No tag hike for Belmar

By Wayne Parry, Associated Press
Posted: January 05, 2013

BELMAR, N.J. - A popular Shore resort pummeled by Sandy won't raise the price of its beach badges this summer after all.

Belmar, in Monmouth County, had planned to increase the cost of its daily and seasonal badges to help pay for repairs to the beach and boardwalk, but high demand is helping to make the price hike unnecessary.

Mayor Matthew Doherty said Belmar had been surprised by the number of people who want to help with its reconstruction.

"It's pretty well publicized that we lost our entire boardwalk and that we'll have a new one by Memorial Day," he said. "People want to be a part of this and they want to help. The level of support is overwhelming, far beyond anything we could have anticipated."

Belmar already has sold more than 2,600 beach badges, up from about 1,800 at the same point a year ago. That revenue, plus a lower-than-expected cost to rebuild the boardwalk, will enable the borough to keep the current prices of $7 for a daily badge and $50 for the season, he said.

The borough had planned to raise the cost of daily badges to $8, and seasonal ones to $55. Also helping is the town's Buy a Board campaign, in which members of the public may donate the cost of one plank of boardwalk wood. More than $246,000 has been raised.

The Monmouth County community is racing to be the first Jersey Shore town to have its boardwalk repaired and open to the public. It has set a May 1 deadline for the work to be completed, and Gov. Christie has pledged to visit Belmar before Memorial Day to officially reopen the walkway.

Belmar had considered approving up to $20 million to rebuild its beach and boardwalk. But bids to restore the promenade came in at $6.6 million.

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