Hydrofest Seeks Cash from Crest, Gould: ‘We Give Them a Lake’

WILDWOOD CREST — A routine resolution setting dates for the 2011 Sunset Lake Hydrofest turned into a platform for one commissioner questioning the event’s dependency on borough funds.
“We give them a lake, a lot of people don’t give them a lake,” Commissioner Joyce Gould said at the Nov. 22 Wildwood Crest Commission meeting after frowning on the $15,000 sponsors want from the municipality to continue the event next year.
Gould said the nearly decade-old event should be self sustaining, not reliant on borough funds and in dire economic times, not seeking an amount as high as $15,000.
“Things are tight,” she said. “Where money can be saved, we should look into it.”
Commissioner Don Cabrera said at a recent Tourism Development Commission meeting, commission members also questioned the amount.
“I think the consensus is to give them the money but not the entire amount,” he said.
Cabrera also said the TDC discussed the event’s benefit to the community. He said members felt that since it was canceled this year, it would be worthwhile to hold it in 2011.
Hydrofest 2010 was slated for September but a scheduling conflict with the American Powerboat Association could not be resolved. The event must be held during a high tide weekend, typically in September or early October, and must be coordinated with the powerboat racing circuit. The American Power Boat Association and the Canadian Boating Federation sanction Hydrofest.
The event has been held in The Crest since 2001. This year would have marked the 10th annual Hydrofest.
Last week’s resolution to set the dates for the 2011 event was passed by the commission with Cabrera and Mayor Carl Groon voting in favor. Gould abstained. Hydrofest is slated for the weekend of Oct. 1-2. According to the event’s website, it will include the North American championships and New Jersey Governor’s Cup races.
The borough will decide what amount of funding it gives sponsors at a future date.