Sea Bright Bridge may get reprieve Advocates say DEP decision will be put off; agency mum BY LIZ SHEEHAN Correspondent The Sea Bright-Highlands Bridge A Sea Bright borough councilwoman said Tuesday that the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would postpone making a decision on whether to approve the application from the N.J. Department of Transportation (DOT) to replace the 75-year-old bridge. The borough councils of Sea Bright and Highlands have both passed resolutions opposing demolition of the existing drawbridge, which connects the two towns, and construction of a new fixed bridge. This week both towns hired New York attorney Janine Bauer as a consultant to work with them in their effort to fight the DOT plan. Sea Bright Councilwoman Maria Fernandes said Tuesday that she and Councilman Chris Kelly, Borough Attorney Scott Arnette, Highlands Councilwoman Nancy Thomas and Bauer met with DEP Deputy Commissioner Adam Zellner on Monday to discuss the bridge and were told that a decision on the application would be postponed for 60 to 120 days to give the opportunity for additional information to be obtained on the proposal. Fernandes said the group was told the borough would get a letter from the commissioner by the end of the week confirming the results of the meeting. Thomas, in an e-mail message, said the DEP would not approve the application now and was requesting "more facts" from the DOT. The resolution opposing the replacement bridge passed by Sea Bright said that "the information regarding the need for destruction of the Highlands to Sea Bright Drawbridge that was provided to the public by the state Department of Transportation has been called into question and is reportedly different from the information provided to the government." Darlene Yuhaz, spokeswoman for the DEP, said Tuesday she had no information that would confirm that the decision on the application would be postponed. Previously, she had said the commissioner's decision would be issued by the end of the month. "We were thrilled," Fernandes said about a postponement. "We were walking on air." She said it would give the two boroughs time to fight the bridge replacement. DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson has to decide if the DEP will accept the recommendation made by an advisory group to her agency, the NJ Historic Sites Commission, that the DOT's application to replace the drawbridge be denied. A resolution of the historic sites commission said the fixed bridge proposed by the DOT as a replacement for the existing bridge would adversely affect the views of and from the Twin Lights, a National Historic Landmark. The DOT's application for the new bridge, the resolution said, "failed to adequately demonstrate that rehabilitation of the existing bridge would not be prudent and feasible, thereby avoiding adverse effect to the Twin Lights." Dan Stessel, a DOT spokesman, said earlier this month that the existing bridge was "structurally and functionally obsolete" and might soon be subject to weight restrictions. He said the bridge had "frequent mechanical failures" and had been closed six days since 2002, with one closing lasting for hours, causing a four-hour delay on a hot summer day. Stessel said repairing the bridge would cost $50 million and might need to be done again in 10 years. The replacement cost now would total $120 million, he said. Thomas, in her e-mail message, said the U.S. Coast Guard will now have the chance to approve or deny the permit for the bridge project. She urged bridge advocates to write to the Coast Guard and ask the agency to take another look at the alternatives to demolishing the existing bridge and to deny the necessary permits. She said Highlands and Sea Bright have requested a meeting with the Coast Guard but have not heard back yet. Opponents of the bridge replacement project said that its added height when it is raised from 35 to 65 feet will cause safety problems, with steeper slopes that could ice up in cold weather and be slippery in damp conditions, which are common near the ocean and river. The bridge advocates cite the historic sites commission resolution which states that "accidents on or near the bridge are well below the state average for similar crossings." Richard Wells, superintendent of the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, supports construction of the new bridge, which would link Sandy Hook to southbound motorists. Wells said he was convinced the bridge "was in the best interest of the public."