Avon to Apply for Grants For Marina Purchase
By TOM SHORTELL
Avon’s Board of Commissioners voted to apply for two grants that would help it purchase the marina off the east side of Main Street. It is not the Main One Marina, as previously reported.
The borough will apply for a Green Acres grant of $325,000 and a Monmouth County Open Space grant of $250,000, said Tim Gallagher, borough administrator.
Barbara Suchecki, grant coordinator, said the borough is still looking at other grants it can apply for to help with the purchase. The borough could reapply for Green Acres funding again next year if it is awarded the grant while the Open Space grant would not be available.
Mayor Robert Mahon said, “We’re making a number of inquiries into what type of funds are available for both the purchase and remediation of the property.”
Gallagher said the property had an estimated value of $1.3 million. If the borough acquires the marina, it is obligated by law to provide environmental remediation to the site. Suchecki said that could cost anywhere between $70,000 and $300,000, depending on whether the building at the site could be safely demolished. Gallagher said the marina was formerly a gas station, and one of the tanks still in the ground is leaking into the Shark River.
Suchecki said the marina has 22 slips but said the borough would consider lowering that number to serve larger ships if it acquired the property.
Also, Verizon’s bid to become a tennant on the borough’s future cell tower has been accepted. Verizon will pay the borough $18,000 a year in the lease. The city will also collect around $6,000 from Verizon’s payment to Omnipoint, which is building the tower, said Barry Cooke, borough attorney. Charles Rooney, borough engineer, said construction on the tower would begin soon. Omnipoint is a division of T-Mobile.
In other news, the board passed an ammendment to its dog walking laws. Owners are now allowed to let their dogs deficate on the grass along the curb provided the owners remove the mess. The law formerly dictated that dogs had to deficate in the street, which the commissioners acknowledged could be troublesome, especially during the summer with the increase of traffic.
Commissioner Frank Gorman was absent from the meeting.
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