People Will Come

Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start of the summer season, is fifteen days away.  Here in the State of Concrete Gardens, as we battle against COVID-19, towns at the Shore are preparing for the influx of sunbathers and beach goers.  

Although our little piece of paradise by the sea is nestled 3/10 of a mile from the ocean, Lake Como is a Shore town without a beach. Belmar borders us not only to the north but to the east.  Since we purchased our home in 2015, the Missus and I have annually purchased a half-dozen Belmar Season Badges, which we have used to exhaustion spending too many fantastic days to count sitting on the 17th Avenue Beach and playing with Maggie and Cal at the playground on the 16th Avenue Beach.  We purchased our 2020 Season Badges in the lazy, hazy, pre-COVID-19 days of February 2020, which seems at this point to have been a gazillion or so days ago.  

Mayor Mark Walsifer and the Belmar Town Council know that irrespective of the present circumstances confronting us Jerseyans, once Memorial Day arrives people will descend upon Belmar's boardwalk and beaches with a fervor associated with visitors to Ray Kinsella's Iowa farm...

...and, as he discussed at length with nj.com, Mayor Walsifer and the Belmar Town Council have a plan.  I do not pretend to know how smoothly Belmar's plan of attack shall work or the extent to which it shall be tweaked or amended once Memorial Day arrives, and summer thereafter.  I applaud their effort, however, their formulation of a plan, and their willingness to publicly disclose it so it can be discussed and so questions about it can be asked.  

It bears pointing out that Mayor Walsifer announced this plan on Tuesday.  On Wednesday, Governor Murphy announced that he is extending the Public Health Emergency Order, which had been set to expire today I believe to June 6.  I know not what effect the Governor’s decision shall have on Belmar’s plan, the highlights of which are as follows:

·   Belmar’s mile-long boardwalk will reopen to get pedestrian traffic out of the street. When the boardwalk was closed several weeks ago, Ocean Avenue parking was restricted and barricades were set up to protect pedestrians from traffic. "But we’re lucky no one has been hit by a car,” Walsifer said. “It can get crazy out there.”

·   Benches will be removed temporarily from the boardwalk, and patrols will keep people from loitering.

·     Public bathrooms on the boardwalk will be open, but a limited number of people will be allowed inside at a time, and the facilities will be cleaned often. Bathroom lines could cause social-distancing problems on the boardwalk and that will be monitored, too, Walsifer said.

·    Regular patrols will regulate social distancing on the beaches. “Families can sit close together,” Walsifer said. “But if we see a group of college kids who aren’t social-distancing, for instance, we’re going to enforce it, and if you can’t abide by the rules, you’re going to have to leave the beach.”

·       If the beaches become too crowded, access will be cut off. “We’re going to treat this like a store,” Walsifer said. “If there are too many people on the beach for us to safely social-distance, then you won’t be able to get on the beach until other people come off. We’ll be monitoring that constantly.”

·        Walsifer said the borough will not limit the number of seasonal badges it sells.

·      Protections for badge-checkers are still being discussed, and the borough is building more booths for the sale of beach badges so employees aren’t crammed inside.

·     Lifeguards must be spread out, too: “You can’t have three lifeguards on a stand anymore,” Walsifer said.