On the Boardwalk

Wildwood mayor: Choice of wood for Boardwalk not set in concrete

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, May 24, 2007

WILDWOOD — Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. on Wednesday restated his willingness to use something other than tropical hardwood to rebuild the city's Boardwalk if an alternative can be found that will meet both the city's structural needs and spending limits.

During the city's regular commission meeting, Ocean City resident Stephen Fenichel asked the mayor about the city's plans to use a tropical hardwood called ipe certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Designating the wood as certified means the council can track its origins and certify it has not been illegally harvested.

Fenichel, pointing to a January 2007 issue of National Geographic, told the commissioners that the logging of tropical hardwood's is destroying the rainforests and should not be supported by local governments.

As he has done before, Troiano told Fenichel the city is willing to consider using an alternative wood, black locust, if the wood meets the city's needs.

City Engineer Marc DeBlasio told Fenichel that “mechanically the wood meets the specifications,” meaning a Boardwalk made of black locust could be strong enough to support both the millions of visitors who come here and emergency equipment if needed.

The question is whether the city could readily access a large enough supply by the time the Boardwalk reconstruction is scheduled to begin in October and whether it could be found for the right price.

Phase one of the project, which stretches across Oak, Cedar and Schellenger avenues, is expected to cost $3.4 million.

Urban Enterprise Zone director Lou Ferrara said the city has been willing to work with Fenichel and Rainforest Relief, but he suggested the push for black locust was “another stall tactic.”
“If you're serious about us getting black locust, get us a price,” Ferrara said.
Troiano echoed his comments.

“We will use it if the price is right,” Troiano said, explaining that the city's bid specifications allowed for the use of ipe and other materials of equal or better quality.

Fenichel said he would attempt to get the city a price with the help of Rainforest Relief.
Also during Wednesday's meeting, the commission introduced several bonding ordinances to support a range of capital improvements and equipment purchases.

They include $5 million for water-main replacements and another $658,000 for drainage upgrades in the back bay area, sewer repairs and equipment purchases. The city also expects to receive $240,600 in grant money for the drainage projects.

The city also introduced an ordinance to spend $42,000 for a revision of the master plan.
That revision was deemed necessary by the state Department of Environmental Protection if the city hopes to move forward with the construction of multiple high-rise hotels.

The city also held a public hearing on the 2007 budget Wednesday, but no members of the public spoke.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Rental Tax for All

Make all rentals pay room tax, say Wildwoods hotel owners

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Wednesday, May 23, 2007WILDWOOD — The island's leading tourism groups are urging the state to require owners of condominium units to charge their renters the same taxes imposed on motel guests.

“They should collect the tax like everybody else is forced to do,” said Bruce Smith, president of the Greater Wildwood Hotel & Motel Association.

Smith said condominium owners have an unfair advantage over motel owners who are required to charge a 14 percent room tax in the Wildwoods and at least 12 percent elsewhere in the state.
In addition to the 7 percent sales tax, motel and hotel guests in the Wildwoods pay the following taxes:

n 2 percent tourism tax for operation and maintenance of the Wildwoods Convention Center

n 1.85 percent tourism assessment for advertising and marketing by the tourism authority
n 3.15 percent room occupancy tax for the state

During a news conference Tuesday, Smith, owner of the Tangiers Motel in Wildwood Crest, read a resolution passed by the association's board of directors asking the state to enforce existing state law, which they believe applies to hotels, motels and other room rentals including condominiums.

The state's administrative code requires that taxes on hotel-room occupancy must be imposed and it defines hotel as meaning “a building or portion thereof which is regularly used and kept open as such for the purpose of furnishing sleeping accommodations for pay to tourists, transients or travelers. It includes, but is not limited to the following: an apartment hotel, motel, inn, tourist home, tourist house or court, tourist cabin and club; a boarding house or rooming house containing eight or more units; and any other building or group of buildings in which sleeping accommodations are normally available to the public on a transient basis.”

The law does not address forms of ownership or amenities provided.

However, Mark Perkiss, a spokesman with the state Department of Treasury, said Tuesday the rental of a condominium is not subject to the state's room tax.

“The law is specific to motel rooms,” Perkiss said, adding condominium rentals involve the rental of real property as opposed to designated hotel or motel rooms.

The Wildwoods tourism authority disagrees.

“We do believe the law is written very clearly,” said John Siciliano, executive director of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority. “It's time for the state to apply it as it's written.”

Siciliano said the state is missing out on an estimated $345 million in tax revenue that could be generated by condominium rentals through the state's 7 percent sales tax and the 5 percent room-occupancy tax.

Siciliano said the additional revenues could support the state's meager tourism advertising budget and plug holes in the state's troubled budget process.

More importantly, he said, the amount paid in taxes is forcing visitors to spend their nights in condominiums rather than in the island's hotels and motels.

Mary Erceg, a member of the tourism authority board and owner of the AA Heart of Wildwood Motel, recalled the case of a guest who checked into a motel room and quickly checked out after learning there would be no occupancy or sales taxes charged in a nearby condominium.

Erceg said she doesn't understand why the state has failed to act.

“We have not gotten any response other than a deaf ear,” she said.

Steve Tecco, owner of the Armada Motel, said not requiring condominium owners to pay the same taxes amounts to a 14 percent subsidy by the state.
“We cannot compete as those serving as pseudo-motels,” h
e said.

A brief Internet search led to several condominiums in the Wildwoods that list the lodging tax as zero or none. The owner of one of those properties said the zero sales tax is not the primary concern of her guests.

“They are interested in the number of rooms and how many can sleep in a unit (not the tax),” she said.

Tecco said the many taxes paid support advertising for the island, which in turn brings new visitors here. When those visitors opt to rent condominiums instead of motel rooms, the condominium owners benefit without paying their fair share, he said.

Smith said he a number of motels on the island have chosen to move to the condominium form of ownership simply to avoid paying the various taxes, and he fears more will do the same, thereby reducing advertising dollars for the island.

Siciliano sent a letter last week to the Division of Taxation asking the state to once again take a look at the issue.

“It is the financially prudent thing to do,” he wrote.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Watch the Tram Car Please

'Voice' Behind Wildwood's Tram Cars Never Expected Fame
POSTED: 5:28 pm EDT May 17, 2007
NBC Ted Greenberg

WILDWOOD, N.J. -- The tram cars are a staple of the Wildwood boardwalk, and along with them comes that famous voice.

Slideshow: Wildwood To Unveil New Tram Cars

You know the one. She tells us to "Watch the tram cars please!"

The woman who made that recording still lives here in the Wildwoods. When she made it in the early 70s, she never thought it would become a phrase so many people instantly connect with the Jersey Shore.

They are five words that first rolled off Floss Stingel's tongue 36 years ago.

"They were looking for a new recording," Stingel said. "I just spoke into a little tape recorder and that was it. Watch the tram car please. Watch the tram car please. … I became the voice of the tram car."

Stingel, now 67, made the recording in 1971 as a favor to her then-boyfriend, who worked for the company that owned the Wildwood's boardwalk tram cars.

"Didn't think much of it," Stingel said.

The boyfriend is long gone. But Stingel's voice never left the resort's wooden way.

"I think it still sounds the same except once in a while when it skips," she said. "… Sometimes it's annoying to hear it too much if I'm walking up here and hear it a lot."

But for many others, the phrase instantly transports them back to the childhoods in the Wildwoods.

"A lot of people walking will tell me hit the button," said tram car supervisor John Gigliotti. "People want to hear it."

The trams have fixtures in the wildwoods since 1949. This summer, five new passenger cars -- designed to be more comfortable -- are being built for the first time in 44 years.

"I think it's great. Anything they do to them, it's great … any improvements," Stingel said.
Stingel is now retired after working for South Jersey Gas Company for 40 years. She lives in North Wildwood, and still finds time to ride the tram cars that have carried her voice up and down the boards for more than three decades.

"It's something you expect to see. It's part of the town," Stingel said.

NBC 10's Ted Greenberg reported that Stingel was not paid a cent to make the recording, but these days she usually gets to ride the trams for free.

Seawall Bans

North Wildwood to ban certain activities on new seawall

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, May 15, 2007

NORTH WILDWOOD — The city's new seawall is perfect for a stroll along the water's edge, but the wall — with drops about 6 feet in some places — is not the perfect spot for, say, go-cart racing.

Today, City Council is expected to approve a ban on such activities to keep the city's newest attraction safe.

“We're playing catch-up on this thing. We never expected it would be such a popular promenade,” said city Administrator Ray Townsend.

City Police Capt. Robert Caruso said that so far the seawall, which stretches around the northern end of the city and varies in width from 10 to 12 feet, has been free of any serious problems, and the ordinance was designed to keep it that way.

The new rules take a cue from an existing Boardwalk ordinance also designed to keep people moving safely.

Under the new guidelines, “self-propelled wheeled devices” such as skateboards, bicycles, roller blades and scooters will not be permitted along the seawall.

Motorized devices such as motorcycles and minibikes are also banned.

The ordinance does not, however, apply to medically necessary devices such as wheelchairs or walkers.

In addition, the ordinance bans the consumption of alcoholic beverages, sleeping on the seawall or peddling and vending.

Violators will be subject to as much as $1,250 in fines and 90 days in the county jail.

Mayor Bill Henfey said that as the wall was completed last year, the city noticed the number of bicycles making use of the promenade, which Townsend said stretches about 6,000 feet along Hereford Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean to the beach.

“There's a concern about any collisions or people falling off there,” he said. “We want everybody to enjoy the walk and keep it safe.”

Some repairs are under way on a small section of the walk, and once those are done the city also plans to install railings along the ocean side of the seawall and the street side where necessary, Henfey said.

The city has already set aside$1 million in bonds for that project.
A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at City Hall followed by a vote on the seawall regulations.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com