Proceeds from MTV Telethon to Fund Seaside's Seawall
The borough is hoping to award a bid for seawall construction at its next council meeting.
Perhaps they'll call it the Snooki Seawall.
Seaside Heights is moving forward with its plan to construct a seawall the entire length of its boardwalk and is hoping to fund the entire project with money raised by MTV's Restore the Shore telethon, according to borough Mayor Bill Akers.
Though a bid has not yet been awarded for construction - Akers said the borough would like to award a bid as soon as its next council meeting - it's estimated the seawall would cost about $1 million, the same amount promised to the Hurricane Sandy-battered borough by MTV.
The money was raised during a November telethon featuring the "stars" of several MTV reality shows, most notably the crew from "Jersey Shore."
Beloved by orange-toned grenades and gorillas alike, but criticized as an unfair representation of New Jersey and its residents, the show was filmed in Seaside Heights and made household names of people like Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi.
And now it's helping rebuild the resort town.
Reconstruction of Seaside's boardwalk recently began following a $3.6 million bid award to Millstone-based Sidd and Associates in January. Crews are currently installing more than 1,500 25-foot long wooden pilings into the beach, which will be used as support for the new boardwalk. Rebuilding the boardwalk area is a two-phase project consisting of boardwalk reconstruction, as well as building repairs and infrastructure improvement, like the construction of a seawall.
In all, the restoration project is expected to cost about $8 million.
The concrete seawall would be installed along the beach and would rise to the level of the boardwalk, Akers said. Visitors walking along the boards would be unable to see it, though it would be visible to beach goers.
Though Gov. Chris Christie initially demanded that shore communities construct dunes to protect themselves from future storms like Sandy, Akers said in recent conversations he's softened a bit on his stance, allowing for alternative protective measures, like seawalls, where appropriate.
"He realizes every community is going to be different," Akers said. "The main thing he wants is protection. In some communities he thinks it makes a great deal of sense (to install dunes), in others he understands it might not.
"We have to protect what we're rebuilding while also preserving a resort feel. That's what we are; that's how we pay the bills."
Specifics about the type of seawall Seaside will look to construct are not currently known pending further engineering review. The borough still needs to determine how deep into the beach the seawall should be placed and what design and building material is appropriate to mitigate potential beach erosion that could occur during ocean surges.
Building sand dunes and potentially obstructing views of the ocean just wasn't a possibility for a town that relies heavily on tourism for its economic survival.
Akers is hopeful that the complete boardwalk reconstruction, including building of the seawall, will be completed by May 10. That's the plan now, he said, and the borough is progressing accordingly.
There's also a potential added benefit to having a seawall instead of dunes, according to Akers. Though those walking on the boardwalk won't be able to see the wall, the thousands of tourists who flock to Seaside's beaches during the summer will have a great view.
Why not fill it with ads, Akers asked.
Scott Pecchia
7:16 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Concrete Seawalls have proven not to be effective Seaside Heights should take a short walk down to Midway Beach and see how to build a sand dune the right way!
http://www.nj.com/ledgerlive/index.ssf/2013/02/ledger_live_video_rebuilding_n.html
JD
11:59 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
How do they get to the beach when the dune is 30ft high and 50ft deep??
A wall will work but they need jetty's to keep the sand inplace and the beach deep.
lacey voter
1:38 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Unfortunatly the proven problem with jettys is one side accumulates sand and the other side loses it
JD
3:22 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
lacey...
1 jetty isn't going to do a thing... you need a series of jetties that extend 50-100yds from low tide.
Martin
7:35 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
The best thing Snooki & Co. ever did for the Shore -- but it won't be enough to save the town.
foggyworld
10:24 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Snooki just may be the ideal write in candidate for this next election. At least she cares about the people who have been so damaged along with their homes at the NJ Shore.
Rob Petyo
7:44 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Thank you, MTV.
I hope that you come back and do a reunion show when the boardwalk is done and lives get back to normal at the Jersey Shore...whatever normal was or may soon be!
Minden Yo
7:58 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Hope it works better than the one in Sea Bright. Hasn't done a bit of good there.
wookfish
8:31 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
yep Minden Yo, 95% of Sea Brights homes beyond hope great job the wall did...maybe if they had flood gates....
A Resident
8:50 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
2 things are needed......wide beaches and sea walls. Either one alone will lead to failure.
Wallace C Smith Jr.
9:05 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Drove 35 from IBSP to Point Beach. Ortley & Mantoloking are still disaster zones! Homes destroyed and all over the place. Check out my site www.aerialpictures.org for aerial Sandy picts and lots of "Before Sandy" shots!
SB Girl
9:06 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
If you don't have dunes and at least 100 feet of beach in FRONT of the seawall, it will do ABSOLUTELY no good!! Probably will do more damage than anything else. Ask Dr. Miller of Stevens University before you assume this will work...he did a great presentation recently explaining the various ways of building protection...
SuzieN
9:35 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
The dunes in Seaside Park were tall and wide, and saved this town for sure.
VoiceofReason
10:21 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
It's nice to see where part of all the money that was raised after Sandy is going. Where is the money from the Bruce Springsteen concert? Where is the money that other people have donated. It's a little disheartening to NOT hear of it or see it being applied anywhere. I'm glad the MTV money is going directly to SSH. And again, nice to hear that it's actually being used for what it was intended for. :)
Bert54
10:54 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
people forget that a "barrier island" is nothing more than a well-established sandbar that exists, in broad terms, where eastbound freshwater meets westbound salt water. what are you expecting? the area around the Mantoloking Bridge is a perfect example of the fragile nature of this "land"s existence. you wouldn't build on a swamp, why then, on a sandbar?
Lou Cando
11:47 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Its good to see MTV pitching in I hope the sea wall works I challange the Idea of not building dunes... yes the obstruct the view but most people on the board walk are checkin out the scene... the towns with the least damage all had good dune structure
foggyworld
10:24 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
And houses on pilings were way ahead of the game in most cases.
JMAR
12:16 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
snookie seawall? who writes this dumb s*it?
Bert54
12:52 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
"wop wall" wouldn't be PC
Linda
12:37 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Why isn't the money going to homeowners
VoiceofReason
11:31 am on Friday, February 22, 2013
Because they homeowners have insurance and this specific fund raiser was for the boardwalk. If you think you're owed something from funds raised, think again. You'll get FEMA and Insurance.
foggyworld
10:24 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Voice of Reason: you have been seriously mislead if you think the homeowners have been receiving fema funds. Fema just sent money to government levels from State, county down to town to cover public access clean up. Not one penny was given to homeowners. Fema did, however, pass out SBA (?) LOAN forms which most people can't afford to take on in addition to their existing mortgages and soon to be very increased property taxes and flood insurance. And I don't know a soul who has received a check yet from an insurance company. Instead of having to pay up in 30 days, that was waived for an indefinite period because they say they can't cope with all of their customers in need.
Thomas A. Mathis
12:47 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Some of us laugh at the honky tonk atmosphere of Seaside Heights but they sure do have their recovery working faster than their neighbor to the North. Maybe it is the small size or lower building codes. In any event it looks like they will be open for the Summer of 2013.
cam
1:45 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
A seawall will turn into a graffiti display.
foggyworld
10:24 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Belmar has done that nicely since the storm hit.
Pat S.
3:42 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Only Seaside would think to use the wall for ads. As if there isn't enough tackiness already. No chance this town will ever return to being family-friendly; just hungry for $ however it can be gotten.
Debbie Bury
5:30 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
What happen to all the money from BRUCE'S money from the concert and DVD sales who did that go too
Judy
11:08 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Wall? Perfect canvas for grafitti.... Advertisers on the wall will want their money back.
W.L. Ehrhardt
11:08 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Stop the dumb chatter and let's get together on this. There are two meetings this weekend, one in Brick and another in Toms River. BE THERE ! ! Read some of thew comments on the Toms River Patch. GET TOGETHER ! !
mike sim
11:08 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
MTV has guilt trip that's why they giving money to Seaside Heights
VoiceofReason
11:31 am on Friday, February 22, 2013
No. MTV wants to give back. And so far, they are the only one actually showing up with the money.
Charlie
5:13 am on Saturday, February 23, 2013
Sure they are!!!
foggyworld
10:24 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
And I hope they will return this Spring and Summer and do more fund raising for us whether it's for sea walls or homes in desperate need.