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The city council in Asbury Park may pass a resolution in support of the Ocean Grove boardwalk if another vote takes place, as Councilman Kevin Sanders said today he has reviewed the issue and decided he’s in favor of supporting the city’s southern neighbors.

Earlier this week, the council failed to pass a resolution supporting the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association in its appeal to the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] for funds to repair its hurricane-damaged boardwalk. FEMA has refused to provide the assistance based on the Camp Meeting Association’s [CMA] status as a private organization and the use of the boardwalk for recreational purposes.

Sanders abstained from the vote on Wednesday because he said he did not have enough information about the situation. Now that he’s done research, though, he feels Ocean Grove deserves the city’s support.

“Private homeowners and private businesses receive FEMA money, so why shouldn’t a private boardwalk?” he said.

Council members John M. Loffredo and Susan Henderson voted in favor of the resolution. James Bruno voted no because Ocean Grove continues to lock the gates on the foot bridges between the two towns each night from midnight to 5 a.m., he said.

Although the vote was 2-1 in favor of the resolution, three votes are required for a resolution to pass.

Sanders is not bothered by the gates, he said.

“They’re locking people out from coming to Asbury Park too,” he said. “That doesn’t faze me.”

Mayor Ed Johnson was absent from the Wednesday meeting, but he said that if the Ocean Grove CMA wants Asbury Park’s support, then CMA officials should meet with the city council to discuss the issue.

“This is the first I heard of that request. Apparently, it came through at 4:30 that day,” Johnson said. “No one reached out to us. No one came to us. It just appeared. The way forward on this is that I would like to hear from the Camp Meeting Association. I’m not saying one way or the other how I feel.”

Loffredo said today he was unsure if the council would vote again on the resolution, but that he would like to see that happen.

“I would bring it back when the mayor is there, and that’s all I can really say at this time,” he said.

Before the vote on Wednesday night, Loffredo voiced his objection to the CMA’s decision not to allow a same-sex civil union on the boardwalk in 2007. Nonetheless, he voted in favor of the resolution, saying the boardwalk needs to be repaired.

“I understand the necessity of the boardwalk being open between Ocean Grove and Asbury Park,” he said today.

The two complaints raised by the council — the locked gates on the Ocean Grove side of the Wesley Lake bridges and the civil union prohibition on the boardwalk — have also rankled Johnson.

“I’ve been sharing these concerns with Neptune and Camp Meeting officials for years,” the mayor said.

But Bruno would not waver from his position if the resolution came up again, he said today.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve voted no on something to do with Ocean Grove because of the gates,” he said. “I’ve done it a few times over the last 10 years… We’re supposed to be sister cities and all of that, but we’ve got to lock each other out after midnight? Come on.”

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[Photo at top from Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association website.]

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