Do 380 people really need a separate government?

Ship Bottom, population 1,418 as of July 2004, is considering either renovating its municipal buildings or building a new one for $3.3 million. That comes to about $2,325 per person. Down the boulevard on Long Beach Island in Harvey Cedars, population 380, there's talk of adding on to the municipal building. At the north end of Long Beach Island, Barnegat Light, population 815, is completing renovations to its new municipal offices at the former Coast Guard facility.
From the top of Long Beach Island to the bottom, there are about 9,000 residents in six municipalities. That's crazy. It's time for those towns to start consolidating services as a leadup to a full consolidation. There would still be 12 Ocean County municipalities much larger than a combined Long Beach Island.