Point Boro River Beaches May Be Open Friday

Point Borough's river beaches may be open Friday, following recent closures due to high bacteria levels.

The River Avenue Beach, at the end of River Avenue off River Road, was closed on Wednesday and Thursday, but will likely be open Friday as subsequent testing has shown reduced bacteria levels, according to Ocean County Health Department inspectors who were surveying the beach on Thursday afternoon.

The nearby Maxson Avenue Beach, next to Riverfront Park, was open on Thursday, after being closed for a few days due to high bacteria levels, according to Jon Werkmeister, a lifeguard stationed at the beach on Thursday.

He said the county health department gave the green light to a head lifeguard who, in turn, called him into work Friday morning.

Also, a county health department employee who was taking a water sample at 9 a.m. Friday confirmed that Maxson Avenue Beach was fine to be open, based on subsequent testing showing reduced bacteria, Werkmeister said.

However, Werkmeister said he asked all beach-goers to stay out of the water all day because of post-Irene debris.

"That tree just washed up, I had to pull that out," Werkmeister said, pointing to a long log lying on the water's edge.

"And I filled five bags with debris today," said Werkmeister, who lives on Summit Drive in the borough and works as a teacher during the school year. "The water has been dirty because of the debris from Irene.

"Some people were disappointed I was asking them to not go in the water," he said. "But most understand that it's a risk to their health and well-being."

Tami Videon was with her children and friends playing on the sparsely-populated Maxson Avenue Beach on Thursday afternoon.

Videon, who lives with her family in the borough, said her children were managing just fine without going in the water.

"It's OK, it's fun going in the water, but it's just as fun playing in the sand," said Videon, as her 1-year-old, Lydia, clenched her mom's finger with one hand and a blue shovel with the other.

Videon's older children, Adelaide, 6, and Calvin, 4, were playing on the swings and in the sand with their friends.

Water samples taken on Monday led to the river beach closures, said Leslie Terjesen, public information officer for the county health department.

733 colonies of enterococci (bacteria) per 100 ml of water at Maxson and 800 colonies per 100 ml of water at River Avenue Beach, according to results posted on the department's website.

The standard for a beach closing is anything above 104 enterococci (bacteria) per 100 mL of water, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Information on the most recent water sample tests were not immediately available on Thursday.

The website posted results of tests conducted on Tuesday which showed 80 enterococci per 100 mL of water and less than 10 enterocci per 100 mL of water for the Maxson Avenue Beach, and 170, 110 and 140 for the River Avenue Beach. However, results from tests done on Wednesday and Thursday were not yet posted.

Many locals may find it odd that two beaches only a couple of blocks apart from each other could have dramatically different readings. But local and county officials have noted that the outfall pipe draining at the River Avenue beach may account for that beach sometimes having higher readings than Maxson.

Also, the river, as calm as it looks, does have tides and currents, which may mean pollutants get pushed out of one part of the river more efficiently than another, depending on which way the current is moving.

"It's common for us to have beach closings after a heavy rain and the two beaches don't also have the same readings," said Borough Recreation Department Director Karen Haycook. The department runs the beaches.

The high levels are considered a public health risk. If the bacteria gets into someone's mouth, ears or eyes it could cause illness, with an early symptom being a fever and then possibly a gastrointestinal illness, McCoy said.

McCoy said it's a good idea for families to follow-up beach outings by using soap or wipes on children's hands.

That outfall pipe dumping into a pool of water is not good, noted Dominick McCoy, one of the county health inspectors at the River Avenue beach on Thursday.

He said it would help if the borough could cut open a sand embankment between the river and the pool of water stagnating under the end of the water pipe, so at least the water can flow more freely.

"I'm smelling some odors there," he said. "It probably has some petroleum hydrocarbons from the street, maybe some grease.

"I'm going to make a suggestion that they cut out the sand there so the water can get out," he said, as he took copious notes.

The good news is that overall "the beach is in great shape," McCoy said.

"The beach needs to be raked, there's some glass and a few plastic bottles," he said, as he and Karl Stine, his summer intern, found a number of shards of sharp glass scattered on different sections of the beach. "But we don't see goose poop, which is one of the things we have to look for. It just needs to be raked and then they can open it."

Geese droppings have been a problem at the beach, like many in the region, he said.

McCoy said Thursday's beach inspection was to survey the beach to see if there was any excessive trash or goose poop that would be unsafe for beachgoers.

When a beach is closed based on water tests, additional tests are done daily and the beaches are re-opened as samples show acceptable levels of bacteria. When the testing shows that kind of improved result, a beach survey is done, McCoy said.

McCoy said Maxson was also closed part of last week and re-opened on Friday, but he did not have details about how long it was closed or why.

Werkmeister said jellyfish stings have been rare this summer, which was a great improvement over last year.

"This has been a good summer at the river beach," he said.

Regarding a separate problem at the river beaches, Haycook said that because many lifeguards are college students and teachers, many have left their lifeguarding posts, creating a manpower shortage.

"We may not have enough lifeguards to man both beaches all weekend," Haycook said.

If both beaches have acceptable water tests, but there is not enough manpower for both, the department would close Maxson and open River, which has a larger swimming area, Haycook said.

Patch will continue to follow this story.