Okay…I will admit that I was feeling proud of myself…maybe even a bit smug.  Every morning, I slipped on my sneakers and iPod to enjoy a long walk on the beach.  Why go to a gym when I have a beautiful view just down the street?Â
But this past week, something changed. It’s called JANUARY- the true test of my dedication to a fitness routine. I have added a few more layers to face the 20 mph winds and the 30 degree temperatures (it’s not a fashionable look).
My younger son, who lives in Colorado, thinks I’m a wimp when I complain about the cold. He copes with below freezing temperatures on a regular basis- but it’s a “dry cold” (he says that so we don’t worry). With the mightly Atlantic Ocean nearby, our cold is anything but dry.Â
Many of my fellow walkers have fled to warmer climates for the winter (or maybe just to their treadmills). There are a few hardy souls left and they inspire me to stay outdoors and keep walking!
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Avalon Beach Replenishment- ’07
Article in The Press of Atlantic City- published 2/3/7.Â
The Borough of Avalon is preparing to borrow nearly $3 Million to restock beaches in Avalon’s Northern End damaged by erosion in the past year.
    Avalon scheduled an emergency meeting for Monday, 1/29/07, to appropriate money for beach replenishment before the tourist season.
    Last year, Avalon paid nearly $2.8 Million for a dredge to replace 8 blocks of beaches – about 350,000 cubic yards of sand – between 9th and 18th Streets.
    Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi said the Borough hoped its beach fill in 2006 would last through the start of an upcoming U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project.
But Pagliughi said Avalon can’t wait. “ That’s all we need is a hurricane or a coastal storm and all of those houses are going to get whacked”.
    Municipalities such as Avalon are on a schedule to receive money for beach replenishment through a funding formula that divides the costs between federal, state and local governments.
    Before 2006, Avalon’s last beach fill was in 2003, when it entered into a 50-year partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Under that Agreement, the federal government pays more than half the costs. Avalon anticipates the federal government will help fund a larger beach replenishment for later this year or in 2008.
    Avalon Public Works Director Harry Debutts checks the conditions of the beaches nearly every day. Like the vacationers who frequent the beaches, the sand itself tends to migrate and return, but not in the same volume in which it left. “The beach has actually started to recover a little on its own in the north end…for that part of it, I’m grateful. What we need to see happen there is finally starting to come around”, Debutts said. “But, it’s not enough for us to feel comfortable with entering the summer season”.
Debutts said this year’s project will likely not include a dredge. Instead, it may involve back-passing – trucking sand from one end of Avalon to the other – or carting sand in from elsewhere.
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