MINUTES – APRIL 10, 2014

MINUTES – REGULAR MEETING
April 10, 2014

The Regular Meeting of the Deal Lake Commission was held in the Borough of Interlaken Municipal Building, 100 Grassmere Avenue, and called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Don Brockel. After the Salute to the Flag, the Commission Clerk announced that the notice requirements of C.231, P.L.1975, were met by transmitting the notice to the Commission’s official newspapers on February 13, 2014, posting where required and filing a copy of the notice with the Commission Clerk.
ROLL CALL:

Resolution #1 – Resolution to approve the Minutes of the Regular Meeting, March 20, 2014 (Deal and Neptune do not vote).
UPON MOTION of Allenhurst, seconded by Ocean, carried, that the following Resolution be and the same is hereby adopted:
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Deal Lake Commission held March 20, 2014 be and the same are hereby approved.
RECORDED VOTE:
Ayes: Allenhurst, Interlaken, Loch Arbour, Ocean
Nays: None
Absent: Asbury Park, Deal, Neptune

Resolution #2 – Approve Treasurer’s Report and Authorize Payment of Bills
UPON MOTION of Ocean, seconded by Interlaken, carried, that the following Treasurer’s Report for April 2014 be approved and the bills listed authorized for payment:

BALANCE ON HAND – PREVIOUS MONTH:
TD Bank. NA (corrected balance) ………………………………………………………………………….. 132,201.69
NJ Cash Management Fund …………………………………………………………………………………….. 39,859.00
TOTAL ON DEPOSIT ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 172,060.69
RECEIPTS
Interest – TD Bank (March) ………………………………………………………………………………………. …. 8.51
Interest – Cash Management Fund (March) ……………………………………………………………………… 0.00
TOTAL RECEIPTS………………………………………………………………………………………… …………….. 8.51
DISBURSEMENTS
Lorraine Carafa (April) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 616.67
Princeton Hydro, LLC (February 2014) ……………………………………………………………………….. 178.75
JCP&L ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 26.41
TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS ……………………………………………………………………………………… 821.83
BALANCES AFTER APRIL DISBURSEMENTS
TD Bank. NA ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 131,388.37
NJ Cash Management Fund …………………………………………………………………………………….. 39,859.00
TOTAL ON DEPOSIT ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 171,247.37
*Cash Management Fund statement for March 2014 not yet received as of April 10, 2014.
RECORDED VOTE:
Ayes: Allenhurst, Interlaken, Loch Arbour, Ocean
Nays: None
Absent: Asbury Park, Deal, Neptune

OLD BUSINESS

1. NFWF (Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program) Application – submitted for $250,000; awards notifications may be issued on or about April 21, 2014, although we are unable to confirm this information at this time;
2. 319H Grant – application submitted for a grant of $125,000; awards notifications will not be issued until July-August 2014;
3. NRCS/DEP – the Commission has been awarded approximately $1M specifically for dredging the east end of the lake only – out of the $6.9M that was requested; awaiting grant documents for review and execution. The estimated accumulation of sediment that could be removed under this grant is 20,000 cu. yds. Mr. Brockel stated that he will be attending a meeting at Congressman’s Pallone’s office next week and will be requesting additional funds for dredging areas other than the east end of the Lake. The Interlaken representative noted that at the Governor’s recent meeting in Belmar, it was stated that out of the $180M expected, only $50M is left, and he urged this funding issue be raised with Congressman Pallone during the upcoming meeting.
4. Water Lowering Permit – the Clerk advised that the application was filed back in January; we are still awaiting document;
5. Charter – the Clerk advised that the agreements were submitted to all constituent members; she will follow up in early April;
6. Ocean Township Tree removal project – many of the fallen trees accessible from public areas have been removed; the Commission is seeking assistance to remove a fallen tree from the area behind the Interlaken Municipal Building; quotes will be obtained.
7. April 5 Clean-up – approximately 60 volunteers from various organizations participated in the clean-up, removing quite a bit of debris. Mr. Brockel noted that there was less debris than expected and attributed this reduction to the measures taken by the Commission and its constituent municipalities (installation of the MTD in north Asbury Park, installation of the boom in the area near the high school, stream back stabilization implemented at the Asbury Park Boat Ramp) to prevent floatables from entering the Lake.
8. Reminder – Jersey Cares will be conducting another clean-up on May 3, 2014; meet at the Asbury Park Boat Ramp at 9:00 AM
9. Beach Replenishment – Mr. Avakian noted that the Army Corps of Engineers has been working in North Asbury Park and as a result, a significant amount of sand was placed on top of the Flume where none was anticipated per the original plans; the DLC has partnered with Surfrider Association and Asbury Park Fishing Club to insist that the sand be reduced and herring run reestablished. Mr. Avakian reported that the original design called for tapering the pumped sand from approximately 100’ south of the flume to a point north of the flume; this was not done. The Ocean representative advised that he will be raising this issue during the meeting at Congresman Pallone’s office next week.
10. Rebuild by Design’s plans for Asbury Park – the Ocean representative noted that the community support component of the Rebuild by Design competition is very important, and there was a parade that brought many of the stakeholders out in support of the project
11. 2014 Weed Treatment Program – this matter will be held for discussion with Dr. Souza at our next meeting (May 15).

NEW BUSINESS

1. Responses to questions from J. Maurer, FoDL, posed to the Chairman recently:
   – The agreement on the DLC web site has a heading “Draft” and appears to contain typographical errors. Is this the document that has been sent to the constituent municipalities? If not, will the DLC provide the document that was actually sent to the municipalities? A revised document was sent to the constituent municipalities and will be the official document upon adoption by the respective governing bodies.
   – The differences between the existing/previous document and proposed document would like to be understood. Will the DLC provide the existing document? The differences between the existing and proposed agreement is in the Draft Agreement posted on the DLC website. Deletions are identified by strikethrough and additions shown via italicized and underlined language.
   – Was the proposed document presented for public comment? If so when and how did this notification occur? The draft document was discussed publicly at DLC meetings beginning in July 2013 through December 2013.
   – Have any municipalities signed and returned the document? If so, which municipalities? Borough of Deal
2. See attached correspondence to the Village of Loch Arbour pursuant to Resolution #4 adopted on March 20, 2014 that authorized Dr. Souza to assist Commission Clerk to prepare response to Loch Arbour re: altering flume to be a “true flood control” device; as previously discussed in detail by the Commissioners with Dr. Souza and Mr. Avakian, the impoundment area (Lake) would have to be much larger, the elevation would have to be much higher and the flume itself would have to be much greater in diameter, none of which would qualify as a FEMA-reimbursable expense unless a Hazard Mitigation Grant application was submitted through County OEM to address Loch Arbour’s concerns. The Ocean representative noted that he has had more recent conversations with the Commission Engineer with regard to a type of “flapper” control device that could possibly be installed in the Flume to prevent water from entering into the Lake from the ocean during high tide events.

PUBLIC HEARING
UPON MOTION of Allenhurst, seconded by Interlaken, carried, that the meeting be opened to the public for comments.
Bill Schmeling from TOSA advised the Commission that a project to raise the pump station at the east end of Grassmere Avenue will begin shortly; the plans show the existing structure at elevation 9; the structure will be raised to elevation 13, approximately four feet higher than it is now.

Bob Stewart, Ocean Township, asked for an explanation of the water lowering permit – he was advised that in the event of a storm with expected rainfall of more than one inch in the following 24 hours, the flume gates can be opened to lower the water level of the lake. The permit is required by DEP rules.

He also asked if the weed treatment program is an annual project; he was advised that the Commission authorizes the project annually but depending on the density of weed growth but the scope of the project is not determined until the June-July timeframe, once the weeds begin to grow.

There being no further comments from the public present, and UPON MOTION of Loch Arbour, seconded by Allenhurst, the public hearing was closed at 7:45 PM.

At this time, Mr. Brockel noted that Paul Fernicola, Mayor of the Village of Loch Arbour, had stated that he wanted to come to tonight’s meeting (approximately 8:00 PM) to discuss several issues with the Commissioners regarding beach replenishment and the flume. Mr. Avakian explained in detail that there had been discussions of changing the configuration of the flume to create a barrier at the end of the flume to prevent a storm surge similar to what occurred during Superstorm Sandy from occurring again. This re-configuration had not been discussed at Commission meetings, but rather in meetings with Mr. Avakian, Mr. Brockel and the governing body of the Village. At 8:15 PM, Mr. Fernicola arrived and upon motion of Ocean, seconded by Loch Arbour, carried, the public hearing was re-opened. He stated that he objected to Mr. Brockel’s comments as reported in a recent newspaper article related to the beach replenishment project in the Village, and objected to recent Commission correspondence regarding the flume as a flood control device. He further stated that in his opinion, the Commission should never take a public stand in opposition to that of a constituent member. The Allenhurst representative stated that he disagreed with that statement, as the Commission has been charged with the responsibility to oversee the entire lake, and every project that affects the lake has to be reviewed on its merits. The discussion continued for several minutes. At its conclusion, Mr. Brockel apologized for his reported comments.

There being no further comments, the public hearing was closed by consensus, and the meeting finally adjourned at 8:45 PM.

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LORRAINE CARAFA, Commission Clerk