A metal walkway leading to the boat ramp is bent and is a possible tripping hazard, Donald Sparks says.
Bent ladders, missing or rotted boards and a metal walkway that is a possible tripping hazard are some of the things one local resident has found at Sea Isle City’s public boat ramp.
Donald Sparks, an avid boater, is urging Sea Isle officials to repair the problems before someone gets hurt and the city is possibly slapped with a major lawsuit.
Sparks complained about the boat ramp’s deteriorated condition during a City Council meeting Tuesday – bringing cellphone photos with him to prove it.
“You know, when you see a problem like this, we’ve got to fix the problem. It’s a safety problem,” he told city officials in remarks at the meeting.
Sparks also complained about the boat ramp’s deteriorated condition during a Council meeting last year. He said the city hasn’t repaired most of the problems he pointed out last year and could possibly expose itself to lawsuits if someone is hurt.
“I don’t think we should wait until we have a lawsuit down there with these problems,” he said.
Missing or rotted boards need to be replaced at the boat ramp.The boat ramp overlooks the channel at the bay end of 42nd Place, in the shadow of the John F. Kennedy Boulevard bridge entering town. Heavily used during the summer, it gives the public a spot to launch their boats into the back bays of Sea Isle.
Among the problems he cited, Sparks said two aluminum ladders on the side of the boat ramp’s dock are “bent up, looking like pretzels.” The ladders allow boaters to climb up on the dock.
Sparks noted that some of the bolts that attach the ladders to the dock are sticking out by nearly an inch and need to be screwed back in.
He also said that the boat ramp’s metal walkway is bent and appears to be a tripping hazard.
Perhaps worst of all, there are about 80 missing or rotted boards that are a major part of the boat ramp’s construction and need to be replaced, he said.
In an interview with SeaIsleNews.com after the meeting, Sparks explained that the wood boards serve a critical purpose and should always be kept in good condition.
Boaters often use the boards to help guide themselves into the ramp when they are getting ready to pull their boats out of the water. The “batter boards or “bumper boards,” as he called them, also protect boaters at the ramp from the tides and the wake created by other boats passing by in the inlet, Sparks said.
Donald Sparks, center, shows cellphone photos of the boat ramp to City Business Administrator George Savastano and Police Chief Anthony Garreffi.Sparks owns a 15-foot boat that he uses for fishing, crabbing and clamming in the back bays. He enjoys using the boat ramp, but wants the city to make repairs before the arrival of the summer boating season.
“It is a good facility. When they put it in, it was put in right. But it hasn’t been maintained properly,” he told city officials.
After the Council meeting, Sparks spoke with City Business Administrator George Savastano and Police Chief Anthony Garreffi.
Savastano said in an interview that the city has already made some short-term repairs to the boat ramp and will make even more this year. They include repairing or replacing the bent ladders and replacing some of the ramp’s rotted or missing bumper boards.
The city also plans a more extensive structural overhaul of the pilings and boards at the boat ramp, but it must first secure a regulatory permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection for the project, Savastano said.
“We will improve the structure surrounding the ramp to create a safe haven for the boats coming into the ramp,” he said.
Savastano noted that the ramp’s longer-term overhaul will likely be expensive and probably won’t be done until next year.
Two aluminum ladders attached to the boat ramp's dock appear to be bent.
