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The owners of Mogo, the Korean taco pop-up on the Asbury Park boardwalk, must find a private contractor to transport firewood onto the beach and perform cleanup if they are to host the weekly Friday night bonfires.

Boardwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette had sponsored the event in past years, but declined to do so this season.

Three weeks ago, the Sun reported Mogo co-owners Sam Chung and Jay Devino had secured a city permit to host the event every Friday until the end of September. However, the two lacked the manpower necessary to transport the firewood to the beach and clean up the debris after the event. A person or company who performs the work must be properly licensed and insured.

Tom Gilmour, city special events coordinator, arranged a meeting between the Department of Public Works, the fire marshall and the special events committee to help work out logistical details of continuing the bonfires under Mogo’s sponsorship. Due to the cost, they could not provide city assistance, according to Gilmour.

“The city is not in a position to sponsor the event due to financial reasons,” Gilmour said.

Devino and Chung were not present at the meeting.

“They discussed the potential of helping out with the logistics of sponsorship with Mogo,” Chung said. “The main logistical detail is a vehicle that will traverse both land and sand to transport the wood. The city has one, but because the bonfire would run between 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. or midnight it would require a DPW worker to work odd hours, which is overtime for them.”

The city is still in support of the event, but can’t provide Devino and Chung with access to a city-owned vehicle due to an issue of liability, Chung said.

“We requested the vehicle and they stipulated they would need their own staff to operate it, and it ends up being reasonably expensive considering the overtime and off-peak hours,” he said.

Chung and Devino still have plans to host the weekly Friday event, but will seek other sponsors to help pay for the private contractor to handle the firewood and post-event cleanup.

“I don’t think there is one weekend I am not approached by someone asking about the bonfires,” he said.

[Photo at top: People gather on the beach at a previous year’s bonfire. Photo by Caroline Novack.]

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