Monthly Archives: August 2016

9 Facts You Didn’t Know About Long Beach Island

9 Facts You Didn’t Know About Long Beach Island

Anyone who has been to Long Beach Island knows it’s a warm, cozy community that thrives during the summer. Whether you own a home there, you stay at a local Long Beach Island hotel, or you just take day trips to the beach, you probably love to visit.

So if you love to visit Long Beach Island, you might enjoy knowing a little more about it. With that in mind, we have some interesting facts for you. Take a look:

  • Long Beach Island has been battered by some major storms. In 1920, most of the island was destroyed by a devastating winter storm that even reopened a once closed inlet in Holgate, including several Long Beach Island hotels. In 1923, another storm smashed the island and knocked out rail service for a full three years, and in 1935, a storm washed out the railroad bridge to the mainland.
  • Perhaps the worst storm was the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962. That storm split the island into several pieces and causes the USS Monssen, a Navy destroyer, to run aground. The storm is considered one of the 10 worst storms of the 20th Century in the United States, and almost destroyed all of Long Beach Island.
  • Long Beach Island was also battered by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The storm flooded the island and cause the bridge to the island to be closed for 13 days.
  • The current causeway that connects Long Beach Island to the mainland was constructed in the late 1950s.
  • Long Beach Island is known as a fairly well to do area of New Jersey. Even as far back as 1970, Philadelphia Magazine joked that “the haves turn right and the have mores turn left,” referring to the turns south and north people make after arriving on the island. Anyone, of course, can be part of the community at an LBI hotel.
  • The communities on the north of the island, including Loveladies and North Beach, feature sprawling Victorian homes that often spark rumors of celebrities vacationing there.
  • Though Long Beach Island is a highly desirable resort and vacation area, it is not comparable to nearby Jersey Shore communities like Seaside Heights, Wildwood, and Belmar. Instead of a thriving night club scene and rides and boardwalks, it’s a family oriented vacation spot with more focus on restaurants, museums, and beaches. Long Beach Island hotels thrive on this.
  • Long Beach Island is home to many fishing and charter boats, some of which get 100 or more miles off the coast.
  • Long Beach Island was once home to the famed Surflight Theater. Built in 1950 by Joseph P. Hayes, for decades the theater offered a place for the local arts to be performed, including music, dance, theater, and comedy. The theater closed in 2015 after declaring bankruptcy.

What do you know about the Long Beach Island community? How in touch with its history are you? If you know some interesting facts we didn’t mention, tell us about them in the com

4 Reasons To Remove Your Underground Oil Tank

Nobody wants to begin a project that will entail having their yard dug up by heavy machinery. Nobody wants to put money out for such a project if they can avoid it, either.

And nobody wants to do any of these things when it involves removing an underground oil tank.

But the fact is, sometimes NJ oil tank removal is a necessity. Sometimes you have to do it because the law tells you you must, and sometimes you feel like it’s your best option because you hope to sell your property. Or in the worst case scenario, sometimes you have to do it because a leak has been discovered in your underground oil tank, necessitating removal in order to avoid a larger spill and contamination.

So what are the major reasons why someone would want to have their underground oil tank removed? Here are the five biggest reasons:

Because of a Leak – This is the obvious one. If you somehow discover a leak in your underground oil tank, you’re going to want to get it removed and/or repaired as soon as possible. Even if you’re not the sort to worry about the environmental damage such a spill would do – and it will do damage – you should at least worry about the steep fines you’ll face, not to mention the cost of cleanup, which can be many times the cost of just removing the tank in the first place.

In Order to Sell the Property – Sometimes, finalizing a real estate transaction is contingent upon NJ oil tank removal. It’s not unusual for buyers to want any such tanks removed before purchasing a piece of property, in large part to protect themselves from the cost of cleanup in the case of a leak – and given enough time in the ground, all tanks will eventually leak. So often, property owners looking to sell will find themselves seeking out contractors to get these tanks removed prior to a sale.

Switching to an Above Ground Tank – Sometimes, the reason to do NJ oil tank removal is as simple as a desire to cut problems off at the pass by switching to an above ground tank before there is a problem. People began putting their oil tanks underground because they were considered unsightly, but these days creative landscaping and attractive fencing can render that a non-issue for people with enough yard space.

Because There Are Grants Available – These days, property owners no longer need to bear the entire cost of underground oil tank removal. There are grants available from the State of New Jersey that can offset some (and sometimes even all) of the cost of oil tank removal. Your chosen contractor can often help with these grants, which makes the task that much easier. With money out there and available, many property owners are taking the plunge now before funding dries up.

There may be many other reasons why people would look to have underground oil tanks removed on their property. Whatever the reason, what is important is that it is more cost effective than ever to do it, and there are more experts in oil tank removal than ever operating in New Jersey.

So even people who don’t want to pursue a project like this are doing it because the timing has never been better.