Lobster rolls are being served at Matisse in Belmar

 

Belmar NJ photo of the day

 

D'Jais opens next weekend May 3rd 2008

 

Since 1979 D'Jais in Belmar is one of the Jersey shore's most talked about venues. D'Jais is the perfect place to cool off after a hot day at the beach or for a hot night on the town.

D'Jais Features a world famous bar and restaurant with a full lunch & dinner menu, with outdoor oceanview seating. At Night, D'Jais is well known for it's diverse atmosphere in which different music can be heard seven nights a week.

With sounds ranging from live classic rock & roll, reggae bands and the Tri-State's best DJ’s Spinning the latest dance & club. Plus Special events by top billboard artists & Celebrity guest appearances.

D'Jais is located at 1801 Ocean Ave in Belmar Beach, NJ 07719

Bruce Springsteen 1978 Holmdel NJ

The Tropical Pub Mud hole

R.I.P. TROP from J Robert Mac on Vimeo.

Belmar to discuss $10 hike in cost of seasonal beach badges

Belmar to discuss $10 hike in cost of seasonal beach badges

By ERIK LARSEN
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

A $10 increase in the cost of a seasonal beach badge, which if approved would raise the price to $60 this summer, is expected to be discussed in the agenda session of Wednesday's Borough Council meeting.

Borough Administrator Robbin D. Kirk said seasonal badges have been cutting into the sales of the $7 daily badge. The seasonal badge is more economical for any person who intends to make more than seven trips to the Belmar beach in a single summer.

"What we are finding is that with a lower priced seasonal badge, we are selling less dailies, which is really where the majority of your money comes from on the beach,'' Kirk said.

Council President Meredith Brennan said Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle's administration wants to increase the revenue in order to fund nighttime attendants at boardwalk lavatories, while raising wages and salaries for beachfront staff.

"We decided in the agenda session to raise our seasonal beach badge fee from $50 to $60,'' Brennan said at the April 9 council meeting. "The senior badge and the handicapped badge remains at $15 (for the season). We are still the lowest or as low as anyone along this whole strip. And it will actually help offset the cost of some of the night attendants and some of the other things we want to do.''

But the council decided to review its decision after a chorus of residents -- who stand to be perhaps the most impacted by the increase -- denounced the proposal.

"That's not fair to the young people,'' complained Connie Dellaportas of Main Street. "We are penalizing those young people. Let's stop.''

"I can understand your resentment to a point,'' said Councilwoman Claire Deicke. "At the same time, we are among the lowest (in fees) and we do want to maintain the beach to the best of our ability and everything goes up, as you know.''

Belmar is sensitive to such criticism. In 1989, the state Public Advocate sued Belmar over its daily beach badge fees, which were as high as $8 in the late 1980s. Adjusted for inflation, that would be more than $14 today, according to the Consumer Price Index.

The fees were struck down. The court's most significant ruling, that a town could not use beach badge revenue to offset property taxes -- which Belmar was doing in the 1980s -- and that a town had to create a dedicated beachfront utility fund for the revenue, had major consequences up and down the Jersey Shore.

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Are You using a refillable plastic water bottle on your Belmar boardwalks ? You might want to think twice

Nalgene to nix BPA bottles due to consumer concern


By BEN DOBBIN AP Business Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Hard-plastic Nalgene water bottles made with bisphenol A will be pulled from stores over the next few months because of growing consumer concern over whether the chemical poses a health risk.

Nalge Nunc International, a division of Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., said Friday it will substitute its Nalgene Outdoor line of polycarbonate plastic containers with BPA-free alternatives.

"We continue to believe that Nalgene products containing BPA are safe for their intended use," Steven Silverman, general manager of the Nalgene business, said in a statement. "However, our customers indicated they preferred BPA-free alternatives and we acted in response to those concerns."

With more than 6 million pounds produced in the United States each year, bisphenol A is found in dental sealants, baby bottles, the liners of food cans, CDs and DVDs, eyeglasses and hundreds of household goods.

The U.S. government's National Toxicology Program said this week that there is "some concern" about BPA from experiments on rats that linked the chemical to changes in behavior and the brain, early puberty and possibly precancerous changes in the prostate and breast. While such animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of risk, the draft report said a possible effect on humans "cannot be dismissed."

Highly durable and lightweight, resistant to stains and odors, and able to withstand extremes of hot and cold, screw-cap Nalgene bottles have been marketed as an environmentally responsible substitute for disposable water bottles.

The transparent reusable sports accessory is made at a factory in suburban Rochester that employs about 900 people.

Nalge Nunc was founded in 1949 by Rochester chemist Emanuel Goldberg. The lab-equipment supplier's product evolved in the 1970s after rumors spread about its scientists taking hardy lab vessels on weekend outings. That led the company to form a water-bottle consumer unit targeting Boy Scouts, hikers and campers.

In 2000, a new sports line of Nalgene-brand bottles offered in red, blue and yellow hues quickly became the rage in high schools and on college campuses.

Earlier this week, Wal-Mart Canada and other major retailers in Canada began removing BPA-based food-related products such as baby bottles and sipping cups from store shelves. Canadian health regulators were expected to announce the results of a preliminary review on BPA later Friday.

"I think the writing's on the wall for this chemical," said Aaron Freeman, policy director of Toronto-based Environmental Defence Canada. "You've got major retailers with huge market clout pulling BPA products ... and you've got consumers in droves who are opting for alternatives. They're a big late to the game, but they are responding to that consumer demand."

Citing multiple studies in the United States, Europe and Japan, the chemicals industry maintains that polycarbonate bottles contain little BPA and leach traces considered too low to harm humans.

But critics point to an influx of animal studies linking low doses to a wide variety of ailments _ from breast and prostate cancer, obesity and hyperactivity, to miscarriages and other reproductive failures.

An expert panel of 38 academic and government researchers who attended a National Institutes of Health-sponsored conference said in a study in August that "the potential for BPA to impact human health is a concern, and more research is clearly needed."




August 2007 report

Jury Still Out on BPA/Plastics Risk
What to Do While Scientists Study Risk From Plastic Baby Bottles, Other Sources
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDAug. 24, 2007 -- The jury is still out on whether there's a health risk from bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that leaches from plastic baby bottles, food/beverage cans, and many other products.

Industry uses more than 6 billion pounds of BPA every year to make the resins that line food cans and the polycarbonate plastics used to make baby bottles and many, many other products. The CDC says that 95% of us carry measurable amounts of BPA in our blood.

Some scientists say there's reason to worry. They note that BPA acts like the sex hormone estrogen -- indeed, BPA was originally developed as a chemical estrogen. These researchers worry that BPA is behind hormone-linked trends in human health such as increased abnormal penis development in males, earlier sexual development in females, increases in neurodevelopmental diseases such as ADHD and autism, increased child obesity, decreased sperm count, and more breast and prostate cancers.

The plastics industry says there's nothing to worry about. Industry-funded studies by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and the Gradient Corporation say there's not cause for alarm.

A scientific panel asked by the National Toxicology Program to settle the issue says there's "some" concern about neural and behavioral effects from BPA exposure in fetuses, infants, and children.

The panel found no major health risks. But there are serious questions about the panel's report -- and about its independence from industry (the contractor that prepared the panel's draft report was fired for apparent conflict of interest).

This fall, the National Toxicology Program is expected to issue a ruling on whether BPA is toxic. Until then, here's a summary of what is known -- and what you can do if you feel you're at risk.

Is BPA Really Risky?
There's no argument that at some level of exposure, BPA is toxic. BPA has a half-life in the human body of about six hours. But because we're continually exposed, nearly all of us have measurable blood levels of BPA.

Whether these levels are dangerous isn't known for sure. One problem is that BPA acts like a hormone. This means that low doses may have effects not seen at higher doses. This is a problem for traditional toxicology studies, which usually try to find a high-dose effect and lower the dose until that effect goes away.

Currently, the EPA says that the "safe" level of BPA is set at 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. But animal studies suggest that this level of BPA has harmful effects, including genetic damage. Exactly how to translate these animal findings into human effects is a bone of contention between academic and industry scientists.

Nevertheless, BPA can flip the estrogen switches on cells at part-per-trillion concentrations -- lower concentrations than those common in the blood of human infants, children, and adults.

Rible to Hold Public Meeting to Oppose Sale of Sea Girt Training Center

Rible to Hold Public Meeting to Oppose Sale of Sea Girt Training Center
Media Advisory
Assemblyman Dave Rible will host a town meeting seeking public input on the possible monetization of the Sea Girt Training Facility. A presentation will be made to show the history of the site, the recreational and training uses, and the consequences of redevelopment. The meeting will be open to all members of the public. No advance registration is required and the goal will be to discuss the Governor's plan of selling off parts or all of this land and gather ideas to prevent this from taking place.
When: Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 7pm to 9pm
Where: Sea Girt Elementary School-451 Bell Place Sea Girt, NJ 08750
Who: Assemblyman Dave Rible, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, Senator Sean Kean, Assemblyman David Wolfe, Freeholder Director Lillian Burry, Sea Girt Mayor Mark Clemmenson, Manasquan Mayor George Dempsey, Manasquan Councilman Joe Lucas, and Ken Wandrak, retired State Police Captain and former National Guard Commander in Sea Girt. The mayors from the following towns have also been invited: Belmar, Lake Como, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Brielle, Manasquan, and Wall.

For more information please call the 11th District Legislative Office at 732-974-0400.

Belmar Nj

 

Belmar Party boats struggle with fuel prices and Fluke regulations

 
April 13, 2008
Fishing
Party Boats Struggle With a Double Threat
By TIM WACKER
Greenport, N.Y.

FROM the perspective of the party-boat business, Dave Brennan has had it pretty good.

His boat, the 90-foot Peconic Star II, is docked here 20 minutes from some of the area’s best summer flounder fishing, and the Long Island Rail Road stops well within cooler-carrying range of his 150-passenger boat.

So why, after some 20 years, is he thinking it might be time to get out of the business?

“It’s the fuel and the fishing regulations,” Mr. Brennan said. “Between the two of them, we’re going to have a rough season this year. There’s less time to go fishing, and it’s going to cost us a lot more when we do go.”

Party boats, a seaside staple, are under siege from Belmar, N.J., to Montauk Point, N.Y., say Mr. Brennan and others in the business. With diesel fuel prices bumping past $4 a gallon in both states and new federal limits on the most prized catch — summer flounder, or fluke — boat owners say it is getting too pricey to take people fishing.

“If things don’t change soon, there are going to be a lot of boats out of business,” said Capt. Paul Forsberg, owner of the Viking Fleet, five party boats and ferries based in Montauk.

Because of higher fuel costs, party boats this year are charging on average $40 to $70 a person for half-day, three-quarter-day or full-day fishing trips. That is up 10 to 20 percent over last year, when diesel fuel cost $2.50 to $3 a gallon, Mr. Brennan said. Boats can burn up to 50 gallons an hour.

Making matters worse this year, Mr. Brennan and Mr. Forsberg say, efforts to bolster the fluke population have made it harder to take legal fish home.

In New Jersey, a keeper summer flounder must be 18 inches, up one inch over last year and 1.5 inches since 2006. In New York, fluke must be 20.5 inches, up an inch over last year and 2.5 inches since 2006. New York’s fluke-fishing season has also been shortened by 16 days over last year.

Federal mandates to help fluke recover from overfishing prompted the restrictions. The stocks have rebounded, but not enough to meet federal limits. Now it is party boats that are becoming scarce, said Alan Shinn, owner of two boats in Belmar.

The number of party boats docked at the Belmar boat basin has dropped to six from nine in the past two years, Mr. Shinn said. He said he is thinking of selling one boat, the Royal Ms. Belmar, because it is losing money and he can charge only so much for a half-day of fishing.

“If we overprice things, it could price us right out of business,” he said. “People have to pay their bills, they don’t have to go fishing.”

This season does not look much brighter for commercial fishermen. Jim Lovgren, owner of a fishing boat and a member of the Point Pleasant Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative in New Jersey, said commercial fishermen were also suffering from government fishing restrictions and rising fuel prices.

“It’s costing us about $500 a day more this year than last to go fishing,” he said of fuel expenses.

Some relief may come in New York; efforts are under way in the State Legislature to give boat owners fuel tax rebates, said Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., Republican of Sag Harbor. The state tax on diesel is 28.9 cents a gallon. Such a rebate, which is available to boats in New Jersey, would cost New York about $2 million, Mr. Thiele said.

But, he said, the state economy could lose much more than that in revenue, since hotels, restaurants, bait shops and coffee shops would suffer if party boat fishermen stopped coming to town.

If that happens, Mr. Brennan said, there may be a new business coming in: boat sales.

“You know anybody who wants a 100-passenger boat?” he said with a half-serious tone. “I don’t know. I may be able to hang on this summer, but I know a lot of guys that are thinking of getting out.”

Jim and Cheryl Miller

 

I took this photo years ago and never got a chance to look at it to see what was written on the sign

Family, friends and supporters of the late Cheryl Miller, multiple sclerosis patient and medical marijuana activist

from the website
Jim Miller, 51, of Silverton NJ will push his late wife's wheelchair from Seaside Heights to Long Branch NJ, Saturday, August 30, 2003.

Cheryl Miller died June 7, 2003 after suffering from multiple sclerosis for 32 years. He will be joined by family and friends. Cheryl was an outspoken advocate for medical marijuana for the last 12 years of her life.

-Background on Cheryl Miller's Life and Struggles-

She was arrested for consuming marijuana in a congressman's office in 1998, one of many Washington DC actions she was involved in. Friends and supporters have pledged money per mile walked for Jim's 26 mile walk. The money is to be used to help get medical marijuana patients to Cheryl's memorial service being held in Washington DC. The memorial service for Cheryl will take place in front of the Supreme Court beginning 6:30 PM Sept. 22, 2003 (Monday).

It will be preceded by a day-long display of a memorial table presentation of personal items, letters and pictures of many other medical marijuana patients that have also passed away. The following day (September 23) Jim will speak at a congressional press conference in the Rayburn House Office building at 11:00 then lead patients that will have come from around the country on a lobbying effort on the Hill.

This weekend's memorial fundraising walk will begin at 6:30 AM at the old municipal parking lot located at the convergence of Rt. 37 and Rt. 35 in Seaside Heights. It will end at 1187 Ocean Ave. Long Branch, NJ. the home of US Rep. Frank Pallone. Cheryl and Jim had been in contact with Rep. Pallone since 1991 concerning medical marijuana.

Pallone promised Cheryl years ago that he would confer with Rep Rob Andrews about a medical marijuana bill that Rep. Andrews is a cosponsor of, and has since refused to do so. Mr. Miller will arrive at 1187 Ocean Ave. approximately 6:30 PM and stand vigil all night until 10:45 AM Sunday, a year to the minute from the last time Rep. Pallone saw Cheryl.

Jim Miller says, "It's time the war on medical marijuana patients comes to the homes of congressional representatives that support it. Mr. Pallone's decisions and unkept promises have affected Cheryl and me in our home for a long time, all the way until the day that Cheryl died. It is time for him to honor his promises."

Contact Jim at 732-255-3660. On the day of the memorial walk Jim is best reached at 732-829-0276 (cell phone)

Direct link to the new flood zone map 2008 for Belmar NJ

here is the link to the Belmar flood zone map 2008 issued by Fema Jan 2008

Belmar Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle talks about the new Fema Flood maps

New flood maps show risk areas in Monmouth County

By TODD B. BATES
ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER

Do you live in a flood zone in Monmouth County?

New, preliminary flood maps may show that you're now in a higher-risk area and may be required by your mortgage holder to buy flood insurance.

But you could save hundred of dollars a year — by taking advantage of grandfathered rates — if you buy flood insurance before the maps take effect, according to Barbara Lynch, a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman.

Neptune resident Dorothy Argyros, whose home won't be affected by the new maps, thinks they will "hurt a lot of people."

"This is sneaking up on people who are already paying double the average tax in the country," she said.

But Christina Banasiak, an assistant office manager at Weichert Realtors in Marlboro and treasurer of the New Jersey Association of Realtors, called the new, much more accurate maps "a big plus." They will show whether people are paying for flood insurance they don't need and whether others should buy it, she said.

The new preliminary flood maps for Monmouth County come halfway through FEMA's five-year, $1 billion nationwide flood map modernization project, Lynch said.

And an estimated 4,280 structures in Middletown, Keansburg, Hazlet and Union Beach alone would now be in a coastal high-risk flood zone under the preliminary maps, although residents still would be able to get lower-cost flood insurance before the maps are finalized, according to Lynch.

State Assemblywoman Amy H. Handlin, R-Monmouth, will host an emergency meeting on Tuesday in Middletown with local officials from the four towns, FEMA officials and possibly a state official to discuss the issue, according to Handlin and an e-mailed statement.

Ocean County flood maps, which are virtually the same as the previous maps and are not nearly as accurate as the Monmouth County maps, took effect in 2006, Lynch said. The maps for Brick and Point Pleasant Beach need to be revised because data are missing.

This month, officials will discuss doing more accurate mapping in Ocean County in the future, Lynch said.

The preliminary digital Monmouth maps, which feature aerial photography and accurately pinpoint buildings and properties in relation to flood zones, are available on the Web, according to FEMA officials. The final versions will replace older, paper maps that are generally more than 25 years old.

People with Mac computers have had problems opening up the preliminary maps, and "we've gone back to the contractor and we're trying to figure it out," Lynch said.

Monmouth flooding risks

Flooding in Monmouth County is caused largely by tropical storms, extratropical cyclones (nor'easters) and, to a lesser extent, severe thunderstorms, according to a FEMA study.

Floods have caused six of the eight disasters declared by the president over the past decade in New Jersey, according to a recent FEMA statement on the Web.

But fewer than 225,000 flood insurance policies are in effect in New Jersey, although that's a 4.5 percent increase over last year, the statement says.

In Monmouth County, the number of flood insurance policies increased from 14,687 in January 2004 to 17,979 in January 2008, according to Lynch.

In Ocean County, the number of policies rose from 47,642 in January 2004 to 52,307 in January 2008, she said.

Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, a Sandy Hook-based coastal conservation group, thinks it's important whether the maps show more areas at risk, given sea-level rise, more intense storms and more coastal development.

"FEMA, I think, develops these maps probably to inform people about the need for flood insurance . . . but the bigger questions are how much of the coast is at risk . . . both people and property," Dillingham said.

The society hopes that maps guide the state and towns to reduce the risk and steer people away from building in high-risk areas, he said.

Viewing the new maps

Residents are urged to review the preliminary maps at their community's municipal building or at this Web site — http://rmc.mapmodteam.com/RMC2/CountiesMonmouth.htm, according to an e-mailed FEMA statement.

Residents should buy flood insurance policies now if their property has been rezoned into a higher risk flood hazard area, the statement says.

FEMA will publish notices about the new, preliminary flood maps in local newspapers, and the second notice will signal the start of a 90-day appeal period when communities can challenge new flood data. The flood maps will become final six months after the last appeal is resolved, the statement says.

The maps will help owners of homes and businesses understand their flood risks and make more informed financial decisions on protecting their properties, according to a FEMA publication on the Web.

They also will allow community planners, local officials, engineers, builders and others to decide where and how new structures and developments should be built to maximize safety, the publication says.

If a building is now in a high-risk zone under the new maps instead of a low- or moderate-risk zone under the old ones, federal law requires flood insurance for most mortgage-holders when the maps take effect, the publication says.

Flood insurance is not required in low- to moderate-risk areas, but 30 percent of all claims paid last year were for policies in such areas, according to FEMA information on the Web.

People who find they're now in a higher risk zone can take advantage of a "grandfathering" provision that allows them to pay the lower flood insurance rates for the lower-risk zone they're now in — if they act before the new maps take effect, according to Lynch.

The grandfathered premium lasts for the life of the policy with the current homeowner, as long as the policy is maintained, she said.

"We're telling people about the grandfather clause in the National Flood Insurance Program because we want people to save money, but also it's clearly prudent for everyone to protect their property with flood insurance" because it is not included under a regular homeowners insurance policy, she said.

In general, people can save hundreds of dollars a year through grandfathering, Lynch said.

People with properties now in a low- to moderate-risk flood zone may be eligible for a preferred rate, she said.

Preferred-risk policy rates begin at $112 a year for $20,000 in coverage for a building and $8,000 in coverage for contents for a single-family building with one floor, no basement and a standard $500 deductible, according to the Floodsmart.gov Web site.

Opinions of the new maps

Argyros, of Neptune, said she attended a recent public meeting on the new maps, and "my first thought was . . . "hey, the insurance companies are going to get rich on this,' and a lot of the decision-making" is left to banks.

"It smells terrible to me, this thing," she said. "I think it will hurt real estate sales horribly."

Lynch said: "I really feel that this is an important public service that FEMA is performing . . . in terms of alerting people . . . to the real risk of living in a flood plain. You can't depend on the president of the United States to declare a presidential disaster every time it rains."

People who choose to live on the coast may continue to do so, she said, "but they should be informed their property, their investment is at risk . . . and they can't depend on the public purse to bail them out. They have to take responsibility for their own lives."

Banasiak, of the New Jersey Association of Realtors, said the new digital maps will be "a large help" and far more accurate than the old, paper maps.

People "don't have the benefit of insurance coverage if they don't know they're in a flood plain," said Banasiak, who lives in Jackson and neither lives in a flood zone nor has flood insurance.

Property owners will be able to evaluate their risk of flooding with the updated maps, she said.

"I don't think there are any downsides to it at all," she said, calling the updating of the maps "very essential."

In Oceanport, officials have noticed some changes in flood zone areas, but nothing dramatic, said police Capt. Mauro Baldanza, emergency management coordinator. Officials are still reviewing the maps, he added.

The digital photography "helps out tremendously so people can see" exactly where their property is compared with flood zones, Baldanza said.

"Unfortunately, most of the borough facilities are within the flood zone area," he said.

Long Branch officials also are reviewing the new flood maps, and "while there are some differences, there are not huge difference as they are in other towns," said Howard H. Woolley Jr., city administrator.

"We're gonna get notices out to homeowners who now are in a flood zone who weren't in the past," Woolley said.

Belmar Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle said it's his understanding that the flood plain area increased around Silver Lake and to a lesser extent by Como Lake under the new maps.

Most of the expanded area corresponds with flood conditions during an extended period of heavy rains in October 2005, according to Pringle.

But "some of it is actually beyond that area and actually . . . doesn't make a lot of sense, based on our experience with that flood," and the borough may appeal on that and other issues, he said.

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The Tropical Pub is now dust

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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