TOMS RIVER, NJ – Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill wants the residents of New Jersey to pay for beach replenishment costs incurred by a springtime nor’easter that washed out portions of Ortley Beach and surrounding private Toms River beach communities.
Last Tuesday, Hill slammed Governor Phil Murphy for removing fees to state parks, including nearby Island Beach State Park.
Hill said it’s not fair that only Toms River residents pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars of beach sand trucked in ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. Although Hill wants free money from the state to replenish its beaches, he stopped short of providing free access to beaches. Toms River charges up to $11 per person per day to access its beaches.
“We’re requesting that the state, with the excess revenue (taxes) they have collected, they spend some of that in Ocean County,” Hill said. “We don’t get our fair share…they should replenish our beaches. Everyone in New Jersey uses them.”
Hill complained after Governor Murphy made Island Beach State Park free to visit for the 2022 season, saying, “As Island Beach fills up, those people are gonna flow further north and they’re going to be on all of the beaches on the barrier island.”
Hill did not appear open to rescinding beach fees on Toms River beaches in return for state reimbursement of beach replenishment costs.