Nearly $100K Slated For Point Pleasant Beach Water Improvements: Mayor

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ - Nearly $100,000 in grant funding was recently awarded to Point Pleasant Beach as part of a $9.95 million statewide grant package for water quality improvement projects, officials said.

The borough will use the monies to develop a “vitally-needed” lake management plan to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for water quality improvements, Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra said in a statement.

“The shorelines, water quality and wildlife of Lake of the Lilies, Little Silver Lake and Lake Louise will all benefit for a long time,” Kanitra said, crediting the organization Save Barnegat Bay, as well as Point Pleasant Beach’s Quality of Life Director Kristen O’Rourke with assistance in acquiring the state funds.

“We continue to make massive improvements across town, while aggressively going after grant dollars and minimizing impact to our taxpayers,” Kanitra said.

The state funding stems from a $10 million federal American Rescue Plan Act award to the state that was appropriated by the state Legislature for the management and maintenance of lakes for recreation and conservation.

Nearly two dozen other local government agencies, nonprofit groups, universities and others were awarded the grant funding, which will target water quality issues and the impacts of pollution from stormwater on lakes around New Jersey, Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette said in a statement.

More than $8 million of the state funding is set to benefit lakes in or next to overburdened communities in the Garden State, LaTourette added.

“These grants will help a diverse group of DEP partners implement projects that will reduce the harmful effects of stormwater, nonpoint source pollution and Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) that will only worsen due to the impacts of climate change,” said Commissioner LaTourette. “On behalf of the Murphy Administration, we are excited to facilitate these projects in various overburdened communities to meet Department environmental justice and statewide water quality goals and objectives.”

See the full list of awardees below:

• Avon-by-the-Sea (Monmouth County): $490,768
• Bay Head (Ocean County): $99,900
• Burlington (Burlington County): $95,000
• Camden County Soil Conservation District: $153,720
• Deal Lake Commission: $890,400
• Florham Park (Morris County): $176,900
• Greenwood Lake Commission: $1 million
• Hillsborough (Somerset County): $246,000
• Lake Hopatcong Commission: $1 million
• Lake Musconetcong Regional Planning Board: $572,000
• Lawrence Township (Mercer County): $316,800
• Moorestown Township (Burlington County): $113,500
• Morris County Park Commission: $722,037.75
• Mount Arlington (Morris County): $36,100
• New Jersey Institute of Technology: $788,235
• New Jersey Water Supply Authority (NJWSA): $825,500
• Perth Amboy (Middlesex County): $200,000
• Pinelands Preservation Alliance: $581,500
• Point Pleasant Beach (Ocean County): $99,300
• South Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council: $243,122
• South Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council: $102,426
• Spring Lake (Monmouth County): $850,000
• Swartswood Lakes and Watershed Association: $361,377