Environmental Group Hopes To Help City Dredge Lake Takanassee

The Long Branch Council has chosen to support an environmental group that hopes to one day aid the city in dredging Lake Takanassee.

The Whalepond Brook Watershed Association's goal is to improve the quality of local bodies of water in Long Branch, West Long Branch, Tinton Falls, Eatontown and Ocean Township and create a greenway from the source to the ocean.

Volunteer Faith Teitelbaum Lake Takanassee is part of the watershed and is furthest downstream before the water empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

The group has already held several cleanups in Eatontown and Long Branch, and Teitelbaum said the group is looking to gain support from towns. The Long Branch Council gave the group its support by passing a resolution supporting membership in the association during Tuesday night's meeting.

Tietelbaum said the Tinton Falls Council has passed a similar resolution and that she expects the other town's councils to do the same.

She said one of the group's goals is to help dredge Takanassee Lake, a process that could be accomplished with the help of federal grants.

However, Teitelbaum said the problems upstream such as flooding near Christopher Way in Eatontown must be remedied before downstream bodies of water can be addressed.

"The flooding contributes to growth downstream in Long Branch," she said.

She said there is about four feet of silt in Lake Takanassee that is "bringing vegetation to the top of the lake."

Long Branch Business Administrator Howard Woolley agreed with Teitelbaum.

"The lake's issues are more than just clogged pipes - it's erosion and sediment problems," Woolley said.

Teitelbaum said the association has been researching several grants and the chances of receiving one are "favorable," because the lake's total maximum daily load of toxins is high.

Long Branch Council President Michael Sirianni asked if the grants the association are pursuing would have any cost to the city.

"We don't know if it is a matching grant," Tietelbaum said.

Although the lake dredging may still be years away, the association is continuing to improve the watershed and will be hosting several cleanups next year including one on Ross Island on Jan. 21.

Ross Island is located in the middle of Lake Takanassee and is the home to a 100-year-old hut that has become overgrown with vegetation over the years.