Manalapan’s beach committee of three sitting town commissioners disbanded at the commission’s May 20 meeting.
Town Manager Eric Marmer said it was determined the committee was duplicative and matters involving the beach can be handled by the full commission.
“We have to come back and report that stuff to the commission anyway,” Marmer said. “So we’re doing double the work for no reason.”
The committee certainly made news as it explored whether Palm Beach County’s sand transfer plant at the Boynton Inlet was siphoning beach away from Manalapan. It also explored best practices to combat coastal erosion.
The committee appointed Dr. Peter Bonutti — spouse of Vice Mayor Simone Bonutti — to be a liaison among the town, the county and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Bonutti also resigned from his volunteer position at the May 20 meeting, saying he felt he could be more impactful as a citizen.
Recently, Peter Bonutti has raised alarms of how beach rakers were endangering turtle nests.
The main result of the beach committee was Marmer’s taking the initiative to hire the same company tapped by Highland Beach — where he previously worked — to do a study on what could be done in Manalapan to replenish the beach.
An obstacle for the town is that Manalapan has no public access to the beach, meaning it cannot obtain grants like other municipalities to replenish sand.
— John Pacenti
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