It was mentioned to me recently that right around the time someone decided it would be a good idea to have a banquet hall right above Taylor, Merri-Makers was badly in need of a new waterfront wedding venue. Did a little research into it and found out it was true.
Looks like the Botts learned in 2011 that 2012 would be their last year at the Waters Edge in Sea Bright:
Then Sandy hit, making things very difficult for the Botts and their customers:
Very difficult:
Meanwhile at the exact same time this was going on, Belmar was laying plans for a beachfront wedding hall. Hard to believe this was a coincidence.
This morning I dug down deep into the dark recesses of the Common Sense for Belmar archives and found tapes of a presentation architect Gregg Sonnenfeld made to the Boardwalk Committee on June 20, 2013. The discussion about Taylor and the wedding hall begins at the 21:45 mark of the first tape. Found it to be pretty interesting in light of what we now know.
When Taylor was finally completed as a single story banquet hall Merri-Makers was the only one to bid for the food concession lease.
The ordinance authorizing the Tourism Commission states specifically, twice, that the Commission must provide the Council annually with a report outlining their spending and activities.
Apparently in ten years the Commission never bothered to produce a single report and nobody on the Council ever bothered to ask for one.
I know they’re all really great people who would never do anything wrong so why look, right?
BTW, all public officials, including members of all boards and commissions, are required to file financial disclosure forms on an annual basis. Four members of the Commission, Chris Brandl, Steve Lacko, Don Tarrant and Brian Magovern have complied for 2018 but there are two holdouts.
Joel Waldman from Belmar Fitness
And Frank Sementa, who I think owns some club or something.
{ Kenny Pringle loves this town. He is a true Braveheart in every sense of the name. I worry about his safety as I did Dave ... } – Dec 09, 5:09 PM
Joan Corallo { And Thank You Ken Pringle for all you have done for the residents of Belmar. We would have lost so much more without your guidance ... } – Dec 09, 11:54 AM
Guest { Good one, I like the wording so true! "Doherty Debt" } – Dec 09, 11:11 AM
admin { BTW, all of these lawsuits are available to be seen on the Legal Docs page. } – Dec 09, 10:32 AM
{ Let's juse call a spade a spade "Doherty Debt" is just that "Doherty Debt", a strangle hold on your soon to be empty wallet. } – Dec 09, 10:31 AM
{ 17 and 18-Jim Bean with a sense of humor? Doubtful. He proceeds with a get-even mentality-as is proven by his letter to the editor (Coast ... } – Dec 08, 7:32 PM
{ #31-I can tell you from personal experience-Matt NEVER tunes into this blog. Never has, and never will. } – Dec 08, 7:11 PM
Kathleen C. { I heard my sister, Colleen, recommended me for the new position. #33 how dare you speak of me like that! } – Dec 08, 10:13 AM
Terry { #35 Why would you announce that #33 is a hack? Do you know him or her? Do you have proof of your allegation? It is ... } – Dec 08, 12:53 AM
eugene r creamer { the borough website has a "Payment of Bills List" that M&C approve @ meetings ... there is no "Receipt of Money List" for residents to ... } – Dec 08, 10:15 AM
Tom Dilberger { #10 - Better still, either move the Seafood Festival to Oct. or eliminate it altogether. It's more trouble than it's worth. } – Dec 08, 9:47 AM
{ Audit that sloppy wrapped toon car Tourism uses. } – Dec 08, 8:32 AM
anon { #9, incredible ,five years and no response to a commission that they set up ? how were you supposed to do a thorough job without ... } – Dec 06, 10:50 PM
