City to vote on teens' free access to beach Council amends beach fee ordinance; no fee for 17 and under BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - The City Council introduced an ordinance last week that will permit teens age 17 and younger to access city beaches free of charge. Council introduced ordinance 23-07 to amend city beach fees at the May 22 municipal meeting, with two council members voting against the measure. The ordinance, which was first introduced in April, called for teens ages 13 though 17 to pay a fee to access the beach during the summer months. But Councilman Brian Unger proposed extending free beach admission to teens ages 13 though 17, and before the public hearing and adoption, council voted to table the ordinance for further discussion. "I don't believe we should give anything away without due compensation," Councilman David Brown said at the meeting, after rejecting the introduction of the amended ordinance. Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli agreed with Brown and also voted no, saying that extending free admission to teens under the age of 18 would place a burden on taxpayers. In addition to Unger, Councilmen Anthony Giordano and Michael DeStefano voted in favor of introducing the ordinance. "I wanted to give something back," Unger said after voting in its favor. The public hearing and final adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for the June 12 council meeting at City Hall on Broadway at 8 p.m. According to the ordinance, admission to city beaches will be charged for the summer season, which extends from May 26 though Sept. 3. The daily fee will be charged from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and, according to the ordinance, children under 18 years as well as senior citizens over the age of 61 will be admitted onto the beach at no cost. The rate for ages 18 though 61 is set at $5 for a daily pass or $35 for a seasonal beach pass. The amount of money generated by charging teens ages 13 though 17 to access the beach is estimated at $61,000, according to Celli. In response to Celli's and Brown's vote against the measure, resident Kevin Brown of Broadway said he felt $61,000 was a small price to pay for the children of the community. "If we save one kid from joining a gang or picking up a gun, I think $61,000 is worth it," Brown said. At the April 10 council meeting, the original ordinance, which called for all teens to be charged to access the beach, was introduced 3-1, with Unger casting the lone vote against it. Giordano was absent from that meeting. Prior to a public hearing and vote for final adoption, Unger asked that the ordinance be shelved. Unger said in an interview in April that he has witnessed teens and families going to the beach after 4 p.m. in order to avoid the fee. "Now, it is difficult for many middle-class and upper-middle-income people to comprehend that $10 or $20 or $30 is a lot of money for families who struggle each month to make rent or mortgage payments, to buy food, pay for gasoline, car payments, health insurance, clothing, etc.," Unger wrote in a letter to the Atlanticville in April. "However, it is a fact of life that these families, if they have one or two adults and two to three children, a day at the beach is a $60 proposition," he wrote. Seasonal beach passes will be available for purchase at the Long Branch Recreation Office on Bay Avenue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and starting June 16 badges will also be available for purchase at the city's beach office on North Bath Avenue.