---

The final numbers aren’t in yet but by all preliminary accounts the City’s beach season turned out to be another record breaking year, Beach Manager Garrett Giberson Sr said.

“It looks like we exceeded last year’s revenue slightly, which means we had another banner year,” Giberson said. “Our threshold for success is over $2 million in revenue. Last year was one of our better years in a long time and despite the bad weather we have surpassed that threshold.”

Giberson said despite the loss of close 10 beach days due to inclement weather, the preliminary tallies show $2.25 million in revenue.

“When we lose a Saturday or a Sunday, that hurts,” he said. “We had about nine weekend days lost, mostly in July and August. That definitely affected our revenue stream but we still had a robust attendance record.”

The beach season also came and went without any major incidents or rescues, Giberson said.

“I witnessed at least four or five serious rescues and I have to say that our first aid, fire department, police and lifeguards all did a great job,” he said.

Giberson said the beach season will be extended another weekend, weather permitting.

“The weather has been so crazy, so we will make a final decision on Thursday night or Friday morning,” he said.

If the beaches due open, lifeguards will be stationed from 9 a.m to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Rates are $7 for adults; free for children 12 and under, active duty military and their dependents,  and disabled veterans.

Giberson said any further beach days would be dependent on staffing, particularly because many of the City’s lifeguards are educators and students who have returned to school.

Although No Swimming signs are posted while lifeguards are off duty, a safety patrol will remain in place to monitor activities, particularly in light of the high temperatures.

“No one should be swimming if lifeguards are not on duty,” Giberson said.

The Asbury Park beaches saw new initiatives and programs this year, including a no smoking ban, meters at the beach entrances, and through partnership with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation an expansion of their handicapped beach accessibility program, Giberson said.

“We put out more beachmats to get people closer to the water and have the water wheelchairs,” he said. “I’ve seen close to 10 people utilizing the chairs.”  

And lastly, seasonal beach lockers must be cleared out by Oct. 31, Giberson said.

“All in all it was a terrific year,” Giberson said. 

[Photo courtesy of AP Boardwalk]

————————————————————————————————————————-

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---