Upper Twonship Committee also hears about intoxicated juveniles at state park
By BILL BARLOW /Special to the Sentinel
STRATHMERE — Alcohol consumption on the beaches in the north end of the oceanfront section of Upper Township has become an issue, Township Administrator Scott Morgan reported to Township Committee on Monday.
In some cases, the intoxication has been serious enough to require an ambulance, he said. Morgan said this has come up over recent weekends as the weather warms.
As part of his presentation to the governing body at the June 22 meeting, Morgan said he had heard reports from Strathmere residents, as well as from the chief of the Strathmere Volunteer Fire Company and the township EMS squad.
“There’s been an increased number of alcohol-related emergency calls in the area of (Corson’s Inlet State Park). Unfortunately, a lot of these are juveniles who are extremely intoxicated,” Morgan said.
Drinking on the beach is nothing new, but Morgan said it has become more flagrant over recent weekends, especially in the state park area.
Corson’s Inlet State Park encompasses a large area at the south end of Ocean City, where there are paths through the dunes and a boat ramp, and the northern tip of the barrier island shared by Sea Isle City and Strathmere, on either side of Corson’s Inlet.
The area is popular with boaters, with small boats landing on sandbars and lining beaches on either side of the wide inlet. Anglers and bird enthusiasts use the area throughout the year, and in the summer the beaches can be very crowded.
The beaches on either side are an important nesting area for some bird species, with areas roped off to protect of the least tern, the piping plover and other species.
The area falls under the jurisdiction of the superintendent of Belleplain State Forest on the far side of Upper Township. Morgan said at the meeting that rangers have been informed of the situation.
A call to the Belleplain office was referred to the press office of the Department of Environmental Protection. No one at that office could immediately comment Tuesday morning.
Morgan said he has also discussed the matter with State Police troopers who provide police protection to the township.
While coolers are a common sight on Strathmere beaches, Morgan said no alcoholic beverages are allowed on any beaches in Upper Township, including in the state park area. Within the park, he added, the rule is carry in, carry out, with no regular trash or recycling pickup from that beach.
As part of his report, Morgan said State Police would increase parking enforcement in the Strathmere and Whale Beach areas.
“They are going to be doing this throughout the summer. They have a special detail that’s going to be enforcing parking regulations, and if necessary towing vehicles that are parked illegally,” he said.
Under a county plan aimed at increasing safety, a pedestrian and bike lane was created along the west side of a stretch of Ocean Drive, knowns as Commonwealth Avenue in Strathmere and Landis Avenue in Sea Isle City, where the lane switches to the ocean side of the street.
The idea was to create more room for walkers and bicyclists when traffic on the road is at its peak. Typically, cars lined both sides of the road on summer weekend days, leaving a narrow area along the white line for those walking down to the next walkway over the tall dunes.
Last summer was the first for the new lane arrangement. While it did provide more room, some residents complained about enforcement.
The meeting Monday was the first time that members of Township Committee gathered together in the meeting room at Township Hall since the state of emergency related to the pandemic, although members of the public still attended remotely.
A video feed of the meeting room showed members sitting more than 6 feet apart. Mayor Rich Palombo said the seats in the room had been marked off to show the appropriate distance between individuals when in-person meetings resume. He said the virtual meetings have been an adjustment, but said he is in no hurry to go back to meeting in person until New Jersey’s number of cases drops further.
New Jersey has seen a consistent decline in the number of cases, although the infection rates are spiking in other areas of the country, including Texas and Florida.
As part of his report, Morgan included an update on the virus, stating there have been 714 cases in Cape May County, including 61 deaths. Upper Township has seen three fatalities.
He warned against complacency. Cape May County has fared far better than areas of northern New Jersey. But he said most of the new positive cases in the county over the past week were young adults who had gathered together without precautions. Most were short-term visitors, he said, warning that when the summer population swells, so do the chances of disease.
“COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon,” Morgan said.
Statewide, as of Tuesday morning, there were more than 169,000 confirmed cased of COVID-19, with New Jersey reporting 12,895 deaths.