By Sunayana Prabhu
FAIR HAVEN – A design firm under contract with the borough since 2017 delivered a presentation to the council Monday night about ongoing waterfront access projects. The presentation focused on a “pocket park” at the end of Hance Road, bulkhead replacement at Grange Avenue and boat ramp replacement at the end of Battin Road.
Colliers Engineering & Design, formerly Maser consulting, has been under contract for the projects since 2017, keeping with the borough’s ongoing efforts to improve public access to the Navesink River.
Joseph Raftery, senior project manager at Colliers, presented detailed structural drawings for all three access points. “All New Jersey DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) permits have been obtained for everything that would be done in these three aspects of the projects,” Raftery said. The DEP permits are valid five years from the day of approval.
The scope of infrastructure work at Grange Avenue includes the reconstruction of a “failing bulkhead,” Raftery said, “with parts that are collapsed beyond failure from a structural perspective.” Currently during low tide a person could walk about 15 feet out into the river, which makes the area considerably dangerous, he said. “In fact, you might have a situation where you have an emergency on your hands.”
Colliers engineers estimate the cost at $519,000, with up to $400,000 of that covering reconstruction costs for the bulkhead.
Council member Tracy Cole noted the borough received a $250,000 matching Open Space grant from the county in 2014, but borough administrator Theresa Casagrande said that grant could not be used to cover the cost associated with this project.
According to Casagrande, reconstruction of the bulkhead wouldn’t qualify for the grant because it does not fall within the types of projects supported by those grants. An Open Space grant cannot be used to pay for infrastructure “unless it’s supporting the park’s amenities to increase access to the waterfront,” Casagrande explained.
After rejecting multiple renovation iterations, including an extension of a lighted ramp into a floating dock, the borough decided the Battin Road boat ramp will be upgraded with minimal construction, which will include filling in the ripped asphalt with stone and adding grooved concrete. Raftery said that once the dredging is done, “it will be a true boat ramp where you always have access to water.”
Perhaps the borough’s best kept secret – what young residents call a “pirate beach” – is at the end of Hance Road, but “right now there’s no safe way down to the beach,” Raftery said. He called the current access a “safety hazard.”
Raftery shared structural drawings showing an ADA-compliant asphalt path, a staircase to access the water and a viewing platform with benches. Also, because of how steep the land to shoreline is, he said a kayak launch could also be added. The new platform would be about 3 to 4 feet above the existing one. The cost of the Hance Road water access improvements is estimated at $334,000.
Mayor Josh Halpern argued that the borough doesn’t need another boat ramp and preferred not to install one at Hance Road. “We could go to Rumson,” he pointed out.
“Do we need more than one access point in town?”
Concerned with “over urbanization of that little pocket area,” council member Laline Neff suggested the borough council find the least invasive method to protect the site. Most of the public comments at Monday’s meeting were geared toward improving and protecting access to the Navesink River at the end of Hance Road.
“I would really beg you, do not take lightly this idea of giving up that Hance Road little beach. It’s precious access that once we give up we can’t get back,” resident Carolyn Fergusson said.
Several residents, including Fergusson, deemed the river area by Hance “precious” and “valuable” to the town.
“There is a tradition in this town of kids growing up on the river and learning about the river.”
Many also echoed the concerns over safety and said that should be paramount during reconstruction plans.
Resident Stephanie Adams asked the council to “protect our river because it is vulnerable.”
The projects have been part of the borough’s beautification and infrastructure development efforts since 2017, enabled by Monmouth County Open Space grants. The three projects were chosen to keep access to the Navesink shoreline as a part of residents’ everyday lives and not just for those utilizing boat ramps.
The article originally appeared in the March 2 – 8, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
