By PETE WALTON
Summer won’t end on Labor Day in Bradley Beach.
The Borough Council voted unanimously earlier this week to extend the beach season through the end of September.
Beaches will be open seven days a week. Badges will be required on weekends and season badges will continue to be honored. Admission will not be charged on weekdays.
Lifeguards and other staff will be present on weekends. Swimming will be permitted on weekdays as long as there is no threat of imminent danger.
Police and the borough’s Office of Emergency Management will monitor beach attendance and take any action needed to ensure public safety.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think this is going to be a ‘local summer’ that we all look forward to,” said Council President John Weber. “I think our beaches are going to be very well used, on the weekends at least in September, perhaps even crowded, so I would ask everybody to continue to display the patience that we’ve all displayed this summer because I think the rest of the state is going to be interested in continuing to come to our town in September.”
Weber said he hoped boardwalk concessions would be allowed to operate through the end of September.
Borough Administrator David Brown said he would confer with municipal attorney Greg Cannon to make it possible for the concessions to continue.
Brown said that neighboring towns also have plans to extend the 2020 beach season.
Councilman Randy Bonnell noted that approvals for outdoor service at restaurants and other establishments are due to expire on Sept. 30.
“I’d like to make an effort this week to make sure that they have the opportunity to continue to operate,” Bonnell said.
Mayor Gary Engelstad said he expected the council would extend the outdoor permits at its Sept. 8 meeting.
The mayor also said that he would like the council to explore ways to improve the borough’s beachfront playgrounds.
“Our playgrounds on the beachfront are nowhere near the caliber of other towns,” he said. Engelstad asked that the matter be discussed at a workshop meeting to consider “financially and operationally what our options might be.”
