Walter Bray opened the comments-from-residents session observing he'd rather have more openness from Council at meetings than reading of its decisions in the newspapers, referring to settling the Surf Rider lawsuit. . . .Carol Leone is incensed by surfers who disrobe in the street, sit on the dunes, challenge residents, surf unleashed, and make Lyman Street look like a gypsy encampment. That area is a disaster on weekends and most afternoons. Mayor Roman concurred and strongly
suggested residents call the police when they see any infractions of law.

Mayor Roman called the meeting to order with all but Councilwoman Colie present.

The Police Department responded to 183 details during April which included 59 motor vehicle summonses, 2 car accidents, 3 fire calls and 21 false alarms. Beach patrol people are being trained, the Bronco is back in service and the bicycle patrol will be in place this summer.

Chief Popaca reported the Fire Company responded to eleven fire calls and had three training drills and a business meeting in April. Two new members graduated from fire school and the paging system installation is on schedule to eliminate the siren by early June.

Thirteen construction permits were issued in April for two new buildings, ten alterations and one addition.

CFO Crelin has been able to pay bills for beach emergency work from accounts already established for Beach and Dune Maintenance. He urges residents to use the web site--www.mantoloking.org--and e-mail him with comments, pro and/or con, whatever!

Bills totaling $732,875 were paid; $545,87 for second quarter county tax and $52,648 for last quarter Board of Education taxes. The rest were routine.

A resolution to amend the 1998 capital budget to provide for the purchase of fire apparatus was passed. And Ordinance #393 providing for the purchase of said ladder truck was passed and adopted.

The following resolutions were passed:

a) Approval of NJDOT's plans for improvement to Hwy 35 in Mantoloking which will include shoulder to shoulder enhancement, new curbing, improved street lighting, sidewalks, asphalt road bed six inches higher, to be started after Labor Day, 2000, and will take about two years to complete. There will be a public hearing on this sometime
during the summer'

b) Approval of NJDOT's extension on grant award for the Princeton and Bay Avenues paving project

c) Approval to provide a second signer for payroll checks by any two of the following: Borough Clerk, Deputy Borough Clerk and Chief Financial Officer

d) Approval for the renewal of the Ocean County Construction Inspection Dept. All Code Agreement

e) Approval for hiring seasonal employment of police patrol and beach personnel

f) Approval for the resignation of Tax Assessor, James Anderson who is retiring

g) To proclaim the week of May 18th through 24th as Mantoloking Volunteer Week.

And the following discussions took place:

1) The maintenance of all houses and lots are up to the homeowners who could very well be cited if conditions of and on their property become unsightly. And the planning board will look into placing security signs, not to exceed one square foot, on properties.

2) The sense of Council feels Mantoloking Borough cannot be held liable for beach and water-related accidents. The courts are in the process of this ruling.

3) Council will write to Pt Pleasant Hospital to hold a hearing locally on closing its emergency facilities.

The Public Safety committee requests dog walkers to PICK UP AFTER THE DOG. If you see anyone who lets his/her dog do its thing and not cleanup, please call the POLICE. Maybe sometime that person or persons might be caught if residents are diligent. It's not usually residents who are disregarding the law.

Recent bad weather caused more dune damage and sand was lost, again. Council encourages owners to install dune fencing so sand will be captured and stay on the dunes. Call your contractor, or do it yourself, but it must be done as soon as possible, and the next dune inspection is June 15th. The Princeton Avenue sandbag installation
should be completed by the end of May, and with luck it will diminish the constant erosion there.

From the Coastal Advocate, Inc., finally, some good news! After four years of fighting the President's policy of eliminating shore protection funding, there are signs of a softening of the Administration's position. A group from coastal states around the country, assembled by the Office of Management and Budget, met on March 16th and educated OMB
officials on the necessity of continuing federal funding for beaches. OMB may have listened and may be willing to approve an annual appropriation of $100-150 million for shore protection projects. And the President is finally recognizing that the shore/beach communities provide $$$$ from tourism, that tourism is the biggest business in the
nation and rakes in billions of dollars.

Councilman Husted will be attending the 1998 National Coastal Summit conference, "Toward Sustainable Coastal Communities", sponsored by the American Coastal Coalition on June 24-26 in Washington. This will bring together local government officials, business people and property owners from coastal communities in the United States

The Summit will develop the fundamental components of a New National Coastal Policy that will benefit both the economy and environment of coastal America. Some of the top leaders of Congress as well as the federal agencies whose policies affect coastal communities will speak.

FEMA is considering changing the zone designation of all property southof Lyman and east of Route 35 from "A" to "V" which would drastically affect building standards: stilts anyone.

Please remember we, Mantoloking, pay a premium for back-door garbage pick-up. Garden debris should be bagged and place at the curb but no cans at the curb. Cans cause all kinds of problems when empty if not removed. It may happen the garbage people will remove the can as well as the contents if left at the curb.

Summer is almost here. Beach badges will be on sale at Borough Hall June 10th. They are $6.00 per badge for the season.

Please do not feed the geese. Please call the police if you see infractions of law pertaining to dogs and disrobing on or adjacent to the beach.

This meeting was adjourned at 9:19 pm. The next regular Council Meeting will be held on Monday, June 15th at 8:00 pm.