LAKEHURST – Resident Bruce Margeson attends most Borough Council meetings and local events in the community and he has been expressing his concerns that birds have taken over Horicon Lake.
“There are too many birds down there,” he said during a recent council meeting. “You’ve got to do something about those birds. This is Lakehurst; the lake is the center of our town. We will be coming up on swimming season. We have all our military services there. It’s not looking very good.”
He also questioned the placement of lifeguards at the lake. “We used to have a full beach.”
It was noted that lifeguard placement was limited to a specific area of the lake based on regulations concerning the area they patrol.
Councilman Robert McCarthy who serves as liaison to the lake said, “we do have one lifeguard but we need to hire another one.”
“There is no reason we got to share the beach with those birds,” Margeson said. “We don’t allow dogs to do their business on the beach yet the birds are there and the slime from them is.”
“We’ve tried lights but the residents said it was keeping them up at night,” Mayor Harry Robbins added. He joked that the only thing that might work is, “duck season.”
Margeson stressed, “I’d like to see the lake area spruced up.”
In other meeting news, the governing body made a professional services agreement for engineering services for a Clean Water application and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Watershed Improvement Plan.
Councilwoman Patricia Hodges noted a recent meeting with the Borough’s Department of Public Works and that paving work on Rose Street is planned with some work also being done on Willow Street. She also noted discussions on fees for performance bonds for road openings.
“Right now, our road opening permit fees are $350. Anywhere else it is $1,000,” the mayor said.
Councilman Brian DiMeo noted the success of the recent Youth & Recreation Committee sponsored Egg Hunt that featured the Easter Bunny who was delivered to the site via a Lakehurst Fire truck and prize filled eggs. “We had a good turnout and it went very well.”
