT – Frustrated motorists were forced to turn around Thursday night when they attempted to cross the Job’s Point Bridge at the border of Somers Point and Egg Harbor Township.

The span was slated to close Monday, March 6 for repairs. Instead, it shut down Thursday without warning.

Signs in the area alerted travelers to the originally scheduled closure but served little purpose Thursday night for those that were not allowed to cross the bridge.

According to Atlantic County engineer Joseph D’Abundo the discovery of a huge hole in the span was to blame for the immediate closure. The hole, a 4-by-1 foot cavity, was said to be just too unsafe for motorists to travel over. The county engineer believes it could continue to grow.

Closure of the Job’s Point Bridge adds to the continuing melee of bridge closures in Atlantic and Cape May counties. In addition to the closure of Job’s Point, the Beesley’s Point Bridge remains closed indefinitely and the Route 52 causeway is still limited to two lanes, scaled down for the past several months from its normal four lanes.

The Job’s Point Bridge is expected to be closed for at least two months – about 60 days – while work is done to repair the span. The state Department of Transportation has promised to reopen the Route 52 causeway to four lanes by Memorial Day. There is little hope that the Beesley’s Point Bridge, which is independently owned, will ever open again.

Job’s Point Bridge crosses over Patcong Creek as part of Somers Point-Mays Landing Road (Route 559). It is located less than a mile west of the Route 9 and Route 559 intersection.

Its detour will force motorists to take the long way around using Steelmanville Road in Egg Harbor Township, Bethel Road in Somers Point, and Ocean Heights Avenue through both towns.

A.P. Construction of Blackwood, Camden County, will be giving the bridge a new five-inch thick reinforced concrete deck. The new deck is phase two of a two-phase, $1.5 million project.

The timber pilings holding up the bridge were strengthened as part of earlier construction; that phase of the project is almost finished.

Eventually, the county hopes to replace the bridge entirely, although it would take as much as seven to 10 years to do so, after environmental permitting, design approvals, and funding are obtained, according to the county.

Angry business owners effected by the Job’s Point closure are said to be joining forces to gather names on a petition to fight the detour.

The closure is in effect 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during construction.

Upper Twp. budget plan holds line against local tax
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, March 4, 2006
Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2006

UPPER TOWNSHIP — The township bought a new $217,000 leaf collector last year.

It paid cash.

It built a skate park, renovated soccer fields and replaced old vehicles with new. Cash, cash and cash.

While Americans are spending more on household debt, this sprawling, rural township has a pay-as-you-go philosophy. As a result, it has no debt and no bonds.

But that could soon change.

The Township Committee introduced a $10.25 million budget this week that again calls for no local purpose tax. The township gets more than $6.7 million in Energy Receipts Taxes for hosting the B.L. England power plant.

But the committee had to make several cutbacks this year. The largest and most controversial cut was to the annual contribution to the township's Board of Education. For the first time in more than 20 years, the township is not giving any money to its schools to help with tax relief.

As a result, the total budget actually declined slightly from last year's $10.86 million.

“It certainly wasn't an easy decision. But our surplus was only $600,000 at the end of the year,” said Committeeman Curtis Corson Jr., who helped prepare this year's budget.

The township has given the school district more than $50 million in subsidies through the years. The township warned the school board last year that this annual donation was coming to an end. The town's surplus is $1 million less than the nearly $3 million of last year.

Upper Township's cash-on-the-barrelhead policy could be tested next.

“We're at a financial crossroads,” Mayor Richard Palombo said. “I anticipate that changing as early as next year to leverage what funds we have. We'll delay that as long as possible. The good news is we should have a really good credit rating.”

The resort neighbor to the east, Ocean City, is more typical of New Jersey towns, Auditor Leon P. Costello said.

Twelve percent of Ocean City's budget this year will go to pay off its outstanding debt. The city owes $53.3 million in bonds or debt. If Upper Township were in that position, it would have to boost its own budget by more than $1 million just to pay its own debts.

“If you can afford to do so, it's better to pay as you go,” Costello said. “They've been able to fund capital projects with fund balance.”

The owner of a $200,000 home in Upper Township would pay no local purpose taxes.

The township will conduct a public hearing on its budget at 4 p.m. March 27.



To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

Four lanes will flow again on Route 52
State will replace guardrails in time for Memorial Day
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 1, 2006

OCEAN CITY — All four lanes of the Route 52 causeway will be reopened to car traffic by Memorial Day, state officials said Tuesday.

Acting Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri said the state will spend about
$1 million to repair guard rails so concrete barriers that block two lanes can be removed on the main entrance to Ocean City.

The speed limit will be reduced to 25 mph the length of the 2.5-mile causeway between Somers Point and Ocean City, Kolluri said.

“One of the things I know from being from South Jersey is how important tourism is,” he said. “Considering the economic benefits that will be realized by making this four lanes, it is well worth the investment.”

Motorists and residents in four area towns were alarmed when the state closed two lanes of the causeway in January with little notice. They feared the lane closures would lead to gridlock throughout the region.

The truck ban will remain in place. The narrow road — also called the Ninth Street causeway — will get slightly narrower. The two center lanes will span 10 feet in width. The outer lanes will lose a foot apiece. A rumble strip will divide the four lanes of travel, Kolluri said.

Kolluri said the road was one of his priorities when he took over as acting commissioner a month ago.

The improvements need only last until 2012 when a new, replacement causeway is completed.

“I think it's worthwhile,” Ocean City Mayor Bud Knight said of the temporary fix. “Otherwise, we're looking at three or four years of lane restrictions.”

Kolluri said the state likely will repair the causeway at night.

Ocean City is still considering ways to improve traffic flow this summer. The mayor said the city is considering opening the Ocean City-Longport Bridge and Gardens Parkway to smaller delivery or panel trucks.

“Nobody wants to see big trash trucks or tractor trailers coming in,” Knight said.

Meanwhile, the state has redesigned the new causeway in an effort to cut costs. In January the state rejected bids that came in $93 million higher than the $150 million budgeted for the first half of construction.

The new configuration still calls for building two elevated bridges from Ocean City to Somers Point. But instead of being elevated their entire length, the bridges will drop to ground level over the 1,800 feet of Rainbow Island. This will shave as much as $60 million in construction materials, Project Manager Dave Lambert said.

On Rainbow Island, the causeway will be built atop a 4-foot berm to raise it above rising tides during the worst coastal storms.

The state is keeping its plans to build a new Ocean City visitor center, fishing piers and parking lots.

The state also will allow an alternate steel design in the hope of attracting more bidders, Lambert said.

The new causeway is expected to be complete by 2012. But the state is including an incentive clause in its construction contract to get one of the two two-lane spans open by the summer of 2008, Kolluri said.

After the conference Tuesday, James Johnston Jr. of Agate Construction confronted Lambert in the lobby to refute his claims that the initial bids were not competitive. Johnston's Dennis Township company was the lowest bidder with $243 million to complete the first phase of the project.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:

MMiller@pressofac.com