By PAUL BOOTH
Representatives of the Deal Lake Commission say the very foundation of their organization is at risk if Asbury Park continues to refuse to pay their assessment.
The commission said Asbury Park is in arrears of payment for 2007 and 2008, totaling about $16,500.
Organized in 1974 at the behest of Asbury Park, the commission is a municipal corporation comprised of volunteer representatives from the seven municipalities that border the 150-acre lake, including Asbury Park, Ocean Township, Loch Arbour, Allenhurst, Interlaken, Deal and Neptune. Their mission is to provide leadership, guidance and resources to preserve and restore Deal Lake and its tributaries as a healthy and stable ecosystem.
Each town is assessed based on their lake frontage, with Asbury Park having the most. All six other municipalities have paid their assessments.
Asbury Park officials told representatives of the commission that they do not approve of some of the ways they spend funds, including having a lawyer and engineering consultant present at every meeting, and the breakdown between overhead and lake maintenance.
“We have some serious issues with how they spend money, and have for some time,” said Asbury Park City Manager Terry Reidy. “And when they doubled the dues assessment, and our’s went from $5,500 to $11,000, we were like, ‘That’s it.’ ”
The commission asked the municipalities to double their assessments two years ago. It said it needs experts present at meetings to function as an effective commission, and says it has done its best to preserve as much money for lake maintenance as possible.
“It has to be remembered that we are volunteers who run the Commission,” said Commission Chairman John Everson, who lives in Ocean Township.
“We’re not knowledgeable in all areas, and these are sophisticated and technical operations we are involved in. We need the input of those professionals,” he said.
“The complexity of the problems and the sheer magnitude of Deal Lake requires the advice of our consultant and engineer to make informed decisions,” Everson wrote in a letter to Reidy dated Aug. 18, in which he outlined several ways the commission would address specific concerns of the city.
“The levels of technical depth discussed at our meetings require our professionals to be present. Without them, we can not serve the public or move key projects forward,” the letter read.
In fact, Everson said, if the professionals can’t make the meetings, “we cancel them because, for one, it saves money on overhead, and all we would do is spin our wheels anyway.”
Everson, who has been on the commission for four years and chairman for two, said he has had productive meetings with Asbury Park officials in the past, where they have questioned spending. He says the commission has addressed most of those concerns, including cutting overhead costs
“You get to a point where you get frustrated and you throw your hands up, but we don’t want to do that,” said Everson.
Asked if the commission could survive without Asbury Park’s involvement Everson hesitated.
“The answer is yes, but we’d be a limping dog. With a unified front we can go after state money, federal grants, and private money. If Asbury Park pulls out, we won’t be able to perform nearly as much lake maintenance, and there might be domino effect of other towns pulling out as well.”
“It’s time that Asbury Park’s council step up and make a decision,” Everson said.
At their most recent public meeting, Asbury Park Councilman Ed Johnson informed the council that he had met with representatives from the commission and he recommended that talks proceed.
“We should continue to work this out and try to find a resolution,” Johnson said.
Reidy, for one, thinks a resolution could be close at hand.
“We still have a lot of concerns over spending and other issues, some of which we feel strongly about,” Reidy said. For instance, the city feels the commission should reimburse Asbury Park for some costs incurred in maintaining the lake, such as raising and lowering the water level. Costs Reidy described as “not significant, but still costs.”
“But we want to resolve this, it’s gone on long enough. We’re going to sit down with the Deal Lake Commission, address these issues and move on,” Reidy said. He said he was hopeful such a meeting could take place within the next month.
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