Belmar Councilman Pushes for Silver Lake Outflow Plan

Republican Belmar Councilman Jim Bean released the following statement on pipe conditions at Silver Lake. It appears below in its entirety:

At the most recent borough council meeting Paul Calabrese, our borough engineer, presented a plan to construct a new outflow pipe for Silver Lake that would allow us to prevent the lake from flooding due to rainfall events like we witnessed earlier this month. The plan is to run a 36” pipe from the lake north under A Street that would release the overflow into the Shark River Inlet. It would double the capacity of our current 24” outflow pipe, which feeds directly into the ocean. More importantly, it would not be compromised by the ocean debris and wave action that causes repeated problems with our current outflow pipe. Since the pipe would be under dry land its entire length, it would be much easier and less expensive to service. The plan also includes a pad for a pump near the pipe inlet that would allow us to drain water from the lake even at high tide without closing Ocean Ave. The project’s total cost is estimated to be approximately $1.1 million.

This basic plan has been presented before, and it’s been known now for several years that it would prevent most flooding events, but its implementation has been delayed due to lack of funding.

Councilman Bean states “Our administration seems content to let the project wait until federal funding becomes available. In the meantime our residents in the Silver Lake area must live in constant dread of heavy rainfall. To me this is unacceptable. Our local government has failed in its basic responsibility to protect the property of Belmar residents.”

As the only council member to question the recent spending and debt accumulation, now totaling $51 million, Councilman Bean is aware of the political heat he will be facing if he proposes to add another million dollars to Belmar’s debt. “To me, that political heat would be a small price to pay to ensure the peace of mind of our residents in the Silver Lake area. So at the next borough council meeting I will propose that we immediately bond the money we need to fix Silver Lake and start this project with no further delay”.