L.B. to bond $950k for design work on pier

L.B. to bond $950K for design work on pier
Giordano: Project will use public, not taxpayer, funding
BY KEN WALTER Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH — The City Council approved an ordinance allocating $1 million for the pier redevelopment project at its March 10 meeting.

The ordinance authorizes a $50,000 down payment and $950,000 in bonds to finance the design of a pier and ferry terminal. The funds will pay for the preliminary design and engineering plans, but do not cover administrative costs.

"The purpose of this is to get the engineer design work off the ground," Councilman Anthony Giordano said.

The ordinance was approved by a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Brian Unger absent due to a scheduling conflict.

During the public hearing portion, some residents expressed concerns about the ordinance. The council tried to dispel those concerns by saying the taxpayer portion of the pier project ends with the bond.

"The city is not going to ever bond $89 million to build the pier," Giordano said.

"The $89 million is the anticipated total cost of the project, and that would only be able to be done if the city would be able to obtain significant amounts of public funding," he said, adding, "either state sources or federal sources."

In 1987, a fire destroyed the Long Branch pier, and since that time the city has acquired redevelopment rights and is ready to rebuild the pier and other amenities, including retail, restaurants, an amphitheater and a children's play area along the oceanfront.

The pier project is divided into the following three components:

The Core Pier, which will be the main structure and will cost approximately $36.3 million. Plans call for the pier to extend 900 feet from the boardwalk into the Atlantic Ocean.

The high-speed ferry terminal and docking facility, slated to cost $20.2 million, would provide a direct route from the Long Branch region to lower Manhattan at a travel time of 40 minutes. The pier will contain a docking system, as well as the ticketing and waiting areas required for the ferry operation.

The final component is the amenity uses at an estimated cost of $32.5 million, which includes retail, restaurants, event space, a public winter garden, outdoor amphitheater, entertainment space, fishing area and a children's play area.

Giordano also reiterated just how important federal stimulus money is for the project, saying that if the city doesn't receive stimulus money, then the project most likely will not be viable.

Diana Multare, of North Bath Avenue, told the council she has seen the list of towns applying for stimulus money for projects, and Long Branch was nowhere to be found.

Multare cited municipalities from across the state that have applied for stimulus money, including 60 projects in Elizabeth and 12 in Edison.

She went on to add that these projects would most likely come before the ferry and pier project.

Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli said that the project is more likely to receive stimulus money in the future, once the project is "shovel ready."

Multare, however, doesn't believe the project will ever really get off the ground.

"It's a pipedream," Multare said. "This pier, I've looked at it. It looks and sounds great, but it's totally unrealistic."

Other residents want a chance to vote on the matter.

"Why don't you put it on the agenda?" Bernard Gorcey, of Second Avenue, asked. "Let the taxpayers decide whether to move forward with it."

Contact Ken Walter at kwalter@gmnews.com.