4 Cell towers to be placed on Belmar Boardwalk

New pavilion to aid lifeguards, cell phone access

By ERIK LARSEN
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

A new beach patrol headquarters with an observation deck two stories high is still in the works, but is still subject to approval under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act, Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle said.

Police Chief Jack Hill has said the new headquarters will give Belmar lifeguards an edge in spotting swimmers in distress.

But the new pavilion will also increase mobile telephone service to the Belmar beachfront, borough officials have said — Verizon Wireless plans to build the proposed facility on the boardwalk at the end of 10th Avenue, and the building itself will protect and conceal cellular telephone equipment.

Hill, however, emphasized the public safety importance of the new headquarters, particularly in light of an incident last spring that nearly resulted in multiple drownings a week before borough lifeguards were set to go on duty full time.

The new pavilion — similar in style to the existing pavilions on the boardwalk — will be constructed adjacent to the existing beach patrol headquarters and will not replace that building, which serves mainly as a garage. The new building is to supplement the existing one and will include an office for the beach patrol chief.

The new headquarters will have a gray, nautical, roughly hexagonal look, borough officials have said, and it will have a second-floor observation room. It also will have a balcony on the ocean side.

The lifeguards will have extensive visibility of the beach from the new building, particularly because the new pavilion is in the center of the borough's beachfront.

Officials had hoped that construction between the two existing pavilions at the end of 10th Avenue would have begun sometime in 2007, when environmental approvals under CAFRA were initially expected to be received. Until the permits are received, work cannot begin on the project.

The purpose of the project is to increase mobile telephone service to the Belmar beachfront, where, at peak summer hours, calls have been prone to drop out. The amount of money involved to construct the project has not been disclosed.

Construction of the pavilion is the result of a lawsuit settlement between the borough and Verizon about the phone giant's right to place such equipment in view of the beachfront. Temporary equipment has been on top of the Mayfair Hotel on Ocean Avenue.

Four flagpoles will be erected near the new facility that actually will conceal cell phone antennae within.

Verizon had sued under the federal Telecommunications Act, and this was the outcome of that settlement, Pringle has said.

In addition to constructing the new pavilion, Verizon will pay the borough a reduced rent of $12,000 per year to lease the space for 10 years. Other carriers, such as T-Mobile and Cingular, also will lease space at the pavilion, each for $30,000 per year, Pringle has said.

A fourth carrier also will have an opportunity to bid on space, according to borough officials.

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