The Guardians of Beach Vehicle Access

By Wylie Saviello

In small booths on the border between the beach and the street, retirees collect tolls for cars accessing the beach. Whether this is their first or 10^th season, they have become an integral part of the local community and an important step for tourists’ seeking the full St. Augustine experience. 

Coming from the northern states and retiring in St. Augustine, retirees’ jobs as beach toll enforcers keep them close to the beautiful beaches and connected to the community. 

During the busy season, March 1 through Sept. 30, vehicles must pay tolls to drive on the beach. Saint John’s County has 12 miles of beach that allow vehicular access, and eight access ramps each with their own toll booth.

“The people who work at the beach booths are all fun, nice people. They’re all really happy to be at work, something you normally don’t see,” said Joe DeBartolo, a toll booth employee at Vilano Bech. 

The toll booth employees work for the St. John’s County Beach Services, and despite the rare difficult customer and hot summers, they enjoy it. 

“It’s well run, the management are super supportive, and they help us whenever we need help. They’re great to work for,” said Ed Krumeich, another beach toll enforcer. 

The toll booth employees work five-hour shifts and do their best to keep cool during the hot summer months. 

“They really do care about the employees. They provide us with a fan, ice packs to keep the scanners cool and a bucket of ice every day,” DeBartolo said. 

This is DeBartolo’s first season as a beach toll enforcer. He retired two years ago and moved down to the St. Augustine area. He’s come to love Vilano Beach and enjoys how the job keeps him active as he adjusts to retired life. 

“This job gets me out of bed three days a week for sure,” he said. 

Debartolo, who worked in an office for 31 years, told himself that if he ever went back to work, he would do something fun. This job is just that. 

“After being the owner of a business my whole life, it’s nice to be involved in something again. And this is a pretty nice something,” Krumeich said. 

Krumeich’s been in St. Augustine for 15 years and this is his second season working the toll booths. His wife saw the job posting on Facebook, and since she’s still actively working, Krumeich saw the job as a good way to show support to her and do something during his retirement. 

“I absolutely love it,” Krumeich said. “I wanted this job because I’ve been self-employed my whole life and wanted someone else to make all the decisions and just do what I’m told.” 

Krumeich enjoys meeting people and getting to know the regulars, some even bringing him drinks and sandwiches on particularly hot days.  

“It’s a nice social event,” he said. 

While some toll enforcers are new to the job, there are plenty seasoned veterans, like Elena Lankau. Lankau has been in St. Augustine almost 20 years, and manning toll booths for 10. 

She enjoys getting to know the locals who have become friends, checking if their trash is picked up and collecting their mail when they’re away from home. When she isn’t working, she collects shells on the beach and uses them to make art that she sells at the Wednesday Pier Farmers Market. 

“I enjoy communicating with people from different countries, different ethnic groups. I love the beach,” Lankau said. 

Toll booth employees keep dog treats in their booths for dogs that come by on their regular walks. While locals do donate dog treats to keep the booths stocked and the dogs happy, Lankau brings her own dog treats. 

“I love my dogs,” she said. 

It’s a unique job that offers direct views of the sun rising over the water and an ocean breeze during shifts. Sometimes drivers argue about the county’s strong recommendation that vehicles on the beach have four-wheel-drive, but those complaints aren’t common.

“Most of the people appreciate the fact that we’re even here doing this… and most of the people that come to the beach are happy people,” Krumeich said. 

The toll booth employees recognize how special their job is, returning season after season to their sun-bleached booths to keep their retirement interesting. 

“There’s not a lot of jobs out there that will pay you to sit in the sun and listen to Grateful Dead music all day,” said DeBartolo, who brings a speaker with him to work. “So, you know, I’m at the beach anyway, why not get paid for it?”