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Residents press council on boardwalk access and long-running code violations as police and fire give monthly reports
Summary
At the Sept. 4 Seaside Park meeting, residents asked about county boardwalk work, vendor locations, and long-delayed code-enforcement cases; the council heard a detailed police report and a fire-department summary of 222 responses year-to-date and approved a consent agenda including a contract to accept credit-card payments.
During public comment at the Sept. 4 Seaside Park Borough Council meeting, residents raised several community concerns and asked for follow-up from staff.
Edie Crane asked whether the county’s scheduled work on Ocean Avenue and the boardwalk would allow contractors and vendors to access the boardwalk project area; borough staff said the county has not provided a firm date and that the borough will contact county officials to coordinate and clarify access. Crane also asked how property owners would be notified of changes to rental-property enforcement; staff explained that a notice of violation will cite the ordinance, include penalty amounts and provide an opportunity to cure before any summons is issued.
Alan Moy asked whether pending borough litigation is on the Superior Court docket; officials said the borough attorney’s office handles litigation and that staff would contact the attorney to provide a status update at the next meeting. Resident Joe Reaguchi told the council that code violations at a nearby property have persisted for about 20 months and asked what will happen if the owner fails to appear at a Sept. 18 hearing. Staff described municipal-court procedures and a separate administrative path to declare a property uninhabitable that requires a public hearing and subsequent court enforcement; officials said they would follow up with the borough attorney for docket status.
On department reports, a presenter identified in the record as Jerry delivered August police statistics: 88 calls for service, 130 motor-vehicle stops, 46 motor-vehicle summonses, 1,037 parking summonses, 17 motor-vehicle accidents (no injuries), and four arrests during the month (including one aggravated assault on an officer). The presenter also noted six use-of-force reports and a reduction in police overtime attributed to managerial changes.
Fire Chief Dennis Vincent reported the Seaside Park Volunteer Fire Department has responded to 222 emergencies year-to-date, described deployments across structure fires, water rescues, motor-vehicle incidents and medical responses, and said the department now lists 49 members (35 full-time, 14 seasonal) who train regularly. He also announced a community "Battle of the Badges" softball game tentatively scheduled for Sept. 20 pending facility-use approval.
The meeting also included a report on beach-badge sales: a council speaker identified as Joe said sales totaled $1,777,428.91 so far this season (not including December), compared with $1,995,299.16 last year; officials noted earlier credit-card fees paid by the borough in 2024 (about $50,723) were not incurred this year because fees were passed to buyers in some cases.
What the council will do next Council staff agreed to check the county’s schedule for Ocean Avenue/boardwalk work and to follow up with the borough attorney on the Superior Court docket status for pending litigation; staff also agreed to clarify the credit-card fee policy for the JP Morgan Chase payment arrangement approved on the consent agenda.
