Borough officials maintain the language of a 1937 deed requires that the existing bulkhead be maintained. (File photo. Click to enlarge)
By SARAH KLEPNER
Though there’s a dirt-cheap alternative that would never need repairs, Red Bank officials plan to spend nearly $600,000 to replace two decrepit Navesink River bulkheads, including one at the public library.
The first hearing on a $596,000 bond ordinance to cover the costs of the work is scheduled for Wednesday night’s council meeting.
The move has been opposed for two years by environmentalists, who have urged elected officials to instead allow for a natural, “living” shoreline to reestablish itself at the library site, on West Front Street.
“It’s so disappointing,” said Kathleen Gasienica. “You can’t get grants for bulkheads, but there are plenty of grants for a living shoreline,” which relies on the stabilizing effects of plant life to minimize erosion.
Gasienica, board president of the American Littoral Society, and the borough’s Environmental Commission, have been trying since 2009 to convince the council to approve a plan for letting nature manage the shore.
Borough officials, however, have said the bulkhead must be maintained under the terms of the Sigmund Eisner estate’s donation of the property to the borough for use as a public library in 1937.
Failing to keep the bulkhead “in good repair,” in the words of the deed, could prompt a lawsuit that might trigger a handoff of the property to the Harvard Endowment, as per terms of the deed, borough Attorney Dan O’Hern said at a hearing in 2012.
“If someone’s not happy with the fact that a living shoreline is there, there’s nothing stopping them from filing a lawsuit,” he said at the time. And among the potential plaintiffs are homeowners at the adjoining Corinthian Cove luxury condo community, at least one of whom has hinted she would sue the town if her home is damaged by flooding via the borough property.
