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Main Street will be closed March 7th from 12-3:30 p.m.

On Sunday, March 7, 2010 Main Street will be closed from 12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. All vehicles parked on Main Street must be moved by 9:00 a.m. on Sunday morning or they will be towed.  Please use Route 35 or Ocean Avenue as an alternate route for travel. Thank you.  ~Belmar Police Department

Belmar buildings inspected as part of Local Gov’t Energy Audit Program

Birdsall Services Group conducted an Energy Audit in Belmar this past Friday as part of the New Jersey Clean Energy Program’s “Local Government Energy Audit Program.”  Belmar’s Green Team and Environmental Commission selected three buildings for the initial audit: Borough Hall, Taylor Pavilion and Union Fire House. The Green Team had provide three years of baseline energy data and other information to qualify for the state program, which subsidizes 75% of the audit’s cost. Belmar is eligible for the remaining 25% as well as other incentives if the town follows up on any of the recommendations in the audit report, which should be complete next month. The recommendations are expected to improve energy efficiency and reduce operating costs. Borough resident Tom Latza, who was recently certified as an Environmental Steward by Rutgers’ Environmental Stewardship program, has volunteered to oversee the audit process in these buildings and work with the engineers.

Mayor & Council explore raising donations for Pyanoe Plaza skate rink

An ice skating rink in Pyanoe Plaza? The Mayor & Council heard a presentation at their December 2, 2009 meeting from Bob Valvano of Marturano Recreation about an affordable new ice rink product developed by Scansis, a Norwegian company, that could soon turn Pyanoe Plaza into Belmar’s own Rockefeller Center. This new rink design avoids the compressor noise and high-energy and maintenance costs of a traditional refrigerated rink by using a synthetic plastic ice surface called Scan-ICE. The rink surface comes in inter-locking plastic sections that can be quickly assembled using only mallets, and installed on any flat surface. The Scansis rink can be used in any weather conditions, including the warm weather months.

Click here to see a video of the Scansis rink in action

Councilman Matt Doherty learned about the Scansis rink system at the League of Municipalities Exhibition in November, and thought it would provide a much-needed form of winter recreation for Belmar’s children, while also helping to bring business to our downtown during the long winter season. He invited a representative of the company to make a presentation to the Mayor and Council on December 2nd. Based on the Council’s positive reception to the idea, and with the understanding that no taxpayer funds would be used to purchase the rink, he subsequently contacted Old Bridge Township, which used the Scansis rink on a trial basis last summer.

According to Tom Badcock, Old Bridge’s Recreation Director, Old Bridge already owns an in-door refrigerated rink which operates six months during the year. They tried the Scansis rink last summer so that youth hockey teams could practice during the off-season. He said he could not have been more pleased with the results of the trial, and described it as “overwhelmingly successful.” He said that the Scan-ICE panels fit tightly together and there are there no seams. Indeed, it is so easy to disassemble and reassemble a Scansis rink that the sample rink used in Old Bridge was packed up, shipped to the west coast and recently installed in the Jay Leno Show Studio where it was used for a 5-minute segment featuring NHL hall-of-famer Luc Robitaille.

Last week, Mayor Pringle, Councilman Doherty and DPW Superintendent Andy Meuerle met with Bob Valvano at Pyanoe Plaza to inspect the site. They calculated that an approximately 3,000 square foot rink, measuring 50 by 60, could be installed on either the east or west side of the Christmas tree in the plaza, leaving ample walkway area for the public and customers of the shops and restaurants in the Plaza. If the rink proves to be as successful as hoped, it would be no problem to purchase additional sections in the future to increase the size of the rink. In fact, one of the many advantages of a Scansis rink is that it could even be installed around the Pyanoe Plaza Christmas Tree.

Preliminary fundraising plans are already underway in hopes of purchasing the rink in time for skating this winter. Those interested in making a donation or serving on the fundraising Committee can contact Mayor Pringle at mayor@belmar.com

Mayor & Council to hold meeting to discuss Main Street streetscape plan and assessments

The Mayor and Council will be holding a special meeting on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building to discuss final plans for a Main Street streetscape improvement planned for 10th to 16th Avenues. This project, which is scheduled for the Spring of 2010, will mark the first phase of a multi-year capital plan to improve the appearance of Main Street.

This phase of the project will include new curbing, trees and attractive sidewalk lighting fixtures that will replace the existing “Cobra-head” street lamps, and provide brighter illumination of our sidewalks and Main Street. The project will also include installing conduit and related infrastructure that will be used during a future phase to eliminate the overhead secondary wires on Main Street. The County of Monmouth has agreed to repave this section of Main Street when the new curbing is installed.

In addition to these Main Street improvements planned for south of 10th Avenue, the Borough will be installing matching trash receptacles and benches throughout the downtown area.

The Mayor and Council propose to fund this phase of the project through $630,000 in Transit Village grants the Borough has received to date, with the balance to be financed through a combination of bond debt to be paid by Borough taxpayers and special assessments to be levied on Main Street property owners in the project area. The proposed special assessment will apply to all Main Street property owners from 10th to 16th Avenues and will finance the projected $266,000 cost of the lighting fixtures and foundations. This cost will be apportioned based on Main Street frontage, and can be repaid with interest over ten years. We project that the cost of the street lighting assessment for a Main Street property owner with 50 feet of frontage will be approximately $176 per quarter, which amounts to about $60 a month. Additionally, those property owners in the project area who have not already improved their sidewalks with pavers will also be assessed for the cost of installing brick sidewalks.

Buy In Belmar this holiday season and win beach badges!

Residents dedicated to patronizing local merchants this holiday season will have the chance to win 2010 season beach badges as part of Belmar’s Shop Local campaign.   Winning is simple: shop, dine and use services in Belmar between November 25 through December 31, save your receipts and drop your records at the Belmar Tourism Office by January 6.  2010 season beach badges will be awarded to the top local shoppers, with more prizes to be announced in coming weeks.  Last year’s winners had receipts from over 60 stores.

Shop in Belmar for the Holidays

• Shop, dine and use services in Belmar throughout the holiday season (excluding gasoline, liquor and tobacco sales)
• Bring receipts to the Belmar Tourism Office in Borough Hall at 601 Main Street by January 6, 2010
• 2010 season Beach Badges and other prizes will be presented to the top local shoppers at the Borough Council Meeting on January 27, 2010.

Click here to read the Mayor and Council’s appeal to Shop Local during the holiday season.

St. Rose students Halloween-ify local dentist’s office

Some might think going to the dentist is just as scary, if not scarier, than encountering a ghost in a cemetery on a stormy night. But the cheerful and festive Halloween decorations at Hanapole Dental Care should put patients at ease.  St. Rose Grammar School students, under the direction of art teacher Jane McGovern, painted the windows at Hanapole Dental with smiling ghosts, a bright purple haunted house, a dancing skeleton, a trick-or-treating Frankenstein and more.  Take a detour past the office at 611 West Main Street to check out the students’ handiwork and other artfully arranged fall decorations, and post pictures of your own decorations in the Community Photos section.

Belmar receives long-awaited NJDOT grant for new parking lot

Belmar received welcome news from the New Jersey Department of Transportation this week — a long-awaited $215,000 grant to redevelop the pot-holed stretch of River Ave between Seventh and Sixth Avenues into a public parking lot that incorporates and reconfigures the existing Belmar municipal parking lot and the adjacent properties where the Belmar Arts Council’s Boatworks is located. The new parking lot, which the Borough hopes to complete by the summer of 2010, will be designed so that motorists will continue to be able to use River Avenue to get from Main Street to Seventh Ave via aisles in the new parking lot.

This area has been slated for public parking as part of the Seaport Redevelopment for more than 15 years. During the 1990’s, the Borough acquired the Boathouse location, named for the former Connolly Boatyard previously located at Seventh and Railroad Avenues, and an adjacent River Avenue residential lot for future parking use. Plans to develop the area for parking were delayed by the construction of the new Highway 35 bridge. The Borough made the best of that delay by leasing these properties to the bridge contractor for use as office space and equipment staging areas. As part of that agreement, the contractor cleared the residential buildings on properties, and constructed new steel bulkheading at the inlet along the right of way the Borough owns between the railroad tracks and the old ice house building. The Borough’s plans to improve this area were delayed again when New Jersey Transit announced its intention to replace the trestles that serve the historic Shark River drawbridge.

With the completion of that work by NJ Transit earlier this year, and now with the award of this grant, the Borough is finally able to move forward. The NJDOT grant will be used in conjunction with an earlier award of $202,000 through the Community Development Block Grant Program to install new storm water mains and curbing in that area of downtown in anticipation of future Seaport Redevelopment Area development, and to reduce the flow of storm water into Silver Lake. Parking contributions made by the developer of the new mixed use building at Seventh Ave and Main Street will also be used toward the parking lot improvements.

The new parking area is only the latest of several grant-funded projects that will soon go out to bid in that area for construction in 2010:

– A new comfort facility to be located at the northern end of Doughboy Park — with public restrooms and shower and dressing room facilities for transient boaters.

– The redevelopment of the 8th Ave Pier to include space for seasonal concession uses, and the site of the Pat & Sandy Monument.

– The next phase of the River Walkway, which will extend the

walkway from Seventh Avenue along the river and under both the Highway 35 span and the new NJ Transit trestle, providing a waterfront pedestrian link from the marina to the east side of highway 35 and the railroad, where the Borough owns a right of way between the railroad tracks and the old ice house building. The Borough has already received a Monmouth County Open Space Grant to fund improvements to that waterfront right-of-way area as a public space and waterfront access.

Kids Mural Painting Project

Have your budding artist participate in a local mural project at The Paperback Exchange in Pyanoe Plaza. 2′X2′ squares are available to children ages 8 and up, art supplies will be provided.

 

Sign up is on a first come basis.

Wall will be prepped by November 15th for artists to come and choose their squares.

 

For project painting times and more information please contact: Sharon at 732-681-6829 or email at paperbackexchange@sanford9.com.

October 24 is “Make A Difference Day”- Town Cleanup Event

 

Volunteers are needed to help with Belmar’s “Make-a-Difference-Day” activities, on Saturday, October 24th from 9-12.

Activities include town wide cleanup, a sticker removal project and planting of donated flowers and plants.

Tools and clean up materials will be provided.

Volunteers should meet at 9:00am on the Sixth Avenue side of the Municipal Building, at 601 Main Street.

Please come out and help make a difference.

For more information contact Claire Deicke at 732-681-0522 or email ctd@verizon.net<

Event Date(s) and Time(s):

October 24, 2009 9:00 am to 12:00 pm 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

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Belmar Fall Festival

Come out and join us at the 17^th Annual Fall Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 11, 2009 from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.  Meet us on Main Street in Belmar between 8^th and 10^th Avenues for one of the Jersey Shore’s most popular Fall events!

This year’s Fall Harvest Festival features:

Food ~ Activities ~ Crafts ~ Contests ~ Entertainment

Pony Rides ~ Face Painting ~ Fire Trucks

Pumpkin Decorating Contest ~ Vendors ~ NJ Devils Mascot ~ Lakewood Blueclaws Mascot

Farm Fresh Produce ~ Free Kids Activities and MUCH MORE!!

Visit www.belmarchamber.com for information or to become a vendor.

Event Date(s) and Time(s):

October 11, 2009 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

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Recent Posts on Belmar.com

• Celtic Chase – March 6, 2010
• Jersey Shore Juried Art Show
• Happy early St. Patrick’s Day
• Belmar’s mayor to step down
• Belmar Elementary School continues centennial celebration