Access to the Margate beaches. Americans with Disabilities Act. ADA. How a boardwalk could alleviate the problems created by the ACOE beach project.
Glenn Klotz: Margate will warm up to a new boardwalk as a way to mitigate and improve our situation on the beach.
A DEP [Dept of Environmental Protection] official approached Margate’s Mayor Becker recently. ‘I hear you want a boardwalk. I’m telling you right now. Don’t ask us for any money.’
‘They [ACOE, Army Corp of Engineers] don’t care’ says Mayor Becker. Do you think it was personal?’
Alice Kalish of South Exeter Ave says ADA considerations were not given proper attention. Her daughter has MS. Her grand-daughter is a heart & kidney transplant recipient that has an above-the-knee amputation. Both are wheel-chair bound. Can’t push wheel chairs up those dune inclines. Angles are too steep.
Only 4 entrances are ADA accessible. ACOE dictated that only 4 are required for all of Margate’s beaches. The bare minimum.
ADA and access issues have taken center stage on Margate’s beaches.
The ACOE is a ‘shonda’ to all of us. We have been abused.
Shonda is a yiddish word meaning ‘a fool’ or ‘a shame’. A ‘shonda’ means to do something shameful and publicly witnessed. As the theory goes, we’re all held accountable for the worst deeds of the worst of us.
Chuck Cavanaugh says ACOE is pushing a false narrative. Why did the commissioners enter into that agreement? Commissioners look to be in violation of Margate City Ordinance 2001-14. This ordinance should have prevented the commissioners from entering into that kind of agreement.
Rebuilding a Margate Boardwalk would help.
A boardwalk would alleviate accessibility issues. A boardwalk would hide any water pooling, similar to Ventnor.
At high tide, the beaches at Adams & Pembroke (to name a few) become quite thin. Only 30-40 ft of usable beach left.
Lou Stern: The only water problem we’ve had on Madison for the past 30 yrs, has been from the bay.
Glenn Klotz questioned placement of the outfall drainage pipes. They’re overly large. May act like groins. Could have drastic, negative effect on the beach southward. These 48 inch pipes are what the ACOE says were needed to protect against a rare, 100 year storm.
Those is charge of this project have been accused of poor communication with local towns. Often no communication. Towns, like Margate, were rarely given a seat at the table to provide input. ACOE, NJ DEP and State of NJ showed little to no understanding of how this non-critical beach & dune project has adversely affected property values, economic & retail considerations, senior citizen access and ADA issues.
After weeks of delay, ACOE finally released statement to Margate:
In response to your letter dated April 10, 2018 requesting a description of what condition the beach will be in for summer 2018: the DCE and USACE have compiled the following:
- USACE and their contractor are currently working on Nassau outfall system (System 4). Manholes, main trunk-line and laterals are complete and connected to the stormwater inlets. The outfall pipe construction is 50% complete and discharging stormwater. Basin grading and dune, crossover and sand fence reconstruction is expected to begin late-May.
- Temporary 48” outfalls have been removed from Rumson, Pembroke and Nassau.
- Temporary 48” outfalls remain at Lancaster and Jerome and have been cut back and buried into the berm to prevent damage from erosion.
- Temporary critically silenced pumps with their discharge pipe and pile were removed at Rumson, Pembroke and Nassau.
- Temporary critically silenced pumps with their discharge pipe and pile shall remain at Fredericksburg, Argyle, Clarendon, Douglas, Exeter, Fontenac, Huntington, Jerome and Lancaster. USACE and their contractor shall continue to maintain, fuel and monitor these pumps through the summer by pickup truck.
- The 9 remaining pumps, listed above, are run twice a week on a maintenance cycle on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM. If there is water in the sump, there will be discharge at the output end at this time.
- The dune at Washington will be reconstructed and a temporary crossover built for the summer. The bulkhead shall remain open for the summer.
- In the dune stockpile area with a stockpile only on the seaward side (Cedar Grove, Benson, Decatur, Madison, Monroe, and Coolidge), USACE and their contractor will construct crossovers up the permanent dune’s landward side and on its crest The contractor will construct temporary graded sand crossovers over the dune stockpile portion.
- In the dune stockpile area with a stockpile only on the seaward side (Vendome to Washington and Madison to Coolidge), USACE and their contractor will install sand fence along the permanent dune’s landward toe.
- In the dune stockpile area with stockpiles on both the landward and seaward sides (Washington, Adams and Jefferson), USACE and their contractor will construct temporary graded sand crossovers over the entire dune stockpile.
- In the dune stockpile area with stockpiles on both the landward and seaward sides (Washington to Madison), USACE and their contractor will install sand fence along the temporary dune’s landward crest to minimize the effect of windblown sand.
- By June 28, 2018, USACE and their contractor will complete Nassau outfall system (System 4) and all construction features previously stated. USACE and their contractor’s equipment and outfall material shall be completely demobilized from Margate.
- Margate is able to rake the beachfront per the Beach Management Plan and is responsible for maintenance of the completed crossovers.
- Any scarps caused by winter coastal storms can be knocked down prior to beach raking season.
- Margate may begin preparations for the summer season anytime outside the delineated active construction zone of the Nassau outfall system.
- As stated in our letter dated April 25, 2018, the DCE has turned over maintenance of Vendome outfall system (System 5) per the Local Cooperation Agreement.
I’m hoping Margate will hire a Coastal Geologist or a Coastal Engineer to model what the five outfalls will do to the down current beaches once they’re constructed. I’m fearful they might cause massive erosion to the south of them. If modeling shows this we’ll need to get back into court and try to stop any further implementation of this plan before it’s too late. Is the loss of our southern beaches worth some dry street ends?
Jay Weintraub:
Commissioners meeting was exactly what I expected. No one was nasty and we all knew the Commissioners were forced into a corner with this mess. There was talk from some about no access to the beach for seniors,those with children and buggies and beach carts and those with disabilities. The idea of a boardwalk to solve these problems was brought up by me and others and the commissioners just listened. Deaf ears. I am not sure for now what we can do or what the commissioners will do. I think we are stuck with this mess on our beaches. Let’s see how all of us suffer this summer and when the heat is felt by all of Margate then we can go back with a boardwalk request,in force.I am not sure we have two votes to move forward with a boardwalk and maybe we have to find a new commissioner to replace someone and then we may have the votes to at least move into a feasibility study ,cost study and funding study. Then to a vote by ALL taxpayers.This is a long process and for now we will all have to find a way to deal with our beautiful beaches that have been turned into a mess.What a shame!
Jay Weintraub:
We are considering the formation of an Association of Margate home owners who are the owners of their 2nd home in Margate.
The purpose of the group would be to create a strong voice so we can bring our concerns and ideas to our Mayor and Commissioners.
We are a majority of the property owners (77%) with no voting voice. If we stand as a unified group we can make our voices heard even though we can’t be heard in the voting booth in Margate.
Maybe we can find candidates and support those who are friendly to our concerns.
Please let me know if there is an interest and who would be willing to help. If we have enough interest we can plan a meeting on a Saturday morning this summer and begin to have our voices heard.
Please respond if you are interested.
You may remember the phrase”Taxation without representation”
Emily Zaidan: While just a renter Jay, I never understood why some kind of amendment was not introduced to allow these majority homeowners a say in what goes on in this town. Seems to me this is something that could and should be changed. Disseminating information and asking for input is as easy as sending out your tax bill…problem is…the Mayor and Commissioners don’t want this to happen. Very wrong!
Name: Alice and Steve Kalish
Message: We appreciated the opportunity to share with the City Council and the community our family’s specific beach accessibility issues. But we learned that there are many people who are struggling because their beach access has been restricted by the building of the dunes. We recommend that the City of Margate or some other entity survey the residents of Margate, perhaps via SurveyMonkey. We need a reliable count of the number of people who are adversely affected by restricted beach access caused by the dunes and the lack of enough ADA ramps. This problem affects senior citizens, young families and everybody with a mobility challenge. We have all been burdened by this unwelcome situation and we need to work together to find a solution. Alice and Steve Kalish