By WILLIAM CLARK
Bradley Beach has been awarded over a $4 million grant from the Boardwalk Preservation Fund.
Mayor Larry Fox is eyeing using the funds to study the benefits of extending the bulkhead that currently stops at Third Avenue.
Fox said the current dune set up bought the southern part of town four to five hours during the pounding the shore took during Superstorm Sandy. But the bulkhead that was installed 30 years ago provided adequate protection. Fox hopes to extend that protection through the remaining portion of the beachfront so that it is no longer dependent on just the dunes.
“If that’s all you got, you’re in trouble,” he said.
Fox said it took the borough three years to rebuild the dunes following Sandy.
The borough will have to work with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Environmental Protection to complete the task. In addition, Fox expects to have to bond some of the cost as the grant may not be enough.
“Our municipal budget is $7 million. To get $4 million is a big deal,” he said.
The mayor said the work of Borough Administrator Meredith DeMarco and Borough Engineer Ben Matlack of CME were valuable in bringing home the funding. He pointed to their work communicating to the state the importance of the coastal resilience assessment. Bradley Beach’s award was second in Monmouth County behind Asbury Park’s $20 million.
The new bulkhead will not be a panacea to extreme weather but it could help stem the onslaught that the ocean would provide during a hurricane or other powerful storm, Fox said.
“Now the real work begins,” Fox said.
