Armacost Park Remediation Weighed by Council

AVALON – Armacost Park was in front of the Avalon Borough Council again Jan. 28.
The park, one block long and three blocks wide at 74th Street and Ocean Drive, is described by one birding website as “suburban oasis providing reliable nesting habitat for herons and egrets on the busy Stone Harbor-Avalon corridor.”
Named in memory of Marion P. Armacost, wife of the borough’s late Mayor Ellsworth Armacost, the park is one of the few areas left that represents what barrier islands looked like prior to development. Except for a limited public use area with a playground, the park is off limits to humans and kept as a natural habitat for wading birds and other wildlife.
For years there has been a recurring debate about the park. Periodically Avalon has raised the prospect of intervening in the habitat. In 1973, a series of interventions in the park transformed the western portion. In the words of the borough’s consultant in 2010, the actions moved the site “from a functional naturally occurring saltwater marsh to an engineered, freshwater wetland/lake system.”
The creation of a freshwater wetland in a large section of the park did succeed in attracting a number of water fowl, but it also encouraged rapid growth of park flora including phragmites. Following these actions, that portion of the park was largely left to develop with a set of unintended outcomes. The result is a virtual forest.
In 2010, the borough hired a consultant and began to develop plans to “enhance and restore” the closed section of the park. The park is also dealing with an invasive and non-indigenous species of English vine that Borough Business Administrator Scott Wahl said “chokes the life from many trees.”
For some, any intervention in the park endangers one of the last remaining habitats that provide a glimpse into the early environment of the island. For others, the ecosystem of the park needs help. For some, intervention is anathema and for others a necessary action that will lead to a healthier park. The debate has gone on for a number of years. The park is also a concern because the lack of tidal action leaves an environment that is ideal for the breeding of mosquitoes.
Fast forward to Jan. 28 when Joseph Lomax, an environmental consultant with the Lomax Consulting Group, told Council that there was both a need and a means for intervention in the ecosystem of the park. The agenda described the presentation as a “discussion of the Armacost Park and Remediation Plan.”
The presentation outlined a plan to rid the park of invasive vines, both indigenous and non-native, cull dead trees, plant saplings and generally improve what Wahl termed the “health and vitality” of the park.
Council members displayed caution as they questioned Lomax on the plan, on the qualifications of those who would execute it, and on the basic issue of a need for the intervention. The council members appeared satisfied of both the need and the plan by the end of the discussion.
It was a work session discussion so no votes were taken. There was no comment from the public when the opportunity for such comment arose.
Other Business
In other business, council took final action on the ordinance that will establish a lottery system for kayak storage at the borough facility on 57th Street.
Council also introduced an ordinance authorizing almost $12 million in bonds or notes to allow the borough to finance the 2015 beach replenishment project. This represents the beginning of a complex process including a variety of permits, designs, plans, bidding activities and the seeking of state funds to offset borough funding. The desire is to have a contract awarded by late spring.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.