LAKEHURST – The Borough needs lifeguards! It also needs to find ways to curb the erosion of Horicon Lake and one possible solution was presented during the last council meeting.
Mayor Harry Robbins noted “the bulkhead around the lake has been getting a lot of erosion over that way and we’ve been talking about native plants that can be put there and would help with the erosion.”
“Andrew Hodges who is our compost expert here did some investigation and has come up with something that might save the borough some money,” the mayor added.
Regarding replenishing the area with sand, the mayor said, “in the area where recent work has been done where it seems to filter, we keep doing it again and again.”
Hodges spoke to the governing body after handing out some literature about the plants. He recommended filling in some of the areas where it is sparse with plants to tighten up the zone in order to “bring it back to life.”
“I recommend we fill in those areas that are specifically for water line areas and will be self-sustaining and will be shore stabilizers,” Hodges said. He noted that there were inexpensive plants available.
In speaking about one particular vendor, Hodges told the officials, “They offer some more obscure things you wouldn’t find at a nursery. They have a lot on their website that is for different areas, ecosystems and wetlands. From what I see they have a very reasonable price.”
He quoted a price of $35 for quarter pound of seeds.
“It is a timely process and it may take a few seasons for you to see the results but I think it would be a worthwhile project for the town,” he said.
“There are guidelines by the state for shoring up the shoreline and there are extensive lists of plant life and guides that give a very technical step by step on how to address an eroding shoreline,” Hodges added.
He advocated some community involvement to help with the process.
“It isn’t enough to rebuild you have to put the bulkhead in to hold it,” Council President Steven Oglesby said. “We also need to put in far better soil than what we have been doing and it has to be maintained at least until it starts to take root and support itself.”
Hodges said that the State Department of Environmental Protection guidelines provide a list of grasses that would serve as a quick fix and would allow for stabilization to assist more long-term methods of stabilization.
Kickball Fundraiser
Residents Amy Lowe and Debby Pease spoke about a fundraising event this fall in the borough. “We are talking Saturday September 23. It is a kickball tournament and it would be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We would be gathering teams to play in a bracket kind of way because we’d have an ultimate winner. We are looking to solicit different business and corporate sponsorships and put on T-shirts and we are looking to have a beer garden.” She also said they would work with the police department and VFW in town.
She added, “we are looking to work with the fire department and first aid to hold a 50/50 and incorporate a food truck event and a vendor market. It would be a full day. People would come out with the ultimate goal of redoing the basketball court down at facilities to help youth and recreation.”
Lowe said, “we know we can put on a good event and we aren’t asking anything of the town other than approval. We will handle the bulk of it. We would try to incorporate people from the town first to be part of the event and participate.”
Councilman Brian DiMeo who heads youth and recreation in the borough noted that “people have come to us about the basketball court which is in very, very rough shape. It is pretty much falling apart so we reached out to seeing what we could do concerning the cost of restoring it and they came back considerably higher than expected.”
“We’ve been itching to do something fun,” Pease, said.
