From The President

Happy New Year everyone!  After a rough fall season,  weather-wise, Stone Harbor still looked very festive during this Holiday season.  After only a few weeks of brutal cold weather, I’m sure everyone is looking forward to the return of summer! I would like to thank our retiring Trustees for their years of service: Karen Lane, Peter Svanda, Bill Dougherty, Lou Schweickhardt, Alan Kaplan, and especially Larry Kratzer, our past president.  We also welcome new Trustees: Fran Burns, Betty Carusi, Bill Lehr, Jack Leisenring, and Sherry Tomlinson.

As many of you are aware, we have worked very hard to increase the dissemination of information on Borough issues to our membership through e-mail blasts and the website ( www.stoneharbororoa.com).  We are also in the process of completing a new strategic plan.  As part of that process, many of you participated in our membership survey. One of the results of this process is to increase the value of your membership.  Your 2010 ROA membership application/renewal is included in this newsletter.  You will see the membership structure now allows for two names and e-mail addresses per household for one $20.00 membership fee.  This will allow e-mail blasts and polling questions to be sent to two persons in the household, allowing for more participation from our membership. There is also an opportunity on the back of the membership application to nominate, or self-nominate interested members to our Board of Trustees, as well as indicate your interest in helping with some projects throughout the year.  Please take the time to consider these additional opportunities for our membership before you send in your membership application for 2010. 

The ROA Board of Trustees looks forward to seeing you all at the “Welcome Back Weekend” May 1st, and for now a healthy, safe New Year!

Sandy Slabik  

ROA Strategic Direction Survey: We Heard Your Voice

Charlie Tomlinson, Strategic Direction Task Force Chairman

What the Members Said

The ROA’s recent survey has been very successful in providing guidance for assisting the organization’s efforts to map out its new strategic direction. The most consistent message that came through loud and clear in the survey was the need to have the ROA become more of a voice for its members and be an advocate to the mayor and Borough Council. 

Other important messages were the need to improve the content and frequency of information and the desire to poll members more often on town issues. 
A large majority of respondents supported our donations to other non-profit groups in town working to improve and maintain the high quality of the community.  The survey also provides many insights on topics of member’s concerns, such as:  the future of Stone Harbor’s school, the proposed library, tax increases, consolidation with Avalon of some government functions to reduce costs, and the preservation and improvement of our commercial district.

More E-mail Addresses Needed

This survey, conducted electronically using members’ e-mail addresses, was returned by 265 members – a good response.  This method saves considerable costs, and the information received is more easily arrayed to show percentages of responses and the actual narrative responses. While we have many good addresses; 135 messages bounced back due to faulty addresses and about 150 members have given us none. For those of you who did not receive the survey, via email, you can provide your e-mail when you renew your membership. This will be very important as the ROA increases its efforts to send out e-blasts and conduct polls on town issues.

Beach Replenishment

Barbara Hencheck

A partial beach replenishment project, from 98th Street to 111th Street, was completed at the beginning of December.  The original estimate made at the end of the summer called for 245,000 cubic yards of sand to be placed on the beach.  As a result of the storm of November 13th, an additional 28,000 cubic yards were also added.  The total cost of the project was $2,547,750.  The state of New Jersey covered $1,910,813 and the Borough of Stone Harbor was billed for $636,937.  Since a contingency plan in the contract called for 50,000 cubic yards, it is possible that there may be a return of some funds to the Borough.

This project was done in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Protection Division of Coastal Engineering.  Four towns, Strathmere, Sea Isle City, North Wildwood and Stone Harbor shared the mobilization costs of $3,280,000.  This amount was prorated to each municipality depending on the amount of sand being pumped onto the beaches.  It was not built to the template of the Army Corps of Engineers project which was much larger and encompassed the entire beachfront of Stone Harbor.  No dune work was done.

Dr. Stuart Farrell of the Coastal Research Center of Richard Stockton College has been retained by the Borough to monitor our beaches.  That information along with almost daily physical inspections of the beaches will determine whether another beach replenishment project will be needed.  The Borough has filed a claim with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for over $5,000,000 related to the loss of sand, structures and dune fence as a result of the November 13th storm.  If Stone Harbor decides to move forward with another project, it  will definitely work with the neighboring municipalities to again help bring down the costs of mobilization.

Stone Harbor School Board

Jack Leisenring

Recently the school boards of Avalon and Stone Harbor joined in retaining an outside consultant to evaluate based on state criteria, the options or alternatives the boards have to continue to provide quality education in grades Pre-K through 8 on the island.

This proactive action was taken because the student population in both schools has been decreasing and the State Board of Education is continuing closing school districts and consolidating other schools with low enrollment.

The consulting firm developed four alternatives or options for the Avalon and Stone Harbor School Boards to consider:

• Status Quo- no changes, continue to educate students in each town with some common         sharing of services.
• Send and Receive- Stone Harbor School would educate students K-4, and Avalon would educate students Pre-K, 5 -8.
• Single District- single school board for Pre-K to 8 in one building (Avalon)
• Regionalize- join with Middle Township and send students to their schools. 

There is no clear solution to this issue and many advantages and disadvantages for each alternative.

For the past three months the public, teachers, parents and politicians, from both towns, have come together at their respective Board of Education meetings to discuss and debate what is best for Stone Harbor and more importantly, the students.  John Atwood, President of the Stone Harbor Board of Education, recently stated, “The student population in Stone Harbor is decreasing.  We don’t want the state to dictate to us what to do.  We want to be proactive in choosing how we educate our children.  Some people want status quo.  Others want to see some changes.  No one wants to see the school disappear. So, we will be voting on one of these four options in January.  Everyone is welcome to attend and hear the four options.” The next meeting will be January 13, 2010 at 7:00 PM at Stone Harbor Elementary School.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Joe McFadden

One attribute that has always been present in the culture of America is volunteerism.  We, the country that is the envy of the world have always had that “let’s get it done attitude”.  We are successful in part because most citizens are willing to say, “I can help” rather than taking the approach of “let the other fellow do it”.

What is true in the culture of our country is magnified in Stone Harbor.  Volunteers in many excellent organizations are a vital part of the fabric that makes Stone Harbor such an outstanding community.  The volunteers say “let’s get it done”.

A few years back the Marine Corps used the recruiting slogan “a few good men”.  Well your ROA is now looking for a few good people to serve as trustees on our Board of Trustees,  volunteers who will make a difference in an effort to keep Stone Harbor “The Seashore at Its Best”.  Each year your Board nominates five new volunteers to serve as trustees for a three year term.  We are looking for men and women who want to make a difference.

The trustees of the ROA should reflect the makeup and the diversity of the Association’s membership.  Traditionally two-thirds of our members are non-resident property owners.

The trustees meet on the second Saturday morning of each month and they serve on committees that focus on helping the ROA grow in service to our members and our town.

If you are interested in volunteering to serve your fellow citizens, check the box on your membership card and we will be in touch with you to discuss the role of the trustee and answer any questions you might have at this time.

Like the Marines we are looking for a few good men and women who want to make a difference.  And, the best part is that there is no boot camp to go through.  You only need a desire to be active in keeping Stone Harbor “The Seashore at Its Best”.  Check that box today!