Council held the regularly scheduled sessions on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. The following issues of interest were addressed:
Police Chief Jeffrey Christopher addressed Council and expressed his appreciation to the outgoing Mayor for his long term support of law enforcement in the Borough.
The Mayor administered the oath of office to newly appointed full time Police Officer Brandon Cirillo who graduated from Rowan University and recently from the Police Academy. Officer Cirillo financed his own training at the Academy before applying to Avalon.
Joe Murphy, engineer for the Planning and Zoning Board, addressed Council about the selection process for a firm to conduct a planning study in connection with a proposed boutique hotel and the B-1 Zone overall. Five firms were solicited for bids, and two are still under consideration. Collier has bid $18,500, Higbee and Grace bid $32,000.
The emergency dredging of Pennsylvania Harbor was discussed and a resolution was approved establishing the dredging as an emergency situation. Still pending is the receipt of findings from analysis of samplings from the site. This is the final requirement for approval from NJ DEP.
Travis Marshall and Lauren Marshall, children of the owner/manager of the 21st Street Marina, expressed their family's appreciation for the rapid progress made for the emergency dredging to resolve an unsafe hazard to navigation and public safely.Martha Wright expressed her concerns to Council about the increased use of barriers to wildlife in residential areas. Specifically cited were nets to deter birds from private property. Recently a seagull was entrapped in a mono filament net resulting in a broken wing. Ms. Wright spoke the long painful death of wildlife from injuries like this and believes this may even violate state laws regarding cruelty to animals.
Application for a grant to cover some of the costs for the Bay Park Marina project was briefly discussed. Susan Dooley, an Avalon property owner, asked if the grant would be in the form of reimbursement at the completion of work. Business Administrator, Scott Wahl, explained that most grants require the Borough to finance up front and get the reimbursement later.
