2016:

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This Weeks News 11/23/2016

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MARKET MINUTE: The latest Long & Foster Market Minute shows the median sale price increased in October versus a year ago, while the number of sales decreased. The number of active listings and the average "days on market" both decreased. View The Full Market Minute Report


THE 96TH STREET BRIDGE may be open for the Thanksgiving Weekend. Contractors have been working to reopen the bridge to automobile traffic since a crack in a main girder was discovered a few weeks ago. Just a short distance to the north, the underwater remains of the Beesley's Point Bridge were demolished. The bridge, which carried Route 9 across Great Egg Harbor Bay between Upper Township (Cape May County) and Somers Point (Atlantic County), fell into disrepair and was closed to traffic in 2004. The removal of the span was part of the ongoing project that included the construction of a new southbound Garden State Parkway bridge across the same body of water. 

Video - Underwater Demolition On Old Beesley's Point Bridge
 
FESTIVE FRIDAY & SNOWFEST SATURDAY arrive in Avalon after the Thanksgiving holiday. Events and activities will be available throughout the business district, including iceless skating, music, rock wall climbing, and a whole lot more!
 
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE in Stone Harbor again this year, as the annual holiday celebration kicks off Friday. A variety of family-friendly activities are on tap Friday & Saturday, capped by a huge Christmas Parade Saturday evening at 6:30pm. Santa will be the guest of honor at the parade.
 
SHOP THE SHORE: Make sure there's a piece of the shore under the tree this year! If you're here this weekend--or anytime--pick up some holiday gifts. Local shops offer a delightful variety of things and here are some other ideas: gift certificates for local restaurants; the Cape May Lewes Ferry offers gift certificates as well; the Fudge Kitchen will ship their delicious candy anywhere; Avalon Coffee ships their coffee & mugs; Stone Harbor Fire Company has department t-shirts available for purchase and the firehouse is staffed most days; holiday beach tags are available for purchase for both Avalon & Stone Harbor; Gillian's & Morey's Piers have gift cards available for lots of fun activities when they re-open in the Spring; Atlantic City Restaurant Week (which will be held in March 2017) has gift cards available for use at any of the participating restaurants.
 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and your family!

This Weeks News 11/17/2016

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BUOY ON THE BEACH!  Monday's low tide revealed an interesting new addition to the beach at Stone Harbor Point: a red navigational buoy, partially buried in the sand. The buoy is numbered "2T" and is from Townsend's Inlet. No word on why it broke loose from its mooring in the inlet.
 
BEACH FILL MOVING AHEAD: The joint Avalon-Stone Harbor beachfill project appears to be moving forward after an agreement was struck among several agencies. In order to avoid using federal funds for the dredging of sand from Hereford Inlet to replenish Stone Harbor beaches--the issue that stalled the project initially--those funds will instead be used to fund Avalon's fill, while a combination of Stone Harbor and NJDEP funds will be used for the Herford Inlet dredging component. The project is now expected to proceed, though Avalon still hopes to seek a long term solution to the original problem--the Division of Fish and Wildlife's recent invoking of an old rule preventing dredging in Hereford Inlet using federal funds. Avalon says the rule had not been imposed on prior projects, and should not have been imposed this time.
 
THANKSGIVING WEEKEND kicks off the holiday season here on the Island! After your turkey dinner, check out Avalon's Festive Friday and Snowfest Saturday activities, including the Turkey Trot run, iceless ice skating, and a tree lighting ceremony. Stone Harbor will celebrate the "It's a Wonderful Life" theme again this year, with a scavenger hunt, caroling, and letters to Santa. It's all capped off with a huge Christmas Parade along 96th Street Saturday evening. Check out the list of activities and events below!
 
STONE HARBOR LIBRARY: SNEAK PEEK! Swing by the new Stone Harbor Library on Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend for a "sneak peek" inside the new facility. No official opening date has been announced, but the library will be open for the public to visit that day.
 
HOLIDAY BEACH TAGS will be available Thanksgiving Weekend! Avalon will sell holiday tags during Festive Friday on November 25th and Snowfest Saturday on November 26th at the Avalon Rescue Squad. This year beachgoers can find one of Santa's reindeer dressed for the season with a wreath, ornaments and candy canes on the tag. On both days, sales will be held from 11am-4pm. The remaining tags will be for sale the following week in the tax collector's office at Borough Hall, 3100 Dune Dr. Stone Harbor's 2017 beach tags follow along with the Island Holiday Scavenger Hunt theme of "Every time a bell rings, an egret gets its wings." The tag features an egret in the dunes wearing a red scarf with a bell close by. Tags will be available for purchase inside Borough Hall at 9508 Second Avenue beginning Friday, November 25th from 10am-8pm; Saturday, November 26th from 10am-7pm; and Sunday November 27th from 10am-5pm.
 

Avalon and Stone Harbor have unveiled their holiday beach tags.  They can be purchased beginning Thanksgiving Weekend.
 
LOCAL GIFT IDEAS: While you're here over Thanksgiving Weekend, shop local! Whether it's a holiday beach tag, a box of fudge, a gift certificate to a local restaurant, or a specialty item from your favorite store, give a bit of Seven Mile Beach to your loved ones this year! Want to make it really special? Treat your family to their very own place at the shore! Call me to get started!

SELLING IN 2017? Call me now so I can include your property in the Leiser Group's extensive marketing plan! The Real Estate Guide, Oasis Magazine, CirclePix, AdWerx, and extensive website presence are part of our marketing, designed to provide your property with maximum exposure!

This Weeks News 11/10/2016

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THE 96th STREET BRIDGE remains closed to vehicular and marine traffic due to a crack in one of its main girders. Temporary trusses are expected to be installed on top of the bridge, allowing vehicular traffic to cross over the span as soon as November 18th. The cracked girder can then be jacked into position and the crack repaired. Meanwhile, vehicles entering or leaving Stone Harbor must use North Wildwood Boulevard or Avalon Boulevard. Boats too tall to pass under the 96th Street Bridge must travel north or south via the ocean.
 

Workers examine the 96th Street Bridge after a cracked girder was discovered. Temporary trusses are expected to have it open to vehicular traffic on November 18th.
 
$708 MILLION! That's the amount of annual tourism spending in Cape May County--well ahead of Atlantic County's $360 million and Ocean County's $636 million, according to a 2015 state report. Cape May County has marketed itself as a tourist destination for both the popular summer season, as well as the fall and off season. Cape May County's most recent marketing campaign, "Fall for the Jersey Cape," began in late summer, with the goal of increasing visits to the area on fall weekends.
 
VETERAN'S DAY CEREMONIES will be held in both Avalon and Stone Harbor on Friday, November 11th. Avalon's ceremony will take place at 11am at Veteran's Plaza at 21st & Dune Drive; at 12 noon Stone Harbor's ceremony will occur at the American Legion at 11617 Second Avenue.
 
ANOTHER SUPERMOON will rise in the sky the evening of November 14th, with the moon making its closest appearance to earth since 1948. The moon will appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter in the sky--and local beaches make a superb viewing location!
 
FLOOD INSURANCE MEETING CANCELLED: Stone Harbor's flood insurance informational meeting, scheduled for November 26th, has been cancelled.
 
WINTERIZE NOW: the first taste of cooler weather means it's time to think about winterizing outdoor showers and other outside water lines. Contact your plumber now to get on the schedule. Need a plumber? Contact me for recommendations!

CURIOUS? If you have questions about any of the new sale properties listed below, just give me a call at 609-335-1516 and I'll be glad to fill you in on all the details. I'd be pleased to answer any questions you might have!

This Weeks News 11/3/2016

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THE 96TH STREET BRIDGE was closed unexpectedly over the weekend after a structural problem was discovered. Both automobile traffic and openings for marine traffic have been suspended after a County bridge crew found a crack in one of the main span girders while performing electrical work last Friday. The bridge is expected to remain closed until at least next week so repairs can be made. Vehicles headed to Stone Harbor should use Avalon Boulevard or North Wildwood Boulevard instead.
 
AVALON OFFICIALS are looking at options to move a joint Avalon-Stone Harbor hydraulic beach fill project forward. The project has been discussed for quite some time but ran into a roadblock when the US Fish and Wildlife Service claimed that Hereford Inlet could not be used as a borrow site for sand for the Stone Harbor portion of the project. Avalon's sand was to come from Townsend's Inlet but since the project covers both towns, Avalon's administrator said if Stone Harbor's portion of the project didn't occur, neither would Avalon's. Avalon officials may turn to the court system for relief to allow the dredging project to move forward. In the event it does not, Borough officials would turn to "backpassing," a process of moving sand from one area of the beach to another, via bulldozers and dump trucks. Backpassing has been used previously to replenish beaches, but is seen as a method to extend the time between hydraulic dredging projects, not a replacement for it.
 
WANT YOUR OWN LIFEGUARD BOAT? There's an Avalon lifeguard boat available on ebay right now! The 17-foot Van Duyne, located in York, PA, is offered at the Buy it Now price of $1,800.

Have a look!  Van Duyne Surf Boat Avalon Lifeguard Boat 17' 3" (ebay)
 

This Avalon lifeguard boat, now in York, PA, is being offered on ebay!
 
FLOOD INSURANCE CHECKUP: Stone Harbor residents are invited to a meeting Saturday, November 26th from 9:30am to 12 noon for a review of changes to the National Flood Insurance Program, steps to take to mitigate flood losses, followed by group or individual reviews of your current flood insurance coverage. If you have them, bring your elevation certificate and your current flood insurance policy so that specific mitigation steps can be recommended; if you don't have them, your situation can still be reviewed. The meeting will be held at the Stone Harbor Municipal Building at 9508 Second Avenue. To reserve a seat visit stoneharbor.eventbrite.com or call (866) 599-7065.

JUST LOOKING? Whether you're ready to purchase your dream home or you're just in the looking stage, I'm here to help. Check out all the options or give me a call at 609-335-1516 for some exceptional shore buys!