Sea Girt’s Weather-beaten Boards and Beach get $92K Repair Package

Plans to shore up a stretch of the Sea Girt boardwalk are on the fast track now that officials have green lighted a $75,000 emergency repair project as part of a larger $92,000 bond ordinance for beach improvements.

With summer approaching and the borough engineer warning of dangerous conditions on and under the boards, the Sea Girt Borough Council unanimously approved the bond ordinance designed to fund the planned beachfront improvements. The bulk of the funding will be used to to replace weather-worn pilings, railings, stairs, and surface decking along the wooden walkway between Beacon and Brooklyn Boulevard.

No one addressed the council about the project or their plan to bond for $87,400 to finance those improvements during a public hearing before the vote on April 13.

However, by reporting that as many as 13 pilings are deteriorating under the compromised section of the boardwalk, Borough Administrator Al Bunting persuaded the council earlier this month to support the bond ordinance.  Bunting cited reports from the borough’s contracted engineering firm, Leon S. Avakian, Inc., describing the instability of that portion of the boardwalk.

Bird Construction of Bayville, the council’s chosen contractor, will receive the most of the repair funding, specifically an estimated $65,000 to fix the boardwalk. Avakian’s firm will receive $10,000 to oversee the project and to report back to the governing body on its progress.

The remaining $17,000 is the projected cost of an all-weather terrain utility vehicle to serve the beachfront as a whole according to a copy of the approved bond ordinance.

The bond ordinance itself takes effect in 20 days after passage by the governing body. Bird Construction is expected to begin its work in mid-May.

The entire beachfront improvement package will be added to the borough’s 2011 capital projects program. The $87,400 in bonds will eventually be added to the borough’s debt service obligation in the municipal budget.

New Jersey’s Local Public Contract Law allows governing bodies to forego the competitive bidding process whenever  an emergency situation arises such as that described in Avakian's report arises. With that in mind, the council awarded the contract to Bird Construction, the sole bidder.

Of the $87,400 that the council will bond for, $71,250 will go towards the boardwalk repairs and the remaining $16,150 in bonds will be used to purchase of the vehicle. The boardwalk repairs are expected to last 15 years and the vehicle’s useful life is estimated at five years according to a copy of the bond ordinance.