How many times do you need dialog with TR? How many times did they say Easements are manditory? How many times (storms) will you wash away and boo hoo and look for handouts?

Your a PRIVATE beach, Bust the chops of your homeowners association. We're sick and tired of hearing about poor Ortley Beach. Either sign the easements or DROWN!!!!

Drown??? Nice..

SIGN THE EASEMENTS!!!!!

The Army Corps of Engineers is not going start a project that will not be comprehensive. The dunes they are planning need to be 22-23 ft over a base of 125 ft and that is in addition to the beach in front of the dunes. All the homeowners did was push some sand up, in no way are your "dunes" adequate.
About the best you can hope is that we don't get another major storm for a year or two, and I'm not talking about a so called 100 year storm.

Well said, Kathy and Joan. The tragedy here is the true victims of this stand-off are the children of Ortley Beach who have been yanked from their PRIMARY homes & schools. How dare beachfront home owners and TR officials be allowed to further inflict psychological trauma on the children of Ortley Beach. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. My children want to go home & I want to rebuild but not until this foolishness is settled. It’s nearly March…Settle it now! And Mr. Capo it’s not about who can build a bigger sand castle, read the article, it’s about scientific facts & climate change.

FEMA should use eminent domain to get easements, because dunes would protect my mainland house from flooding again. That's more important than the ocean view of an elite few.

Adequate dunes (maybe over a solid seawall) would protect everyone on the island, AND the back bays AND the adjacent mainland, where 3-4 feet of salt water caused million$ in damage.

Dunes are cheaper than raising 15,000 homes @ $50,000 to $150,000 each or paying up to $30,000 PER YEAR for insurance premiums. FEMA, get your priorities straight! Facebook.com/StopFemaNow

Help save the Shore from mass abandonment. Meeting 3-4 PM this SATURDAY Feb. 23rd, at 708 Fischer Blvd. (Belly Busters Restaurant), Toms River. All towns must be represented in this grassroots uprising. Bring a friend.

I agree with Martin. PLEASE sign the easements and we all can move forward from this terrible disaster.

Ortleymom and all the others displaced residents of the shore need to get back in their homes. Let's all work together and get this done ASAP!

Ortley Beach and much of the barrier island is DEVASTATED, and it is amazing how many people are heartless and make derogatory comments about things they don't fully understand. There is a huge misconception of who actually have houses on the barrier island. A lot of them have had their homes passed through (several) generations and are just getting by paying the taxes. There are also many hard working, blue collar residents who reside on the barrier island FULL-TIME, that have had their lives turned upside down. I don't disagree that there are those who have $$$ and don't want their view ruined, however, I know more residents who WANT the dunes. What the residents don't want are the obligations that go along with the signing of easements. This includes providing parking, lifeguards, insurance, bathrooms, maintaining the beach, etc. - all done at the homeowners association expense. This is something many cannot afford, especially since Sandy. For those who have only seen pictures and not been on the island, it is 1000 times worse in person. To be allowed one hour in your home, two weeks after Sandy, with one suitcase, after being police escorted in by bus is something I don't wish on anyone. So for those who make misinformed comments - realize you are doing so without knowing all the facts and it is hurtful to those of us who just want to return home.

We did more than push some sand. We had bulldozers and excavators, many truckloads of sand, hundreds of feet of dune fencing, hundreds of Christmas trees, Americorp volunteers, and weeks of work. Our dunes are structurally far superior to the mounds of sand dumped by Toms River. We had supervision from Midway Beach, whose dunes protected their private community. So don't speak about something you haven't actually seen.

BKS
Sorry you can't return and hope you will be able to soon. But your argument about guards, etc. doesn't really make much sense. As the major expense of maintaining the dunes will be taken off your hands, and thus protect your homes, you are much better off giving the easement. Whether or not you want to have guards and bathrooms can be addressed by a badge system, just as other beaches do. It's not like there are thousands of parking spaces that will have hordes of beach goers flocking to what in essence will still be mostly private beaches.

Based on some of the things I hear and see coming out of Toms River, seems to me like Rittaco still has some influence. LOL

Amazing. You people are worried about boardwalks and public toilets. There are families on the mainland whose year-round houses were damaged by the storm surge because of the lack of dunes on the island. Many of those people, whose houses never flooded at all, now have to raise their houses in accordance with the FEMA regulations and can't afford it. All because you don't want boardwalks and public toilets.

Maybe Toms River and the State of New Jersey should go to court to dissolve all these homeowner's associations along the oceanfront in the interest of the safety and well-being of all the residents of Toms River, and not just a select few. Better yet, let the government declare eminent domain, buy out each and every homeowner on the oceanfront, raze these little "associations" and let Mother Nature take back what's rightfully hers.

Johnjcpa admittedly we didnt shop for a better premium. I was just going on what our current carrier said. And in the short timeframe that Toms River gave us to make a decision (contacted us on Tues before Thanksgiving demanding an answer by following Monday) we didnt have time to even think straight. A better deal may have been out there. Now the point is moot for the near term since we built the dunes. But ya never know .

Did it ever occur to anyone who wants to blame private homeowner's associations that perhaps you should look at the real reason so many people lost so much? Toms River did not build adequate dunes or maintain even the insufficient ones that they put on the public beach. Besides that, they were made aware that the openings, especially the major one at the end of Harding Ave, were a disaster waiting to happen. And how about the Surf Club- no dunes were there either. The areas surrounding these breaches were among the worst hit. Maybe you should focus on the biggest offender, Toms River, who even now put back inferior dunes because that is all FEMA would reimburse them for. With the revenue that the public beach earns for the town, they could have at least tried to construct something stronger.
.

Kathy, as I read your letter the forecast for the midwest to New England wallop is being broadcast. This is the new normal. As your letter states - We need the dunes.

TR is being run like a small town by complete nitwits. They honestly don't care about Ortley, neither does the governor - he went to seaside & lavallette...

I attended the Senate Hearing in Toms River last week and a half and It was very clear from the Colonel who represented the Army Corp. He said unless they have unanimous agreements throughout the entire beach allowing for the easements and the issue of public and private beaches not be contested NO replenishment will take place. With that said he also spoke of having to re-conduct studies replacing the ones in place due to the Sandy destruction which will take a minimum of 2 years. In reality the replenishment's will not be started in the area for at least another 3 years. I almost fell from my chair when I heard this. For anyone not believing me I would assume the minutes from this meeting have to be recorded somewhere. Sadly the Senate seemed as astonished as most of the people in the audience. Also speaking at the hearing were Professors of Rutgers (Environmentalists), Stockton (Dune specialists) The Township attorney. I left thinking that the reality of the Toms River area and our beaches are in for a rude awakening due to poor communication, environmental issues, and YES litigation. At some point common sense has to prevail........keeping fingers crossed and one eye open.

And that's assuming that the government will fund the project which it hasn't in a number of years. So nothing is a definite.

I have said it before and I will say it again, it is not the owners' responsibility to protect our shores, it is the responsibility of the United States of America to protect our shores. Although I have much regard for our governor, it is time he stops talking and starts taking action. Take the private beaches away from the private beach owners and protect our barrier island. The owners cannot afford to pay for raising homes and that isn't going to solve the problem anyway. It is amazing how the US always has money to help other countries, but the US can't help and protect us and where are those countries now, now that we could use some help. Thank you to all the hundreds/thousands of volunteers that have given their time and effort, but we need the government to give us some support and help, REBUILD OUR DUNES - NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

This is insane...NJ and Gov Christi should take over ALL 195 miles of what should be PUBLIC BEACH and let's stop this private beach discussion. For those private beach clubs with their noses in the air..not to worry since you have parking regulations which make it impossible for anyone other than yourselves to park anywhere near a beach anyway.
GOV CHRISTY....NO MORE DEBATE...JUST CALL ALL BEACHES PUBLIC PROPERTY AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT TO KEEP OUR BARRIER ISLANDs.

The Army Corp of Engineers, Toms River and the Governors office already made it quite clear that EASEMENTS are a nessessity. Why should the mainland flood again because of the selfish people on the barrier island ?

I suggest EMINENT DOMAIN and a BF Bulldozier. Why should the rest of the town suffer because of a few elistists and the selfish?

I have written at lest four blogs that were posted on the Patch, addressing this issue. I have addressed many of the same topics, you mentioned in your letter. The more we inform the public the better the chances of getting the easements signed and the Dunes built. I would like to personally thank the Ortley Beach Voters & Taxs payers Association for joining the fight. The Dune issue, the most important issue on the table right now we all have to get more involved. I would like to offer what ever help I can to your Association. Thanks again for getting involved- TomsBoy If you want to read my posted Blogs you can search them out on the Patch. I feel you my find them helpful.