On council’s agenda today is the public hearing for the municipal budget for 2025. The budget was reviewed in detail at a public workshop last month, and introduced by council on March 24th. This is a responsible budget that funds all city services, including all costs necessary to continue to keep the city clean, safe, and well maintained. The budget has an excellent surplus position, which is vital to maintaining our outstanding double A bond rating from the major credit rating agencies; and the administration endorses the adoption of the budget.

As most everyone knows, we are moving full steam ahead on construction of the new Community Center. Over the past year, much has been accomplished, and the contractor is working now to close the building in so that they can focus on completing the interior. At this point, the roof deck is complete, with final insulation and roofing placement in progress. Framing of the exterior walls has been completed, with weather and waterproofing barrier in progress. Windows and the glass entrance wall are scheduled to be installed over the next several weeks.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning ductwork is nearing completion; and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work is in various stages of completion. The schedule is for the building to be watertight within the next month. During the summer, the workers will be limited to parking on site, with the Library parking lot being used as needed, in order to provide for as much street parking as possible for our residents and visitors. With the majority of the work being done on the interior, noise and disruption to the neighborhood should be limited.

With Memorial Day weekend only one month away, I want to provide an update on our plans for public safety. As everyone is aware, several of our shore towns have experienced unfortunate incidents of unruly behavior by juveniles; and it has been most prominent at the start of the season on the Memorial Day weekend. First of all, I want to make it very clear - we welcome everyone here; but if you don’t want to behave, Sea Isle is not the place for you. Two years ago, the city enacted two ordinances to assist our police by giving them additional tools to ensure public safety.

One was a citywide curfew for individuals under 18 years old; the other was a restriction on the carrying of backpacks on our beaches and promenade after a certain time in the evening. The intention of these ordinances was to discourage behaviors and actions that can lead to situations we don’t want. There’s no good reason for young people to be out late unsupervised; and we’ve seen far too many instances of items in backpacks that shouldn’t be on our promenade or beaches, let alone in the possession of anyone out in public. This coming Memorial Day weekend, our police will be fully staffed, with all hands on-deck for the entire weekend. The majority will be assigned to address the juvenile situation throughout the city. Between our full-time and seasonal staff, we will have approximately 40 officers on-duty or on-call. Our police have much experience engaging with juveniles, and we want to be clear that we will enforce the law and that parents will be held accountable for their juvenile’s actions. Having stated this, I also want to say that I know that the vast majority of our children are good kids. They represent the future, and we want public safety for them as much as we want it for everyone else.

As always, please remember, we are one Sea Isle City and together we’ll be stronger than ever.

Smile…You’re in Sea Isle!

Mayor Leonard C. Desiderio