After selling out in January, Spring Lake selling 2,000 new beach tags

After complaints about season beach tags selling out quickly with little notice, Spring Lake made more available on Friday morning.

Borough officials in January said that most of the tags were sold to non-residents despite suspicion raised that their sale was not publicized beyond a mention in the borough newsletter.

The Spring Lake Beach & Pool Committee said another 2,000 season beach badges would be put up for sale Friday at 9 a.m. along with 250 for seniors, according to the borough website.

The sale was authorized by Mayor Jennifer Naughton and the Borough Council "due to the recent drop in COVID transmission rates and the ongoing vaccination roll out," according to the website. The badges are $110 for ages 12-64 and $80 for over 65.

The state's retransmission rate is .80 as of Thursday, according to the state COVID-19 dashboard, the lowest it's been since August.

The only advance notice about the sale was a mention at Tuesday night's borough council, according to NJ.com, although it was not part of the posted meeting agenda. The meeting minutes and video or audio of the meeting have not been posted on the borough website.

Messages for the borough administrator and Naughton on Friday morning were not immediately returned.

Current executive orders issued by Gov. Phil Murphy limit outdoor gatherings to just 25 people and requires social distancing to be in place. Municipalities retain local control over whether or not beaches will be open. Social distancing and the size of the beach determine how many people will be allowed on the beach.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ