Borough Borrows $1.7 Million To Drain Silver Lake

The borough of Belmar is keen on having Silver Lake drain far faster in the event of another weather emergency and may begin construction on a new drainage system before the end of the year, officials said.

The Borough Council on Wednesday adopted a $1.7 million bond ordinance to fund the $1.86 million construction cost of the new system to replace the decades old drainage pipe that currently runs from the lake eastward into the ocean, under Ocean Avenue.

The current system is old, inefficient, prone to breakage and difficult to maintain, Mayor Matt Doherty said.

“It’s shot,’’ Doherty said. “It runs underground and comes out in the sand, which clogs the pipe and its very difficult to clean out. Plus, you have the wave action preventing water from flowing out of it.’’

The new system will use two drainage pipes instead of one and will run five blocks northward along A Street, draining Silver Lake into the Shark River Inlet instead of directly into the ocean.

Although the new system travels a far longer route, it will be easier to maintain and will not have to fight the ocean waves to drain the lake, making it far more efficient.

“We’ll be able to drain the lake much, much faster if we have to,’’ Doherty said.