News

By Dan Moffett

    Manalapan’s Audubon Causeway bridge project is turning into a remake of the 1968 western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
    The good: Because of some unexpected windfalls into its general fund, the town won’t have to take money out of its cash reserves to pay for this year’s construction bill.
    The bad: Because of bureaucratic delays caused by permitting, disagreements with engineers and hand-wringing over assorted design issues, the project will be pushed back four months to an August start date.
    The ugly: Because construction is unlikely to begin not much before Aug. 18, the work will go on through the next tourist season, meaning more residents will be around to endure more construction inconveniences. Snowbirds and pile drivers are not a good mix. Things could definitely get ugly.
    Many little setbacks have taken a major toll. Mayor Pro Tem Peter Isaac likened the project to an airliner that got stalled at the gate over paperwork, then lost its place in line on the runway. “We’ve lost our takeoff slot,” Isaac said.
    Drawdy Construction of Lake Worth, the contractor for the $1 million project, had to move on to another job because Manalapan’s wasn’t ready to go in April as planned. Drawdy has told town officials it hopes to get started before August if it can complete its other scheduled work early.
    Isaac said the town finally has received a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the last approval needed to get started.
    The money picture for the bridge continues to look better.
    Town Manager Linda Stumpf said she expected to take about $163,000 from reserves to pay for construction this year, but won’t have to because of a construction boom that has brought in unexpected revenues from fees, and also because of a favorable settlement to a long-running court case.
    Stumpf said the town collected about $860,000 in building permit fees.
    “That is a huge number for us,” she said. “They’re building like crazy.”
    Also, the town took in $232,000 in accumulated code fines from Louis and Wendy Navellier, resolving a 10-year legal dispute over a pool cabana that eventually went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Because most of the town’s legal expenses were covered by insurance, a substantial portion of that money can go toward the bridge project.
    “Not a penny from reserves will go for the bridge this year,” Stumpf said.
    During a June 22 budget workshop, Stumpf said she expects the town’s tax rate to stay at last year’s level, $3.03 per $1,000 of taxable value. Because of a 7.7 percent increase in property values, however, the rollback rate that would keep net taxes level is $2.86 per $1,000.
    Mayor David Cheifetz said the commission hopes that a year from now, after the bridge is built, the town will be able to reduce the tax rate and come closer to the rollback number.
    In other business, homeowners on Point Manalapan overwhelmingly rejected a plan to install natural gas service to their community, voting 75-35 against the idea.
    The ballots, which had been mailed to the 144 property owners on the Point and kept upon their return in the custody of Town Attorney Keith Davis during the 60-day voting period, were opened at a special public meeting on June 23. At least 60 percent of the respondents had to say yes for the proposal to go forward.