Save Barnegat Bay to Brick: See you in court
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer

PATRICIA A. MILLER A lone seagull perches like a sentry on a dock at a deserted Traders Cove Marina off Mantoloking Road on Sunday.

BRICK TOWNSHIP - Save Barnegat Bay has filed suit against the township over the planned redevelopment of Traders Cove Marina.

Copies of the lawsuit were not available to the Bulletin by press time on Monday night.

Mayor Stephen C.Acropolis said he was not surprised the lawsuit was filed.

"We've tried to work withWillie deCamp [SBB president] and wanted input as to what we are doing at Traders Cove,"Acropolis said. "My first responsibility is to the taxpayers of Brick Township, not somebody from Mantoloking, Bay Head or Point Pleasant."

The rift between the nonprofit environmental group and township officials has been growing wider over the past year.

"We know we have done everything we are supposed to do for a redevelopment plan," the mayor said. "It's [the lawsuit] going to cost the taxpayers of Brick Township money and it's really unfortunate."

Michelle Donato, Save Barnegat Bay's attorney, came to the microphone at the Nov. 27 Township Council meeting and said it was with a "considerable amount of chagrin" that the group opposed the plan.

She also asked council members not to adopt the redevelopment plan that evening. But the council voted 6-0 in favor of the plan.

Save Barnegat Bay objects to the section of the plan that allows up to 193 boat slips to be built, instead of the existing 139 slips. The group also opposes having a private redeveloper, not the township, run the marina, group officials have said.

Acropolis expects the township to sign a $4 million agreement with a redeveloper, who has pledged to rebuild the marina and rent out boat slips.

"We have a great deal," he said. "It's not going to be the Bay Head or the Mantoloking Yacht Club. The redeveloper is going to redo the marina with walkways, access for people to crab and fish and walk along the docks. He's also going to build us a park."

But that will only happen if the redeveloper gets 180 slips, Acropolis said.

Otherwise, the township would have to pay for many of the upgrades, he said.

"This is not about an environmental problem," the mayor said. "This is about Willie deCamp, the size of the slips and the number of boat slips."

Themarina will be privately owned, but the slips will be available to the public, Acropolis said.'

"I don't believe the government should be getting bigger and running all types of business operations," he said.

The township's redevelopment attorney assured him the lawsuit is "totally without merit," Acropolis said.

"I hope it does not postpone anything," he said. "We are moving full steam ahead with the redevelopment. Once we sign the agreement, the redeveloper starts paying us."