BRICK – Attendance at township beaches can be measured by beach badge sales, which were brisk this year, according to interim director of Recreation Rob Byrnes.
Some 10,465 daily beach badges were sold this season, up slightly from last year’s total of 10,352.
Daily parking passes increased to 6,983, up from 6,503 sold last year.
A finite number of season parking badges were available this year and last year. All 3,074 were sold in 2023 to 2024, he said.
One change this summer was seasonal parking badges for seniors were no longer available. Instead, seniors were charged $1 for daily parking by showing their ID.
“What happened was, everyone was buying these senior parking passes because they were cheaper, so they had to make some changes because they were buying them for all their grandkids and others,” Byrne said.
Last year 1,745 of the seasonal senior parking passes were sold. 4,122 of the $1 daily parking passes were sold this summer.
Brick beaches are free for senior citizens over 65, for children under 12, and for veterans by showing a military ID.
The three township ocean beaches were staffed with lifeguards on weekends beginning Memorial Day weekend and then staffed seven days a week from mid-June through Labor Day from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., weather permitting.
Brick Beach 1 is 150 yards wide, Brick Beach 2 is 100 yards wide, and Brick Beach 3 is 300 yards wide. There are also about five private beaches between Brick Beach 1 and 3. Curtis Point is also a private Brick beach.
The township’s three ocean beaches began the season with a significant loss of sand due to erosion from winter storms.
Much of the sand was recovered at Brick Beaches 1 and 2, but there was a definite narrowing of the sand at Brick Beach 3, Byrnes said.
A long-awaited beach replenishment project, which has been delayed for over two years, has finally closed its bidding process after multiple rounds of bidding were deemed too high.
Brick Beach 3 lost a lot of sand from storms. (Photo by Judy Smestad-Nunn)
According to the Army Corps of Engineers website, the beach replenishment project consists of 14 miles of the Atlantic coast extending from Point Pleasant Beach to Island Beach State Park.
The recommended plan calls for construction of a beach fill with a berm and dune along the study area oceanfront utilizing sand from an offshore borrow source – which was completed in the summer of 2019 – and periodic nourishment for 50 years.
Sand nourishment would occur periodically at four-year intervals with an estimate of 1 million cubic yards placed. The project would reduce future flood risk, support long-term sustainability of the coastal ecosystem and communities, and reduce the economic costs and risks associated with large-scale flood and storm events.
Due to the narrowing of township beaches, the township council passed an ordinance this year that forbids canopies and tents on township beaches because there is less space available for Brick beachgoers. The only exception is for “baby tents,” no larger than 40” x 40” used to shade infants and small children.
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