Manasquan Beach Improvement Association
MBIA Trustees
MBIA Trustees Meeting Minutes
January 10, 2026
TRUSTEES PRESENT: Julie Cocozza, Janice Gaswind, Lisa Haas, Carol Kirkman, Steve Leischner, Bennie O’Grady, John O’Grady, Mary Ryan, Al Sauer, Linda Sims, Tom Sims, Cindy Weaver, Helen Young and Bob Young. Guests Sheila Vidreiro and Art Ryan.
Mary Ryan opened the meeting at 8:30 am.
The minutes of the 11/8/25 meeting were approved via the internet.
Old Business:
•
Thank you for Christmas decorations on the beachfront. Al, Tom, Linda, Steve and Helen assisted with the set-up. The decorations were taken down yesterday. Helen mentioned there were pictures on Facebook taken by Heather Taylor.
Thank you for Christmas decorations on the beachfront. Al, Tom, Linda, Steve and Helen assisted with the set-up. The decorations were taken down yesterday. Helen mentioned there were pictures on Facebook taken by Heather Taylor. •Soft plastic collection notice. Lisa said it was very easy when she dropped her soft plastic off. We are notified by email and it is generally the 3rd Saturday of the month.
Soft plastic collection notice. Lisa said it was very easy when she dropped her soft plastic off. We are notified by email and it is generally the 3rd Saturday of the month.•Carlson’s Corner Social. Mary has not followed up on the idea because Kathryn Kehoe had to take down her tent.
Carlson’s Corner Social. Mary has not followed up on the idea because Kathryn Kehoe had to take down her tent. •Carlson’s Corner New Year’s Ad. Kathryn Kehoe had asked Mary to publicize the event. Sheila said it was a great event and the comedians were very funny. Total attendance was about 45 people. She is holding a pancake event for children at the Woman’s Club. Bob questioned should we be publicizing for Carlson’s events. It was decided we would continue and re-evaluate if the number increases
Carlson’s Corner New Year’s Ad. Kathryn Kehoe had asked Mary to publicize the event. Sheila said it was a great event and the comedians were very funny. Total attendance was about 45 people. She is holding a pancake event for children at the Woman’s Club. Bob questioned should we be publicizing for Carlson’s events. It was decided we would continue and re-evaluate if the number increases•Dates for 2026 Trustee meetings: Mar 14 (Zoom), Jul 11, Sep 12, Nov 14. Helen will send in a request to use the Council Chamber at Borough Hall for the in-person meetings.
Dates for 2026 Trustee meetings: Mar 14 (Zoom), Jul 11, Sep 12, Nov 14. Helen will send in a request to use the Council Chamber at Borough Hall for the in-person meetings.•MBIA Membership Job Description. Art wrote a 1-page description of the function and has a detailed 5-page description. Art uses an Access database that is on his PC, plus spreadsheets. He works with Al on the financials and scans every membership form. Art updates Access, the MBIA e-mail squanmbia.org list and uses a Constant Contact list. He passes the membership money to Al and checks PayPal printing out the forms and maintaining those records as well. Art is willing to train someone. Al said we need someone who is computer savvy to do it. Lisa thinks it makes sense to put it in the cloud. Lisa said she is very familiar with databases since this is what she used to do. Art will work with Lisa. Cindy thought some tasks probably should be broken out since there are a lot of functions that would be easy to split off and transition.
MBIA Membership Job Description. Art wrote a 1-page description of the function and has a detailed 5-page description. Art uses an Access database that is on his PC, plus spreadsheets. He works with Al on the financials and scans every membership form. Art updates Access, the MBIA e-mail squanmbia.org list and uses a Constant Contact list. He passes the membership money to Al and checks PayPal printing out the forms and maintaining those records as well. Art is willing to train someone. Al said we need someone who is computer savvy to do it. Lisa thinks it makes sense to put it in the cloud. Lisa said she is very familiar with databases since this is what she used to do. Art will work with Lisa. Cindy thought some tasks probably should be broken out since there are a lot of functions that would be easy to split off and transition.Reports:
•Cindy – MBIA Happy Hour at The Committed Pig for 2026? Jane sent Mary a letter that indicated some members feel having the happy hour at the bar is too confined. Several unsolicited comments requested moving the event to the 2nd floor as is currently being done with the Woman’s Club happy hour. Cindy said we opted for the 1st floor bar since several people have mobility issues which would preclude them attending upstairs. Alternating between the 1st and 2nd floors was discussed. Mary suggested Reef and Barrel. Linda indicated there were several comments that Reef and Barrel are not walkable. We will look to use The Pig’s second floor in February. Cindy will explore Reef and Barrel.
Cindy – MBIA Happy Hour at The Committed Pig for 2026? Jane sent Mary a letter that indicated some members feel having the happy hour at the bar is too confined. Several unsolicited comments requested moving the event to the 2nd floor as is currently being done with the Woman’s Club happy hour. Cindy said we opted for the 1st floor bar since several people have mobility issues which would preclude them attending upstairs. Alternating between the 1st and 2nd floors was discussed. Mary suggested Reef and Barrel. Linda indicated there were several comments that Reef and Barrel are not walkable. We will look to use The Pig’s second floor in February. Cindy will explore Reef and Barrel.•Al – Candy Cane Hunt, Shirts from Lynne, beach badge donations. The Candy Cane Hunt was nice and the lady who runs the Gallery was very accommodating. Lynne can do tee shirts or sweatshirts. The price per item would be the actual cost without a markup. AL sent a copy of the check register that shows we have $3400 for the beach badge donation project. Jane said the HS would need 8 adult badges for deserving students Mary raised the idea of buying beach badges for Brielle students in need since Brielle doesn’t have a beach and many of the students use our beach. The trustees generally feel that we should stick with Manasquan residents. Julie and Cindy believe it is better to have a cushion for next year. One gentleman donated $2000 late last year and it is unlikely he will do this again. Cindy suggested we have written guidelines for every year. Mary asked Cindy if she would document what we discussed. Lisa suggested we need to work with the school in the fall to determine how many badges would be needed in the upcoming year. We will put the donation jar out at the next happy hour and then pause until the fall. However, we will have a donation jar at the annual meeting.
Al – Candy Cane Hunt, Shirts from Lynne, beach badge donations. The Candy Cane Hunt was nice and the lady who runs the Gallery was very accommodating. Lynne can do tee shirts or sweatshirts. The price per item would be the actual cost without a markup. AL sent a copy of the check register that shows we have $3400 for the beach badge donation project. Jane said the HS would need 8 adult badges for deserving students Mary raised the idea of buying beach badges for Brielle students in need since Brielle doesn’t have a beach and many of the students use our beach. The trustees generally feel that we should stick with Manasquan residents. Julie and Cindy believe it is better to have a cushion for next year. One gentleman donated $2000 late last year and it is unlikely he will do this again. Cindy suggested we have written guidelines for every year. Mary asked Cindy if she would document what we discussed. Lisa suggested we need to work with the school in the fall to determine how many badges would be needed in the upcoming year. We will put the donation jar out at the next happy hour and then pause until the fall. However, we will have a donation jar at the annual meeting.•Bob – Interest in Exec Board positions. Bob mentioned he had queried the Trustees last year to see if anyone was interested in serving on the executive board in the future. He expressed disappointment only 2 people stepped forward. He feels it is good to have turnover and considering he has the shortest tenure on the EB of 13 years since he replaced John O’Grady, it would be good to have new blood going forward. If anyone else is interested please contact Bob. The Nominating Committee will discuss this issue in the 2nd quarter. Mary agreed it might be time to have a leadership change and she encouraged everyone to consider joining the executive board which consists of president, vice president, treasurer and secretary.
Bob – Interest in Exec Board positions. Bob mentioned he had queried the Trustees last year to see if anyone was interested in serving on the executive board in the future. He expressed disappointment only 2 people stepped forward. He feels it is good to have turnover and considering he has the shortest tenure on the EB of 13 years since he replaced John O’Grady, it would be good to have new blood going forward. If anyone else is interested please contact Bob. The Nominating Committee will discuss this issue in the 2nd quarter. Mary agreed it might be time to have a leadership change and she encouraged everyone to consider joining the executive board which consists of president, vice president, treasurer and secretary.•Tom – Letter for 2026 Volunteer Day. Tom wanted to keep everyone on board with what we are planning. He wants to get the letter out to the membership this week. Al said in the past we would help members who need assistance but never heard from anyone. He suggested we include this in the letter. Helen questioned what day we are looking at. Tom asked for Bob’s input who suggested we schedule it for May 2 since the 2nd Saturday is the Mother’s Day Run and the 3rd Saturday is the Backyard Crawl.
Tom – Letter for 2026 Volunteer Day. Tom wanted to keep everyone on board with what we are planning. He wants to get the letter out to the membership this week. Al said in the past we would help members who need assistance but never heard from anyone. He suggested we include this in the letter. Helen questioned what day we are looking at. Tom asked for Bob’s input who suggested we schedule it for May 2 since the 2nd Saturday is the Mother’s Day Run and the 3rd Saturday is the Backyard Crawl. New Business:
•Sheila Vidreiro named liaison for MBIA 2026. Bob said at our Annual Meeting in June 2024 one of our members said he was embarrassed to have his guests look at the exterior of the Ocean Ave restrooms. A year ago, he asked the mayor if MBIA volunteers could paint the wood on the restrooms and power wash the beach office. Subsequently Al was told by Carmen that the exterior of the restrooms and the power washing was contracted to be performed in 2025. However, this never happened. Sheila said the exterior of the restrooms will be redone in 2026 and she will check on the power washing. Sheila also mentioned that with the Riverside Drive initiative, there are plans to add showers for the surfers and address work that needs to be done in the ladies’ room. She is now a member of the beach committee with Bruce and Lori.
Sheila Vidreiro named liaison for MBIA 2026. Bob said at our Annual Meeting in June 2024 one of our members said he was embarrassed to have his guests look at the exterior of the Ocean Ave restrooms. A year ago, he asked the mayor if MBIA volunteers could paint the wood on the restrooms and power wash the beach office. Subsequently Al was told by Carmen that the exterior of the restrooms and the power washing was contracted to be performed in 2025. However, this never happened. Sheila said the exterior of the restrooms will be redone in 2026 and she will check on the power washing. Sheila also mentioned that with the Riverside Drive initiative, there are plans to add showers for the surfers and address work that needs to be done in the ladies’ room. She is now a member of the beach committee with Bruce and Lori. •Changes at Rec Department. Sheila said things are running smoothly and should continue to do so. Mary said she was disappointed on how it was handled and agreed with Sheila’s thoughts in the Coast Star. Sheila said she wished things had gone differently. Helen said she and Cindy were at the Citizen’s Advisory Committee meeting and Mike went over how Pip’s responsibilities have been reassigned. With Jersey Mike’s no longer willing to sponsor it was known that the Tug would at best take place every two or three years.
Changes at Rec Department. Sheila said things are running smoothly and should continue to do so. Mary said she was disappointed on how it was handled and agreed with Sheila’s thoughts in the Coast Star. Sheila said she wished things had gone differently. Helen said she and Cindy were at the Citizen’s Advisory Committee meeting and Mike went over how Pip’s responsibilities have been reassigned. With Jersey Mike’s no longer willing to sponsor it was known that the Tug would at best take place every two or three years.Items from the Floor:
•Helen mentioned from the Manasquan Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) that there is discussion about a trolley or golf carts to transport people to the beach. Kathryn Kehoe is willing to commit some money to the endeavor. Bob mentioned that Judge Mark Apostolou is pushing the idea as well
Helen mentioned from the Manasquan Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) that there is discussion about a trolley or golf carts to transport people to the beach. Kathryn Kehoe is willing to commit some money to the endeavor. Bob mentioned that Judge Mark Apostolou is pushing the idea as well •Lisa brought up the idea of having the Elementary School kids do paintings to keep litter off the beach. She assured this would have a greater impact than the existing “ugly signs.” They have already had a contest for this and the pictures are displayed They could be put at the beach entrances. Julie said they would have to be weather proofed. Sheila said the Borough isn’t in favor of a lot of signage. She asked Lisa to provide a sample. Cindy said there are a lot of logistics in terms of size, where it would be attached, would the picture be signed and would a student release be needed. Lisa said the mayor was going to discuss the signs with the environmental committee.
Lisa brought up the idea of having the Elementary School kids do paintings to keep litter off the beach. She assured this would have a greater impact than the existing “ugly signs.” They have already had a contest for this and the pictures are displayed They could be put at the beach entrances. Julie said they would have to be weather proofed. Sheila said the Borough isn’t in favor of a lot of signage. She asked Lisa to provide a sample. Cindy said there are a lot of logistics in terms of size, where it would be attached, would the picture be signed and would a student release be needed. Lisa said the mayor was going to discuss the signs with the environmental committee. •Bennie asked about the status of the endangered species along the beach walk. The Borough has removed the sand and is wondering if they will have to be staked out when they reappear. Sheila will check into that.
Bennie asked about the status of the endangered species along the beach walk. The Borough has removed the sand and is wondering if they will have to be staked out when they reappear. Sheila will check into that.•John suggested we look at an alternate site for the Annual Meeting since the future of the Squad is in doubt with the County now taking all ambulance calls. The Woman’s Club, Borough Hall, Senior Center and St. Denis parish center were mentioned as alternate sites. John should know by March if we can still use the First Aid Squad. In the meantime, Sheila will check on the number of chairs at the Senior Center. We also discussed parking at the Woman’s Club for the number of people we usually have attending and what time the clubhouse would be available on a Saturday morning.
John suggested we look at an alternate site for the Annual Meeting since the future of the Squad is in doubt with the County now taking all ambulance calls. The Woman’s Club, Borough Hall, Senior Center and St. Denis parish center were mentioned as alternate sites. John should know by March if we can still use the First Aid Squad. In the meantime, Sheila will check on the number of chairs at the Senior Center. We also discussed parking at the Woman’s Club for the number of people we usually have attending and what time the clubhouse would be available on a Saturday morning.The meeting was adjourned.
The next Trustee’s Meeting will be on March 14 at 8:30 a.m. via Zoom.
Happy Hour’s at The Committed Pig will be on February 11 & March 11 starting at 5 p.m.
MBIA Bridge Committee Presentation to Manasquan Borough Council - 10/01/12
GLIMMER GLASS BRIDGE REPORT
BY MANASQUAN BEACH IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
Council Presentation October 1, 2012
- Studies show bridge falling apart and MUST be replaced; Childs independent? study; Cycle 14 draft report.
- HISTORIC REGISTRY DOES NOT MEAN BRIDGE CAN'T BE REPLACED.
- Originally built as a wooden trestle bridge (without a draw) over 100 years ago before cars; 16 feet wide, 585 feet long.
- Draw span (20 feet wide) built over 100 years ago for spanning Pt. Pleasant Canal (before cars).
- Draw span installed in wooden trestle in 1938; originally hand operated.
- Completely rebuilt in 1950; entire bridge raised 5 feet; shortened to 279 feet; motorized; more counterweights added.
- Numerous repairs and replacements to date; only original parts are two sheaves (wheels at to
- Placed on State and Federal Historic Registers in 2008.
- Historic significance is technology (rolling counterweight design) and aesthetics being preserved by County compromise.
- Bridge is in such bad condition, none of the structure can be salvaged; all piles, supports, bridge deck will be thrown away.
- Estimated life of a new wooden bridge is 35-50 years; estimated life of the proposed bridge is 75 years.
- County traffic count July 9-15, 2007: 6,480 average daily vehicles; 5,905 average weekday vehicles; 7,726 average weekend vehicles.
- MBIA traffic count May 26, 2012 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.: 4,138 vehicles; 688 bicycles; 21 skateboards; 372 pedestrians; traffic stopped 4:24 hours; open 5:36 hours; 10:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m., traffic stopped 3:30 hours; open 2:30 hours.
- Road is almost becoming impassable in summer due to opening/closing taking so long; long lines of cars.
- Safety is most important issue for vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists. Complete Streets.
- Current standards: two 12 foot width lanes; two 4 foot wide shoulders.
- Main access for residents living south of Brielle Road and for Brielle and Point Pleasant emergency response.
- The County has been working out a plan for the bridge since the early 1990 Asbury Park Press, 8-17-07.
- Project authorized 4-14-94 for $1,000,000.00; studies to date over $700,000.00.
- Wooden bridge would have CCA and AZCA (arsenic).
- Brielle Resolution 8-18-03 (#111-03) and Manasquan Resolution 9-8-03 (#03-70-A) call for complete replacement of bridge.
- Manasquan Resolution 5-19-08 (#69-08) to repair, rehabilitate or replace bridge ASAP; provide for pedestrians and bicycles; preserve character;
- Issues of public safety should be treated as paramount to other considerations.
- No more delays; we must act NOW.
Please see the MBIA Bridge Committee Presentation to Manasquan Borough Counctil on below
Left to Right: Julie Cocozza, Janice Gaswind, Bob Young, Al Sauer, Helen Young, Jane Swiggett, Linda Sims, Lisa Haas, Carol Kirkman, Mary Ryan, John O'Graady, Cindy Weaver. Not pictured: John Casey, Mary Lovely, Bennie O'Grady, Paul Schofield, Steve Leischner, Tom Sims
Report on North Beach Ramp
Mary was previously given surveys by Tom Flarity of the properties on both sides of the North Beach Ramp. Upon review of them, they were not in agreement as to the location of the improvements along and on the 4 foot ramp. However, actual measurements between improvements on each side of the ramp indicated that the useable area was mostly 42 inches but in some places as narrow as 38 inches.Consequently we were asked to set-up a meeting with Tom Flarity and to try to get the Borough to order its own survey to determine who was encroaching on the 4 foot width and by how much. Bob Young and I attended a meeting on September 7, 2018 with Tom Flarity, Councilman Jim Walsh, and Frank DeRomo from the Building Department. We were surprised to see that the Borough had done a survey of the ramp property in 2017. In addition to the 4 foot width of the Borough property for the ramp, in 1968 the Borough was granted an easement by the owner of the property on the north side of the ramp to build an 8 inch wide masonry wall on that owner’s property. Therefore, we had always assumed that the wall was properly located and that would meant that the owner on the south was the one that was encroaching into the easement. However, this survey showed that most of the wall was built within the 4 foot ramp area and not where it was supposed to have been built. Therefore, when the owner on the south fenced in his property, his fence was put mostly on his own property. The survey did show that the fence, at one point, encroaches at most .13 of a foot (which is about an inch and a half) into the ramp area. Consequently, there is no gripe as to the owner on the south. This was pointed out to the Borough in 2017 by the attorney for the owner on the north. The attorney also pointed out that it was the Borough’s obligation to maintain that wall but that the Borough had not done so since it has many cracks and deficiencies in it. The Borough advised that once they were aware of this and of what sort of cost the Borough would have to expend in order to remove and replace the wall in its proper location, they did not feel it was economically feasible for them to take any further action.The Borough’s 2017 survey was too large for them to make a copy for us at the meeting. However, they did agree to send it out for copying and would send us a copy of it.We did point out that the painted crosswalk at the corner of Stockton Lake Boulevard and First Avenue goes directly across the street at right angles to First Avenue and ends up misleading pedestrians that this is the place where the public ramp is located. In fact, the public ramp is several doors to the south. While MBIA has previously requested the Borough on several occasions to relocate the painted crosswalk, the Borough has never done anything about it. However, this time they agreed that they should either angle the crosswalk from the corner to the public ramp or move the crosswalk south so that it goes from the west side of First Avenue directly to the public ramp.Alfred H. Sauer
Ci/MBIA-091218Reprt
MBIA Report - Potter's Beach Access (9/12/18)
