Petition gets beach club renovations onto ballot BY LIZ SHEEHAN Correspondent MONMOUTH BEACH — The controversial borough plan to issue bonds to pay for $2.7 million in estimated renovations at the borough beach club’s pavilion will now be placed on a ballot for voter approval. The proposal has been blocked by a protest petition circulated by opponents of the bond issue who questioned the cost of the project and the possible effect it could have on residents’ tax bills, although borough officials had said that the bonds would be paid by raising the fees charged to out-of-town members of the club. The Board of Commissioners approved the bond issue in November and work was expected to begin on the pavilion in the fall. But after the approval, a group of residents launched the petition that will change the town’s plans. Because it was signed by the required number of residents, the matter will now be put up for a vote in which residents will be asked if they would ratify the bond, Borough Attorney Dennis Collins said Monday. Collins said that the law calls for 15 percent of registered voters who voted in the last election in which state Assembly candidates were on the ballot, to sign a protest petition in order for it to qualify. He said the borough clerk had certified that the requisite number of residents who qualified had signed the petition. Now the commissioners will decide at their January and February meetings when the matter will be voted on, he said. Collins said it could be placed on the November ballot during the next election or be voted on in a special election. He said the state sets four or five times a year when special elections can be held. John Sheeran, who presented the petition to the borough, said Monday that he had been asked by a group of residents who had organized it to give it to the commissioners. “I’m just the messenger,” he said. But Sheeran said the vote on the bond was a good idea. “I’m pleased the people of Monmouth Beach will decide” if the commissioners’ proposal for a bond should be passed, he said. The purpose of the petition, he said, is “to allow the people of Monmouth Beach to have a say” on what work would be done at the pavilion. The proposal to spend $2.7 million on the pavilion has met with both approval and opposition in the town. At a public meeting held on the proposal, Commissioner James Cuniff presented a plan that showed the bond costs being paid by doubling the fees now charged to out-of-town members of the popular club, while leaving fees for residents, except for those who have bathhouses, only slightly higher. But some residents said they were concerned that possible beach erosion could cause a drop in membership, leaving taxpayers the burden of the costs. They also questioned the plans and said the renovations were too extensive and costly. Sheeran also said that the past history of the pavilion was that the building was constantly badly damaged by storms and needed major repairs. He said that some residents want to look into making less expensive renovations at the building. Sheeran cited the conversion of the entrance hall of the club to a community room that would use doors he said would cost $66,000 as an example of unnecessary expenses. Those who favor the renovations say that the building is deteriorating and needs extensive repairs that should not be done piecemeal.