SOMERS POINT — An unsightly guest has overstayed its welcome in the water next to Somers Point Marina and now is generating complaints.
Last week, Bay Avenue residents Michael and Natalie Bailey told the Sentinel a barge with a crane attached had been sitting there in shallow water for about five weeks, tied up at 824 Bay Ave.
The couple said they and neighbor Terri Szemis have been contacting every agency they could think of — the city, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard and State Police Marine Unit — to try to get the barge moved but have had no success.
Michael Bailey said the DEP told him it has no jurisdiction unless the barge were harming wildlife or damaging the ecosystem, while the Coast Guard said it could do nothing unless it were a hazard to navigation.
“So, we are at a standstill,” Bailey said. “We are all upset. This destroys my view of the bay.”
City Administrator Jason Frost said neither the police department nor code enforcement has jurisdiction on the waterways.
“We have made requests to the property owner and the barge owner to have it moved and it is our understanding that it’s not in operational condition. They are getting a part and working on it to have it moved,” Frost said, noting they made the initial request some time in May.
Bailey said he had spoken with Chris Sabatini, owner of Somers Point Marina, and learned the crane was mechanically inoperable and too tall to fit under the bridge without being lowered.
Two men were on the barge Thursday but too far away for conversation.
“We have made requests through our code enforcement office to have it moved and hopefully they are working toward that,” Frost said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff