Longer hours also boost revenues at Long Branch beaches

BY KENNY WALTER

Staff Writer

Long Branch beaches have become safer and more profitable just one month after the City Councils decision to extend lifeguard hours from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the weekends, according to Dan George, Long Branch beach manager.

George said during the July 24 council workshop meeting that the extra revenues would cover all the expenses related to keeping the beach staffed with lifeguards and ticket takers for the extra two hours.

I think it is definitely going to cover the cost of what we would incur from keeping it open, he said. From a lifeguard standpoint, we have a natural resource that everyone flocks down to, especially with these heat waves.

The decision to extend lifeguard hours came after two drownings off local beaches. A 17-year-old swimming with family members drowned on May 27 at an unprotected Long Branch beach. His body was not recovered until June 2 in the ocean off Pier Village.

A second incident occurred off the coast of Bradley Beach, where a 24-year-old swimmer drowned while swimming after hours on May 29.

George explained the procedures for the extra two hours that the beach now remains open.

Basically we are keeping it open from Morris Avenue to Laird [Avenue] because that is where the concentration of lifeguards are, he said. We have lifeguards patrolling the north and the south just to keep an eye out.

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Beach mgr.: Extended lifeguard shifts making beaches safer