Our good friend Beth Woolley, Long Branch Historic Commission, attended the Monmouth County Historic Preservation award ceremony on Feb 22, 2016. The WPBWA received a grant to complete the work on the east side of the stone hut roof. A huge Thank You to Monmouth County and the City of Long Branch for their continuing financial assistance in restoring the Ross Island Stone Hut, a rare Architectural Folly that remains from Long Branch’s Gilded Age.
The work is being done by Ken Manzi, our stone mason.
Here are some of our volunteers at the stone hut during a clean-up in December.
The first picture was taken today from the high water line looking west towards the flume. The picture below it was taken Dec 27 looking east from the flume.
The wood is no longer visible at Tak beach. There is one dumpster with wood pieces. It is gratifying to know that a call to 877-warnDEP really does work. Thanks to Laura Fonde, Office of Emergency Management, Bureau of Emergency Response for alerting Dave Sorenson, Monmouth County Health Department. He went to the site and requested that the wood be removed immediately. We also received a call from the DEP Coastal Enforcement Office, Michelle Kropilak who said DEP inspectors will be there again tomorrow to check the site.
Thanks to all the people in this community who showed that you care about our watershed.
There is no more wood visible on the beach. This new fence went up so we can’t get any closer.
We received a call today to go down to Tak beach and see what is going on there. A surfer called a friend so I called some friends and we went to look. This is what we saw:
These creosote soaked pieces of wood are all over the beach and in the water.
They might come from this big pile of wood which stinks of creosote.Some of it may come from the dismantling of the flume.
Remains of the north side of the flume.
This is the Whale Pond Brook flowing into the ocean where the flume used to be.
If you see something that you think may not be right, don’t hesitate to call 877 warnDEP.
We did so much work today that we actually finished clearing Ross Island, for now. By next spring the sticker bushes we cut down will be easily removed.
This is what we saw when we first arrived at the Tak Trestle trail……a swan with a broken neck. Who would be so cruel to these beautiful birds? If you see anyone abusing our beautiful feathered friends or any animal, please contact the Monmouth County SPCA Humane Police Chief:
800-582-5979 or if immediate emergency: call 732-542-0040.
A glorious day filled with sunshine and good deeds was experienced by volunteers today as we cleaned up around Takanassee Lake and the Old Waterworks. The lake was exceptionally low and we got to clean places we never saw before.
A kayaker went into the Old Water Works and pulled out debris unreachable from the shore. We pulled out a few tires, a Stop and Shop shopping cart and a giant ceramic pipe among other things. Will Johnson, Monmouth County Clean Communities helped by supplying all the bags, litter picks, a truck, a smile and a winch to get the a ceramic pipe out of the lake.
After a few hours at Tak, a few of us decided to go over and try to save our Ross Island Stone Hut platform. This platform was made by our stone mason, Ken Manzi during Phase I of the stone hut restoration. After two years of being hitched to a tree on Ross Island, it had become dislodged and was wedged under the Van Court bridge. One of our brave volunteers jumped on the platform, grabbed a giant tree branch and started moving it back towards the island. After a while we hitched it to a strong rope and pulled it into shore, where it is moored until our clean-up on the island next Saturday. Please join us: Ross Lake Park – Elinore Ave Long Banch
10AM
Neighbors working together to restore our watershed.
