L.B. gears up for beach season

L.B. gears up for beach season
Beach fees remain flat for 2010 season
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH — With Memorial Day approaching, Long Branch officials are getting ready for beach season.

In the latest step, the City Council voted 4-0 at the May 12 meeting to set the beach fees for the 2010 season. Councilman David Brown was absent for the vote.

According to the resolution approved, a daily beach badge for persons between the ages of 18 and 61 is $5 and a seasonal badge is $35. Beach admission for children under 17 and senior adults over 62 will remain free.

Long Branch Director of Finance Ronald Mehlhorn Sr. said that fees remain flat from last year, which was a record-breaking year for beach revenues.

“Just short of a $1 million [in revenues], like $990,000 and change,” Mehlhorn said. “That is more than ever; that is the highest revenue we’ve ever had.”

Mehlhorn said that one of the factors for the high revenues may have been the poor economy and the good weather.

“Because of the economy, people are staying home, and perfect weather — everything added to those figures,” he said.

Mehlhorn said that beach revenues are not separated in the budget.

“It goes into the general fund for taxes,” he said.

Even though the revenues came in high, Mehlhorn said that state regulations don’t allow the municipality to turn much of a profit from beach fees.

“You are not allowed to make a profit overall, over a couple of years,” he said. “At some point you might be able to make a little bit more than what you spend, but it’s averaged out over a couple of years.

“If you are making a profit, you would have to adjust the fees,” he added. “You’re not allowed to make a profit off the beach: it has to be a break even or lose.”

Mehlhorn gave some of the expenses that balance out the beach revenues.

“We spend $420,000 on salaries alone, we have operating expenses, and the Public Works Department picks up garbage over there,” he said.

Mehlhorn said that if revenues remain high, then they would have to make some changes to the beach.

“Over a three- or four-year period, there is never going to be any kind of profit unless we continue to make a million or more,” he said. “Then we’d have to assess it and adjust it accordingly.

“Either the expenses would have to come up, you’d have to do something more for the beach operation, or you reduce the beach badge surplus,” he added. “It can be close, but I’m talking about people making millions; they are not talking about a couple of dollars.”

At the meeting, the council also passed three resolutions authorizing manpower and equipment to rake the beaches for the Ocean Cove Condominiums, the Monmouth Beach Bath and Tennis Club and the public beach in Monmouth Beach.

Mehlhorn explained that there isn’t much revenue that comes out of that work.

“That is just a courtesy,” he said. “It is supposed to be a break-even kind of thing. We don’t make much money, but we cover our costs.

“We charge $85 an hour, and that’s enough to pay for the guy that’s driving it and the gas that’s used and the wear and tear on the machine,” he said. “I think that revenue is less than $10,000 for the year.”

With the success of the beach, Recreation Supervisor Shannon Bruno said last week that hiring lifeguards is not going to be a problem.

“They find us, we don’t find them,” she said. “Between to part time and full time, we have about 75 lifeguards.

“We have returning about 60, and then we hire another 15 or 16,” she added. “I’m not sure exactly how many [applications] we got, but it’s a stack.”

Bruno also said the city has a contract with NJ Transit that provides a convenience to some patrons traveling to Long Branch via train.

“We have a contract with New Jersey Transit where if you are coming down by train, you can buy your beach ticket on the train,” she 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.

Bruno said the Chelsea Avenue Beach is generally the most successful.

“The Chelsea beach, which is inside of Pier Village, is usually one of the biggest revenue beaches,” she said.

Beach season runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.