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Engineer presents multi-million-dollar grant portfolio and project updates for Belmar infrastructure
Summary
At a borough workshop, the engineer outlined awarded and pending grants — including DOT, Monmouth County Open Space and an Army Corps survey of Silver Lake — and reviewed ongoing work on 5th Avenue, boardwalk bathroom construction, fuel-dock replacement and an 8th Avenue sewer-lining project.
An engineer presenting at Belmar’s workshop on April 26 told the mayor and council the borough has secured multiple grants and is moving a slate of road, sewer, park and marina projects toward construction and closeout.
The engineer said the borough received a FY2026 municipal aid award of about $253,000 to continue resurfacing 5th Avenue from C Street to Ocean Avenue and noted a separate DOT grant of roughly $299,000 covers work on Ocean Avenue and nearby 6th Avenue. “FYI 2026 was a municipal aid grant program, and that was awarded in the amount of $253,000 and change,” the engineer said. He added the DOT grant requires awards to a contractor by November 2026 unless an extension is granted.
Why it matters: those grants fund pavement and related work but are reimbursement-oriented, meaning Belmar must budget or bridge upfront costs and coordinate closely with finance and public works to align water, sewer and stormwater work with road resurfacing.
The engineer described a $1,131,000 transportation set-aside award tied to Complete Streets recommendations for 8th Avenue and said that grant is reimbursement-based: “what that means is that you actually have to borrow the money to get the money back,” he said. He and councilmembers discussed options the DOT envisioned for narrowing travel lanes near a mid-block crossing to reduce pedestrian exposure at the crossing and the tradeoffs for traffic flow.
On Silver Lake, the engineer said the Army Corps provided a grant of approximately $230,000 with a matching $230,000 contribution to support a bathymetric and outfall survey. He told council staff expect to transmit the borough’s survey results to the Corps within about 30 days so the federal team can recommend improvements and potential dredging. The engineer also noted a Monmouth County Open Space grant of about $203,000 to build a walking trail and amenities around Silver Lake and urged budget planning to match reimbursement timing.
Infrastructure updates included completed and ongoing capital work. The borough has finished ADA improvements at Belmar Plaza and several water, sewer and paving projects dating to 2023; a previously damaged fuel dock was temporarily repaired in 2023 and replaced in 2025 with new docks sourced from a Florida vendor, with punch-list items remaining. The engineer said emergency repairs in 2023 prevented a potential fuel release to the river and that “the fuel dock was replaced” and the assembly has worked through construction glitches.
Construction news: the boardwalk bathroom at 16th Avenue is under construction and in a piling phase; the engineer reported contractors hit refusal on some test piles and are pursuing alternate methods. He explained, “they couldn’t drive to the depth that was required” and the team is negotiating means and methods with the contractor while avoiding detailed contract discussion in public.
Sewer work: a sewer-lining contract on 8th Avenue is under construction; cleaning, video inspection and bypass pumping are complete and the lining was slated for the first week of April using a pull-in-place sleeve method, which staff said avoids street opening.
Other projects on the list include Densey Park basketball court reconstruction (county open-space and recreation grants), a DOT-funded Piano Park paver project that came in over budget on bids (staff will consider scaling the scope), lead-service-line replacement candidates and longer-term items such as water-tower rehabilitation and marina dredging tied to regional resiliency efforts.
Council members asked about illicit sump-pump connections and smoke testing; the engineer said smoke testing was not included in the current lining contract but could be added as a supplemental task where warranted.
Next steps: staff said the borough will continue coordination with finance on reimbursement grants, pursue required contractor awards or extension requests for DOT-funded work, complete the Army Corps survey handoff for Silver Lake, and follow up on contractor means-and-methods for the 16th Avenue bathroom piles. The engineer distributed a condensed report and maps to council for further review.
