SEA ISLE, N.J. -- The big news down the beach from us in tony
Avalon is the fight over a mega-mansion that's being built on the
dunes by a potato chip magnate from Pennsylvania.
For the rest of us, there's a "Keep Off the Dunes" sign, but for
Utz Quality Foods Inc. President Michael Rice and his wife, Jane,
the marketing vice president of the Hanover, Pa., snack-maker, the
high dunes in Avalon were the perfect spot for their opulent new
summer residence.
When completed, unless it's stopped in mid-construction by
Obama's EPA or a lawsuit by Save Avalon Dunes, a litigious group of
local anti-mansion property owners, the snack king's 40-room beach
house will include 15 bathrooms, maid's quarters, 10 bedrooms,
indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a movie theater -- all told,
14,000 square feet, six times the size of the average U.S. home, at
an estimated cost of $20 million, 20 times the $1 million price of
the average Avalon house.
More pedestrian, the economic news at Frank's Boat Rentals on
the bay in adjacent Strathmere is that minnies are $7.01 for half a
pint. That's for 24 average-sized minnows, or maybe 15 extra-big
ones, enough to keep a fisherperson in flounder-attracting bait for
a day of average biting.
The penny in the $7.01 price is so the sale comes to an even
$7.50, with Jersey's 7 percent sales tax, up from 6 percent in
2006.
Last year, the government-regulated season for summer flounder,
also known as fluke, ran from May 26 though Sept. 10. This year,
running from May 24 through Sept. 7, the season is one day shorter
-- two days longer in May and three days shorter in September. The
government's goal is to cut the total number of flounder caught per
season.
Also designed to reduce the catch, the minimum "keeper" size for
summer flounder this year is 18 inches, up from 17 inches last
year. Per person, the total flounder catch allowed is eight fish
per day, the same as last year.
An 18-inch flounder weighs about two pounds. After cleaning,
that's roughly a pound of fillets. Figuring the $75 per day boat
rental, $7.50 for bait and a maximum catch of eight fish, say at 18
inches each, that's more than $10 a pound, not counting bug spray
-- or $20 a pound if you catch four. Not so good when fluke fillets
are selling for $15 a pound in the supermarket and with no sales
tax.
Food for "at-home preparation" is exempt from Jersey's sales tax
(someone should sue the state to make minnies tax exempt since
they're just food to get food for at-home preparation).
In other money news, the daily beach passes in Sea Isle this
year are $5, a hike of 25 percent on last year's $4 fee. You pay
even if you don't stick your toe in the ocean. The charge is for
walking or sitting (except Wednesdays, when it's free).
The daily beach fee is a dollar higher in more-posh Avalon and
free in less-posh Wildwood.
In casino news, citizen pressure is rising in Atlantic City to
get rid of the 20-foot statue of communist leader Vladimir Lenin
that stands outside the front door of Red Square, a Russian-themed
restaurant in the fully-capitalistic Tropicana. Protest leader Al
Garrett says the statue is an "insult to our American vets." Adding
to the problem, the Tropicana recently celebrated the grand opening
of its new Havana Rooftop Slots.
In other casino news, the National Labor Relations Board
certified last week that the dealers at Trump Plaza Hotel and
Casino voted overwhelmingly to join the United Automobile Workers
(UAW) in last year's disputed election. The certification came on
the same day that General Motors announced that production will
shut down at four U.S. plants that make SUVs and pickup trucks,
idling 8,000 members of the UAW.
What that means for the UAW is fewer Hummers and more blackjack
dealers, except that total employment in Atlantic City's casino
hotels is currently 41,000 people, down from 49,000 in 1997.
And bad as high gas prices are for GM, the Memorial Day traffic
to Jersey's beaches by official count was up 25 percent over last
year. At 20 miles-per-gallon and $4 a gallon, the 60 mile ride from
Philly is $12 -- $3 cheaper than a pound of flounder.
topics:
Law, Russia
