The Brick Township Reservoir (Photo: Daniel Nee)
A post on a local satirical news website went a bit viral this week, leading some Brick residents to believe that the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority would be charging per-lap fees when the reservoir reopens to walkers and joggers.
The BTMUA reservoir will open its concrete path to walkers and runners March 17 with limited hours, the authority announced last week. But soon after that announcement went out, a local website known for parody and satire posted the article, complete with a humorous photo of a “toll booth” at the facility. To make things run faster, the article said, there will even be a human-worn “EZ-Pass” style bracelet to count the laps and charge accordingly.
Of course, none of this is true, confirmed Mayor John Ducey this week.
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“If you read the whole article, you’d probably figure it’s a joke, but it really got out there,” Ducey said, with a chuckle.
The article, which appeared on the Bay Head Beacon blog, even invented an opposition group called W.I.F.E. (Walking Is Free Everywhere) and encouraged a boycott of the local water purveyor.
“They encourage a big protest out there for the MUA,” said Ducey. “They said to buy bottled water, avoid showering and limit toilet use as best you can.”
The mayor took the article as the joke it was, saying he’s seen some of the site’s “headlines” before. They include, among other topics, a zip-line being built across the Point Pleasant Canal, a U.S. Navy battleship in Barnegat Bay and an interview with a “historian” who claimed Christpher Columbus landed on Point Pleasant Beach rather than the island of Hispaniola.
Regardless, the reservoir walkway, which has been closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, is still planned to reopen (toll free) next week.
It will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The reservoir is located at the corner of Sally Ike Road and Hebertsville Road in Brick. There are entrances on Herbertsville Road and at the reservoir’s Wall Township end off Metedeconk Road (Sally Ike is renamed ‘Metedeconk’ in Monmouth County).
