Tinton Falls restores police chief position
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
TINTON FALLS — After a three-month hiatus, the Borough Council has voted to reestablish the position of police chief.
Since the April 1 retirement of former chief Gerald Turning, the Tinton Falls Police Department has been without a police chief,
The council voted 5-0 at the July 7 meeting to adopt an ordinance that re-establishes the position of police chief, a position that was eliminated when Turning retired.
Turning’s retirement lasted only a month before he was appointed in May to take over as Borough Administrator.
In an interview this week, Turning explained that an ordinance approved in 2004 provided that the chief’s position would be eliminated when he left.
“The ordinance was written that it would expire upon my retirement, and what they planned on doing was revisiting it after I had left,” Turning said.
The ordinance approved July 7 also establishes a cap on the number of officers who can hold certain positions in the police force.
According to the ordinance, there will be one chief, two captains, five lieutenants, seven sergeants and 26 patrol officers.
Turning said that the borough has had to update this ordinance to include a cap on those positions since the previous ordinance was written six years ago.
“There were no limitations on the number of people we could have in each position, and there is case law since that was originally written,” he said. “By putting a number on there, it tells the council exactly how much they need to budget for.”
Turning said the police chief position will remain vacant until Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera appoints someone.
“Under our ordinance, the police chief is appointed by the mayor,” he said. “That is statute all over the state of New Jersey.
“He can’t hire someone from the outside as police chief, because it is a violation of the ordinance,” he added. “[The chief] has to be promoted from within.”
Turning explained that the position under chief is captain, and Capt. David Trevena is currently the only captain serving on the police force.
Turning said Trevena is being considered for the chief’s job.
“We only have one [captain] because one just retired,” he said. “He’s [Trevena] being considered, but the mayor could appoint whomever he wishes.
“It’s not necessarily the next person in line. Whatever action he decides to take is totally up to him.”
Turning said that there is also a public safety director who is a civilian in charge of the police department.
At the June 1 council meeting, Doug Gotfredsen was sworn in as director of public safety, a position that was vacated after former Public Safety Director and Administrator Bryan Dempsey accepted a position in Spring Lake in January.
Turning said that he is pleased the council adopted the ordinance to re-establish the position.
“We have a public safety director, so there is someone running the police department of civilian authority,” he said. “I was in favor of it because I had served in the role of commanding officer prior to 2004, but being chief of police is a totally different animal.”
At the July 7 meeting, Councilman Scott Larkin praised fellow Councilman Duane Morrill for pushing the ordinance forward.
“I want to commend Mr. Morrill,” Larkin said. “He really pushed this, and sometimes it seems like it’s hard to accomplish things, but you helped us create something that is tangible.”
Also at the July 7 meeting, the council reorganized, with Councilman Gary Baldwin becoming the new council president.
Baldwin was elected with a 3-2 vote, with Morrill and Councilman Andrew Mayer voting against Baldwin in favor of Mayer.
Baldwin officially took over for Morrill as council president, and Mayer will replace Baldwin as deputy council president.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
WLB fills vacant council seat
WLB fills vacant council seat
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH — A little more than a month after longtime Councilman Joseph Woolley resigned, the Borough Council named a replacement.
At the July 7 council meeting, the five current council members voted Zoning Board member Jose Villa to fill Woolley’s seat, after the seven-term councilman resigned on June 2.
West Long Branch Mayor Janet Tucci said Villa will be missed from the zoning board.
“Jose has been a member of our zoning board, born and raised in West Long Branch,” she said. “He was a very valuable member of our zoning board, and they are going to miss him.”
Tucci also spoke about Woolley’s retirement.
“Councilman Woolley retired after serving 20 long, hard years in the borough,” she said. “Councilman Woolley would have been here tonight but he’s at the fair with his grandsons.
“See the things you can do when you’re not on council anymore.”
Woolley, a Republican, was re-elected for a seventh term in 2007.
Villa, also a Republican, works as a claims director. He will serve Woolley’s unexpired term until Dec. 31.
Villa’s appointment keeps the political makeup of the borough’s governing body the same, with one Democrat and five Republicans sitting on council, and a Republican mayor.
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BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH — A little more than a month after longtime Councilman Joseph Woolley resigned, the Borough Council named a replacement.
At the July 7 council meeting, the five current council members voted Zoning Board member Jose Villa to fill Woolley’s seat, after the seven-term councilman resigned on June 2.
West Long Branch Mayor Janet Tucci said Villa will be missed from the zoning board.
“Jose has been a member of our zoning board, born and raised in West Long Branch,” she said. “He was a very valuable member of our zoning board, and they are going to miss him.”
Tucci also spoke about Woolley’s retirement.
“Councilman Woolley retired after serving 20 long, hard years in the borough,” she said. “Councilman Woolley would have been here tonight but he’s at the fair with his grandsons.
“See the things you can do when you’re not on council anymore.”
Woolley, a Republican, was re-elected for a seventh term in 2007.
Villa, also a Republican, works as a claims director. He will serve Woolley’s unexpired term until Dec. 31.
Villa’s appointment keeps the political makeup of the borough’s governing body the same, with one Democrat and five Republicans sitting on council, and a Republican mayor.
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Grants fund upgrades for local school districts
Grants fund upgrades for local school districts
Funds offset costs for Monmouth Regional and Ocean Twp. districts
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
TINTON FALLS — Grants to two Monmouth County school districts will pay for 40 percent of the cost of projects that will upgrade school facilities.
Both the Monmouth Regional High School District and Ocean Township School District were approved for grant funds last month from the New Jersey Schools DevelopmentAuthority Regular Operating District grant program to help relieve the burden of projects on local taxpayers for various projects.
Monmouth Regional received $822,404 from the state toward the $2 million cost of projects carried out this summer.
The Ocean Township School District received $192,720 from the state to complete a $481,800 project to replace piping at the intermediate school and to replace the boiler at the Wanamassa School.
According to Monmouth Regional district Business Administrator Maria Parry, the projects are under way and include replacing both locker rooms and the windows in one of the wings.
“The projects are 98 percent done,” she said recently. “Hopefully, they’ll be done by the end of August.”
Parry said the locker rooms were in poor condition.
“The locker rooms were 50 years old,” she said. “The plumbing didn’t work in one of the locker rooms, and the other locker room was the original girls’ locker room that [was] turned into a boys’ locker room.”
Parry also said the old windows were a safety risk for students.
“The windows were the original windows to the building that were about 50 years old,” she said. “They were not energy efficient, they weren’t insulated.
“I had floor-to-ceiling windows, so I always had a safety issue if someone accidentally kicked the glass.”
Parry said she expects the new windows to save the district money on heating bills.
“Now the windows are energy efficient, they are not floor-to-ceiling windows, they are half-windows,” she said. “They will re- tain the heat from the sun, so I’ll be able to not use as much heat in some of the hallways.
“I’m not going to save millions of dollars, but I will have savings.”
Parry said the district would still have done the work without the funds from the state, but the upgrade of both locker rooms may not have been done.
“This has just been a bonus that I’ve been able to get 40 percent back of the cost of the project from the state,” she said.
Parry said the SDA has been in existence since about 2000, but this is the first time Monmouth Regional has applied for funding.
She said one project that isn’t being supported by the state is replacing bleachers.
“They have certain projects that are excluded,” she said. “We are putting in new bleachers, and the bleachers are excluded.”
Parry said the district started the process of preparing an application in January 2009 and sent in the application in November of last year.
For a time, she said, there was some doubt about whether or not the district would receive the grant money.
“We had found out in December that we were possibly not going to get the grant monies,” she said. “It was a big concern on my end.
“I was very pleased to hear in April or May that the state did approve the grants.”
Parry added that reimbursement by the state involves a lot of paperwork.
“I’m in the process of putting in for reimbursement of the 40 percent share from the state, so right now I’m knee-deep in paperwork,” she said.
Ocean Township School District Business Administrator Ken Jannarone said the work there has already been completed.
He also said the work was necessary and would have been done even without the grant.
“We had an old boiler and piping that needed to be replaced,” Jannarone said. “For these necessary projects to be able to receive additional funds from the state to offset local costs is pretty big.’
According to the SDA, the grant program is part of a $50.3 million investment made available by the sale of $500 million in bonds by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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Funds offset costs for Monmouth Regional and Ocean Twp. districts
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
TINTON FALLS — Grants to two Monmouth County school districts will pay for 40 percent of the cost of projects that will upgrade school facilities.
Both the Monmouth Regional High School District and Ocean Township School District were approved for grant funds last month from the New Jersey Schools DevelopmentAuthority Regular Operating District grant program to help relieve the burden of projects on local taxpayers for various projects.
Monmouth Regional received $822,404 from the state toward the $2 million cost of projects carried out this summer.
The Ocean Township School District received $192,720 from the state to complete a $481,800 project to replace piping at the intermediate school and to replace the boiler at the Wanamassa School.
According to Monmouth Regional district Business Administrator Maria Parry, the projects are under way and include replacing both locker rooms and the windows in one of the wings.
“The projects are 98 percent done,” she said recently. “Hopefully, they’ll be done by the end of August.”
Parry said the locker rooms were in poor condition.
“The locker rooms were 50 years old,” she said. “The plumbing didn’t work in one of the locker rooms, and the other locker room was the original girls’ locker room that [was] turned into a boys’ locker room.”
Parry also said the old windows were a safety risk for students.
“The windows were the original windows to the building that were about 50 years old,” she said. “They were not energy efficient, they weren’t insulated.
“I had floor-to-ceiling windows, so I always had a safety issue if someone accidentally kicked the glass.”
Parry said she expects the new windows to save the district money on heating bills.
“Now the windows are energy efficient, they are not floor-to-ceiling windows, they are half-windows,” she said. “They will re- tain the heat from the sun, so I’ll be able to not use as much heat in some of the hallways.
“I’m not going to save millions of dollars, but I will have savings.”
Parry said the district would still have done the work without the funds from the state, but the upgrade of both locker rooms may not have been done.
“This has just been a bonus that I’ve been able to get 40 percent back of the cost of the project from the state,” she said.
Parry said the SDA has been in existence since about 2000, but this is the first time Monmouth Regional has applied for funding.
She said one project that isn’t being supported by the state is replacing bleachers.
“They have certain projects that are excluded,” she said. “We are putting in new bleachers, and the bleachers are excluded.”
Parry said the district started the process of preparing an application in January 2009 and sent in the application in November of last year.
For a time, she said, there was some doubt about whether or not the district would receive the grant money.
“We had found out in December that we were possibly not going to get the grant monies,” she said. “It was a big concern on my end.
“I was very pleased to hear in April or May that the state did approve the grants.”
Parry added that reimbursement by the state involves a lot of paperwork.
“I’m in the process of putting in for reimbursement of the 40 percent share from the state, so right now I’m knee-deep in paperwork,” she said.
Ocean Township School District Business Administrator Ken Jannarone said the work there has already been completed.
He also said the work was necessary and would have been done even without the grant.
“We had an old boiler and piping that needed to be replaced,” Jannarone said. “For these necessary projects to be able to receive additional funds from the state to offset local costs is pretty big.’
According to the SDA, the grant program is part of a $50.3 million investment made available by the sale of $500 million in bonds by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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Another $1M in funding secured for pier design
Another $1M in funding secured for pier design
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — The city will receive another infusion of funding for the completion of the design phase of the proposed Long Branch pier and ferry.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th District) announced earlier this month that he secured $1 million to complete the engineering and design phase from the fiscal year 2011 appropriations bill.
Pallone secured $300,000 from the appropriations bill last July, and he explained his role in securing funds for the pier in an interview last week.
“The money is basically a line item or a specific appropriations item in the transportation appropriations bill,” he said. “In the past we’ve done that on previous occasions, we’ve gotten $300,000 to $600,000.
“We started out with a $4 million appropriation that was spread out over four or five years,” he added. “The last couple of years we’ve gotten half a million a year or so.
“All together it might be about $6 million or more. It’s all been in the design or engineering phase, and this would be to complete that.”
This latest funding comes on the heels of an informal June meeting held in Long Branch where design and amenity options were discussed.
In November the City Council awarded the design contract to New York engineering firm McLaren Engineering Group.
During the June meeting it was estimated that the total project would cost $91.5 million, of which $6.5 million had been secured, and officials said they are confident another $53 million could be secured from noncompetitive grant opportunities.
Pallone said he is hopeful that the latest funding would allow for completion of the design process for the pier.
Pallone also explained the process he goes through to secure federal funds for the pier, which he said started a year ago.
“This is all added to the budget. It’s not part of the president’s budget, it is added to the budget by members like myself,” he said. “Then it is approved by the Appropriations Subcommittee, then it goes to the floor of the House.
“Once it’s approved by the subcommittee, it is highly likely that you’ll get final approval from the House and the Senate and then signed by the president at about that level,” he added.
Pallone said his favorite part of the project is the fishing pier.
“The main thing I keep stressing is the fishing pier,” he said. “To me, it was a shame when the old pier burned down, because for me as a kid growing up in Long Branch, having to go out on the fishing pier and having all the fishermen use it was such a significant part of the city.
“It was known not only throughout the state but even the country,” he added. “People tell me when I have said I was from Long Branch, “That’s the fishing pier where I would always go fish” or “where my father or grandfather would take me to go fish.”
Pallone said that while the fishing pier is important to him, the most important aspect of the project might be the ferry, which would allow the city to obtain transportation grant funds.
“Remember, this does come under transportation, so the ferry is the crucial part of it,” he said.
“You have to have the ferry to get the funding. As much as I think the fishing pier is the most important aspect, the ferry is the crucial component in order to get the funding.”
Pallone expects funding to continue to be available in the future for the pier and ferry.
“I know we have a long way to go, and I think what we are trying to do here is get a combination of federal, state and local [funds] as well as private funds and put together a packet,” he said. “I know the city is working hard on that, and I’ll continue to work on the federal component.”
A fire destroyed the Long Branch pier in 1987, and since that time the city has acquired redevelopment rights and plans to rebuild the pier and other amenities, including retail, restaurants, an amphitheater and a children’s play area along the oceanfront.
The pier project is divided into three components:
The core pier, which will be the main structure, will cost approximately $36.3 million. Plans call for the pier to extend 900 feet from the boardwalk into the Atlantic Ocean.
The high-speed ferry terminal and docking facility, slated to cost $20.2 million, would provide a direct route from the Long Branch region to lower Manhattan at a travel time of 40 minutes. The pier would contain a docking system as well as the ticketing and waiting areas required for the ferry operation.
The final component is the amenity uses, at an estimated cost of $32.5 million, which include retail, restaurants, event space, a public winter garden, outdoor amphitheater, entertainment space, fishing area and a children’s play area.
Pallone has previously predicted that the project would create 1,200 jobs during construction and 600 full-time jobs once operation begins.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — The city will receive another infusion of funding for the completion of the design phase of the proposed Long Branch pier and ferry.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th District) announced earlier this month that he secured $1 million to complete the engineering and design phase from the fiscal year 2011 appropriations bill.
Pallone secured $300,000 from the appropriations bill last July, and he explained his role in securing funds for the pier in an interview last week.
“The money is basically a line item or a specific appropriations item in the transportation appropriations bill,” he said. “In the past we’ve done that on previous occasions, we’ve gotten $300,000 to $600,000.
“We started out with a $4 million appropriation that was spread out over four or five years,” he added. “The last couple of years we’ve gotten half a million a year or so.
“All together it might be about $6 million or more. It’s all been in the design or engineering phase, and this would be to complete that.”
This latest funding comes on the heels of an informal June meeting held in Long Branch where design and amenity options were discussed.
In November the City Council awarded the design contract to New York engineering firm McLaren Engineering Group.
During the June meeting it was estimated that the total project would cost $91.5 million, of which $6.5 million had been secured, and officials said they are confident another $53 million could be secured from noncompetitive grant opportunities.
Pallone said he is hopeful that the latest funding would allow for completion of the design process for the pier.
Pallone also explained the process he goes through to secure federal funds for the pier, which he said started a year ago.
“This is all added to the budget. It’s not part of the president’s budget, it is added to the budget by members like myself,” he said. “Then it is approved by the Appropriations Subcommittee, then it goes to the floor of the House.
“Once it’s approved by the subcommittee, it is highly likely that you’ll get final approval from the House and the Senate and then signed by the president at about that level,” he added.
Pallone said his favorite part of the project is the fishing pier.
“The main thing I keep stressing is the fishing pier,” he said. “To me, it was a shame when the old pier burned down, because for me as a kid growing up in Long Branch, having to go out on the fishing pier and having all the fishermen use it was such a significant part of the city.
“It was known not only throughout the state but even the country,” he added. “People tell me when I have said I was from Long Branch, “That’s the fishing pier where I would always go fish” or “where my father or grandfather would take me to go fish.”
Pallone said that while the fishing pier is important to him, the most important aspect of the project might be the ferry, which would allow the city to obtain transportation grant funds.
“Remember, this does come under transportation, so the ferry is the crucial part of it,” he said.
“You have to have the ferry to get the funding. As much as I think the fishing pier is the most important aspect, the ferry is the crucial component in order to get the funding.”
Pallone expects funding to continue to be available in the future for the pier and ferry.
“I know we have a long way to go, and I think what we are trying to do here is get a combination of federal, state and local [funds] as well as private funds and put together a packet,” he said. “I know the city is working hard on that, and I’ll continue to work on the federal component.”
A fire destroyed the Long Branch pier in 1987, and since that time the city has acquired redevelopment rights and plans to rebuild the pier and other amenities, including retail, restaurants, an amphitheater and a children’s play area along the oceanfront.
The pier project is divided into three components:
The core pier, which will be the main structure, will cost approximately $36.3 million. Plans call for the pier to extend 900 feet from the boardwalk into the Atlantic Ocean.
The high-speed ferry terminal and docking facility, slated to cost $20.2 million, would provide a direct route from the Long Branch region to lower Manhattan at a travel time of 40 minutes. The pier would contain a docking system as well as the ticketing and waiting areas required for the ferry operation.
The final component is the amenity uses, at an estimated cost of $32.5 million, which include retail, restaurants, event space, a public winter garden, outdoor amphitheater, entertainment space, fishing area and a children’s play area.
Pallone has previously predicted that the project would create 1,200 jobs during construction and 600 full-time jobs once operation begins.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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Sunday, August 29, 2010
Community Garden flourishes in Tinton Falls
Community Garden flourishes in Tinton Falls
Sale of produce will fund Crawford House restoration
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Teresa Maltz (l-r) and Robert Maltz work on their plot at the Tinton Falls Community Garden located at the Historic Crawford House in Tinton Falls on Sunday, June 20. Lauren Casselberry Teresa Maltz (l-r) and Robert Maltz work on their plot at the Tinton Falls Community Garden located at the Historic Crawford House in Tinton Falls on Sunday, June 20. Lauren Casselberry TINTON FALLS — Just two months after planting, the Tinton Falls Community Garden is close to producing enough crops to sell at a farm stand.
The ribbon cutting for the community garden took place May 2 at the site of the historic Crawford House on Tinton Avenue, and Community Garden Committee member Stacey Slowinski said the first two months have been successful.
“The garden is progressing nicely, and we hope to have our farm stand operating in the next couple of weeks,” Slowinkski said. “We are going to have enough grown to start selling soon.”
There are four community plots and 20-25 leased plots that have all been filled.
“All the plots are full, and we have lots of vegetables growing. I was just over there this morning — we have squash and baby cucumbers and beans,” Slowinski said on June 30. “There is one area [for community plots] with four full rows; there are probably three or four plots in most of the rows.”
Lauren Mayer (l-r), Bryan Mayer and Alex Mayer work on their garden plot at the Tinton Falls Community Garden at the Historic Crawford House on Tinton Avenue on June 20. LAUREN CASSELBERRY Lauren Mayer (l-r), Bryan Mayer and Alex Mayer work on their garden plot at the Tinton Falls Community Garden at the Historic Crawford House on Tinton Avenue on June 20. LAUREN CASSELBERRY Community Garden Committee Chairwoman Teresa Maltz said there are individual plots and community plots. The community plots have produce that will be sold at the farm stand.
“The money from that goes to the CrawfordHouse for restoration and improvements,” she said.
Slowinski said that most of the money raised from the community plots most likely will be used to pay the water bill.
“With all the rain we’ve not had, we will probably just be paying off our water bill,” she said. “It’s been so unusually hot that we’ve had to water it.”
For the first year, she said, the produce will be sold on the porch of the Crawford House.
“It is going to be a couple of tables and baskets on the front porch,” she said. “If it takes off, we will see if we need a different facility next year.”
Maltz said the planning stages for the garden date back to June 2009 as a subcommittee of the environmental commission, where she volunteered to be the chairperson.
“We basically met for almost a year before we got to the point where we could open the garden. It was a process — we had to figure out … the size, space, what kind of guidelines we wanted to have,” she added. “We really didn’t want to reinvent the wheel too much; we looked at what some other community gardens were doing.
“We are kind of unique because we are on a piece of historical property in the Crawford House.”
Maltz said she is hoping different generations help out with the garden. So far, a Girl Scout is coordinating the farm stand for them as part of a scouting project.
“We want to make this an intergeneration type of community involvement. It is nice to see the community come together. It’s been a really good experience for all of us to see this vision become a reality.”
Maltz said there were times when she wasn’t sure how the garden would turn out.
“We talked about it for so long and we didn’t really know how things were going to shape up,” she said, noting that the weather didn’t always cooperate and they got a late start putting the fence up.
“Everything came together really nicely; now we’re still working out some organizational things, and we’ll see how it goes this year,” Maltz added.
“So far we seem to be successful with everything that’s in there,” she said.
Maltz said this year people could lease a plot 4 by 10 feet or 4 by 5 feet at $20 per plot; the fee covers the various expenses and any supplies they may need, like extra twine.
“[The plot size chosen] depends on your gardening skills and how much you can handle,” she added. “Most people took a 4-by-10- foot plot. There were a few people who took a smaller plot.”
Most of the startup money for the garden came from private donations, and one committeememberwas able to fund-raise for some extra supplies, like hoses, nails and fencing.
“We had a couple of our members that solicited donations, and we had local residents contribute,” she said. “We had a table at CommunityDay that generated a little bit of income selling pumpkins.”
The garden has a wide range of vegetables being grown, such as cold-weather vegetables like lettuces and radishes and warmer-weather vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, Maltz said.
“There are vertical plots that have tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuces, and horizontal plots like watermelons, melons and squash. It is pretty much an assortment; people have onions, herbs, broccoli and even corn being grown,” she said.
Maltz said the first year is a learning process and that the committee already had to deal with weeds.
“Maybe we will learn which ones are going to be better there,” she said. “We had to put newspaper andwoodchips down to cover a certain weed that was very invasive.
“We don’t want any pesticides being used unless they are OMRI [Organic Materials Review Institute] approved,” she added.
Slowinski said that for the most part, the fencing has kept foraging animals out.
“We saw one little baby bunny that got through our fence, but so far the fence is holding most of the critters at bay.”
She also said the garden will most likely keep producing crops until October or November. In the fall they will take out some of the hot-weather crops and put in some coolweather ones.
The biggest challenge, Slowinski said, involved installing the plumbing for the garden and getting the watering system in.
“We need to get water to the house and run it to the garden,” she added. “We have four field hydrants where we want to have spigots available. That is just a matter of finding time with our volunteer plumber.”
Slowinski said that on any given day, people can be found working in the garden.
“People who have plots come whenever they have time to check and water their own plots or do some weeding and planting,” she added. “We are very pleased with the success so far, and we just hope that the rest of the summer is going to be as successful.”
“We are looking forward to a productive growing season and getting our farm stand going. We are hoping people will come by and visit us,” Maltz said.
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Sale of produce will fund Crawford House restoration
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Teresa Maltz (l-r) and Robert Maltz work on their plot at the Tinton Falls Community Garden located at the Historic Crawford House in Tinton Falls on Sunday, June 20. Lauren Casselberry Teresa Maltz (l-r) and Robert Maltz work on their plot at the Tinton Falls Community Garden located at the Historic Crawford House in Tinton Falls on Sunday, June 20. Lauren Casselberry TINTON FALLS — Just two months after planting, the Tinton Falls Community Garden is close to producing enough crops to sell at a farm stand.
The ribbon cutting for the community garden took place May 2 at the site of the historic Crawford House on Tinton Avenue, and Community Garden Committee member Stacey Slowinski said the first two months have been successful.
“The garden is progressing nicely, and we hope to have our farm stand operating in the next couple of weeks,” Slowinkski said. “We are going to have enough grown to start selling soon.”
There are four community plots and 20-25 leased plots that have all been filled.
“All the plots are full, and we have lots of vegetables growing. I was just over there this morning — we have squash and baby cucumbers and beans,” Slowinski said on June 30. “There is one area [for community plots] with four full rows; there are probably three or four plots in most of the rows.”
Lauren Mayer (l-r), Bryan Mayer and Alex Mayer work on their garden plot at the Tinton Falls Community Garden at the Historic Crawford House on Tinton Avenue on June 20. LAUREN CASSELBERRY Lauren Mayer (l-r), Bryan Mayer and Alex Mayer work on their garden plot at the Tinton Falls Community Garden at the Historic Crawford House on Tinton Avenue on June 20. LAUREN CASSELBERRY Community Garden Committee Chairwoman Teresa Maltz said there are individual plots and community plots. The community plots have produce that will be sold at the farm stand.
“The money from that goes to the CrawfordHouse for restoration and improvements,” she said.
Slowinski said that most of the money raised from the community plots most likely will be used to pay the water bill.
“With all the rain we’ve not had, we will probably just be paying off our water bill,” she said. “It’s been so unusually hot that we’ve had to water it.”
For the first year, she said, the produce will be sold on the porch of the Crawford House.
“It is going to be a couple of tables and baskets on the front porch,” she said. “If it takes off, we will see if we need a different facility next year.”
Maltz said the planning stages for the garden date back to June 2009 as a subcommittee of the environmental commission, where she volunteered to be the chairperson.
“We basically met for almost a year before we got to the point where we could open the garden. It was a process — we had to figure out … the size, space, what kind of guidelines we wanted to have,” she added. “We really didn’t want to reinvent the wheel too much; we looked at what some other community gardens were doing.
“We are kind of unique because we are on a piece of historical property in the Crawford House.”
Maltz said she is hoping different generations help out with the garden. So far, a Girl Scout is coordinating the farm stand for them as part of a scouting project.
“We want to make this an intergeneration type of community involvement. It is nice to see the community come together. It’s been a really good experience for all of us to see this vision become a reality.”
Maltz said there were times when she wasn’t sure how the garden would turn out.
“We talked about it for so long and we didn’t really know how things were going to shape up,” she said, noting that the weather didn’t always cooperate and they got a late start putting the fence up.
“Everything came together really nicely; now we’re still working out some organizational things, and we’ll see how it goes this year,” Maltz added.
“So far we seem to be successful with everything that’s in there,” she said.
Maltz said this year people could lease a plot 4 by 10 feet or 4 by 5 feet at $20 per plot; the fee covers the various expenses and any supplies they may need, like extra twine.
“[The plot size chosen] depends on your gardening skills and how much you can handle,” she added. “Most people took a 4-by-10- foot plot. There were a few people who took a smaller plot.”
Most of the startup money for the garden came from private donations, and one committeememberwas able to fund-raise for some extra supplies, like hoses, nails and fencing.
“We had a couple of our members that solicited donations, and we had local residents contribute,” she said. “We had a table at CommunityDay that generated a little bit of income selling pumpkins.”
The garden has a wide range of vegetables being grown, such as cold-weather vegetables like lettuces and radishes and warmer-weather vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, Maltz said.
“There are vertical plots that have tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuces, and horizontal plots like watermelons, melons and squash. It is pretty much an assortment; people have onions, herbs, broccoli and even corn being grown,” she said.
Maltz said the first year is a learning process and that the committee already had to deal with weeds.
“Maybe we will learn which ones are going to be better there,” she said. “We had to put newspaper andwoodchips down to cover a certain weed that was very invasive.
“We don’t want any pesticides being used unless they are OMRI [Organic Materials Review Institute] approved,” she added.
Slowinski said that for the most part, the fencing has kept foraging animals out.
“We saw one little baby bunny that got through our fence, but so far the fence is holding most of the critters at bay.”
She also said the garden will most likely keep producing crops until October or November. In the fall they will take out some of the hot-weather crops and put in some coolweather ones.
The biggest challenge, Slowinski said, involved installing the plumbing for the garden and getting the watering system in.
“We need to get water to the house and run it to the garden,” she added. “We have four field hydrants where we want to have spigots available. That is just a matter of finding time with our volunteer plumber.”
Slowinski said that on any given day, people can be found working in the garden.
“People who have plots come whenever they have time to check and water their own plots or do some weeding and planting,” she added. “We are very pleased with the success so far, and we just hope that the rest of the summer is going to be as successful.”
“We are looking forward to a productive growing season and getting our farm stand going. We are hoping people will come by and visit us,” Maltz said.
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New Long Branch council takes office
New Long Branch council takes office
City clerk announces Sept. 1 retirement
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
For the first time in nearly two decades, the Long Branch City Council has four new faces on the dais.
The newly elected Long Branch City Council: Mary Jane Celli (l-r), Michael Sirianni, Kate Billings, John Pallone and Joy Bastelli, listen as incumbent Mayor Adam Schneider speaks at the July 1 reorganization meeting. City Clerk Irene Joline stands behind the dais. KENNY WALTER The newly elected Long Branch City Council: Mary Jane Celli (l-r), Michael Sirianni, Kate Billings, John Pallone and Joy Bastelli, listen as incumbent Mayor Adam Schneider speaks at the July 1 reorganization meeting. City Clerk Irene Joline stands behind the dais. KENNY WALTER The new council members, along with incumbent Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli and Mayor Adam Schneider, were sworn in to office at the reorganization meeting July 1.
Schneider, who is serving his sixth term, reflected on the past 20 years and his relationship with three former members of council: Michael DeStefano, Anthony Giordano and David Brown.
“I can’t believe 20 years have passed,” he said during his remarks. “Working with the three of you was as good an experience as I could ever have prayed for.
“We didn’t always agree but we never fought,” he added. “We had a common goal and we managed to make it work.”
Schneider put the three former councilmen, all of whom were in attendance, on notice that their presence would not end with retirement.
“It’s not over because they’re still here,” he said. “They’re not going anywhere as much as they may try — as much as they’re smiling at the thought that they don’t have to come out twice a month on Tuesdays.”
Schneider also thanked the city employees.
“Every day that goes by, I appreciate the help more and more and more,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe so much has changed.”
Schneider said he wouldn’t commit to joining his former running mates in retirement four years.
“It’s certainly hard to believe that I’ve been doing this, this long,” Schneider said. “It’s been a major part of my life.
“I still love this job. When people say it’s a thankless task, they don’t know how wrong they are. It’s far, far from that.
“I promise for the next four years I’m going to continue to love this job,” he added. “And by the way, if anybody wants to know, I’m not promising that I’m going to be done after four years because for as long as I live in this city, my commitment will never change.”
Schneider did say that he expects the next four years to be a challenge.
“The next couple of years are not going to be easy; we are getting mandates from Trenton,” he said. “The five people I’m serving with are committed to the same common goal.
“We work hard and we will work diligently to deliver the best possible city that we can.”
Schneider closed his remarks by reflecting back on his mayoral campaign.
“Election night meant more to me than you can imagine,” he said. “The last couple days of this election my nerves were scraped raw.”
Celli said that during the first of her five council terms, she ran against the mayor’s team.
“In 1994 I was elected with four fine gentlemen, but I was not part of their team,” she said. “Once we got together as a council, I became a member of their team and not once did I ever feel like I was left out.”
Celli joked about her role on the new council.
“Today is a wonderful day in Long Branch; we have all new council people except for the old lady,” she said. “Somebody has be there to help them and it is my honor to do that.”
Celli then presented her three former colleagues with plaques commemorating their service.
DeStefano gave the new council some advice while receiving his plaque.
“This job is either going to bring out the best in you or the worst in you,” he said. “You get to decide.”
Giordano reflected on his time on council and said for a short time during the meeting he considered coming back.
“These last 16 years have gone by in what seems like 10 minutes,” he said. “There is no higher honor than having the opportunity to serve.
“The speech from Adam and Mary Jane got me really fired up, and I almost went up there to have Irene swear me in, but there were no empty seats.”
Brown also reflected on his service on both the council and zoning board.
“These past 29 years have been to me and my family one of honor,” he said. “As the mayor said, we were a family and we could not have done it without those who have worked as employees of this city.”
Newly elected Councilman Michael Sirianni said he was picked for Schneider’s ticket without even knowing it.
“I was born and raised here and I bring a strong love for this city,” he said. “These past few months have been a roller coaster.
“I had a very nice talk with [Schneider] around November, December, not realizing I was being interviewed to run on his ticket,” he added. “I am honored that he selected me; it is going to be a very enjoyable four years.”
Sirianni said that his family is already expecting a lot from him.
“I received my first councilman phone call last night,” he said. “I was quite pleased it was my sister-in-law; she is already making me earn my keep.”
Councilwoman Kate Billings spoke next, joking that she is able to stay under the city’s five-minute limit on public comment at council meetings.
“I am a woman of few words and I can always say what I have to say in under five minutes,” she said. “I’ll have no problem with that.
“I look forward to working with the mayor, my fellow council members, the city employees and most importantly the residents.”
Celli isn’t the only experienced council member, with John Pallone returning to council after a 16-year hiatus.
“I was here 20 years ago to the day as well,” he said. “Mayor Schneider and I used to go jogging together, so I hope he’s still up for the challenge.”
Pallone also joked about what a close call the election was.
“I’m really honored to be back and I won by 11 votes, so I think I’m lucky to be back as well,” he said.
Councilwoman Joy Bastelli said a new chapter in Long Branch is beginning.
“Today we begin a new chapter in the progress, and it is my hope that a few of those pages will foster a climate of healing,” she said. “We all have the common goal, and that is to make Long Branch a better place.
“We are all on that same side; we must continue to envision where all the business districts are thriving and where schools and government work together,” she added. “The rest of the chapter will be to continue the hard work and the sacrifice.”
The reorganization meeting ended with a longtime member of the administrative team announcing her retirement.
“This has been a very emotional time for me,” City Clerk Irene Joline said, fighting back tears. “I want to thank the outgoing council for having the confidence and trust in me.
“This is my last swearing-in of mayor and council, as of Sept. 1,” she added.
“I look forward to working with the new council for the next 60 days.”
The first official meeting of the new council is scheduled for July 13.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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City clerk announces Sept. 1 retirement
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
For the first time in nearly two decades, the Long Branch City Council has four new faces on the dais.
The newly elected Long Branch City Council: Mary Jane Celli (l-r), Michael Sirianni, Kate Billings, John Pallone and Joy Bastelli, listen as incumbent Mayor Adam Schneider speaks at the July 1 reorganization meeting. City Clerk Irene Joline stands behind the dais. KENNY WALTER The newly elected Long Branch City Council: Mary Jane Celli (l-r), Michael Sirianni, Kate Billings, John Pallone and Joy Bastelli, listen as incumbent Mayor Adam Schneider speaks at the July 1 reorganization meeting. City Clerk Irene Joline stands behind the dais. KENNY WALTER The new council members, along with incumbent Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli and Mayor Adam Schneider, were sworn in to office at the reorganization meeting July 1.
Schneider, who is serving his sixth term, reflected on the past 20 years and his relationship with three former members of council: Michael DeStefano, Anthony Giordano and David Brown.
“I can’t believe 20 years have passed,” he said during his remarks. “Working with the three of you was as good an experience as I could ever have prayed for.
“We didn’t always agree but we never fought,” he added. “We had a common goal and we managed to make it work.”
Schneider put the three former councilmen, all of whom were in attendance, on notice that their presence would not end with retirement.
“It’s not over because they’re still here,” he said. “They’re not going anywhere as much as they may try — as much as they’re smiling at the thought that they don’t have to come out twice a month on Tuesdays.”
Schneider also thanked the city employees.
“Every day that goes by, I appreciate the help more and more and more,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe so much has changed.”
Schneider said he wouldn’t commit to joining his former running mates in retirement four years.
“It’s certainly hard to believe that I’ve been doing this, this long,” Schneider said. “It’s been a major part of my life.
“I still love this job. When people say it’s a thankless task, they don’t know how wrong they are. It’s far, far from that.
“I promise for the next four years I’m going to continue to love this job,” he added. “And by the way, if anybody wants to know, I’m not promising that I’m going to be done after four years because for as long as I live in this city, my commitment will never change.”
Schneider did say that he expects the next four years to be a challenge.
“The next couple of years are not going to be easy; we are getting mandates from Trenton,” he said. “The five people I’m serving with are committed to the same common goal.
“We work hard and we will work diligently to deliver the best possible city that we can.”
Schneider closed his remarks by reflecting back on his mayoral campaign.
“Election night meant more to me than you can imagine,” he said. “The last couple days of this election my nerves were scraped raw.”
Celli said that during the first of her five council terms, she ran against the mayor’s team.
“In 1994 I was elected with four fine gentlemen, but I was not part of their team,” she said. “Once we got together as a council, I became a member of their team and not once did I ever feel like I was left out.”
Celli joked about her role on the new council.
“Today is a wonderful day in Long Branch; we have all new council people except for the old lady,” she said. “Somebody has be there to help them and it is my honor to do that.”
Celli then presented her three former colleagues with plaques commemorating their service.
DeStefano gave the new council some advice while receiving his plaque.
“This job is either going to bring out the best in you or the worst in you,” he said. “You get to decide.”
Giordano reflected on his time on council and said for a short time during the meeting he considered coming back.
“These last 16 years have gone by in what seems like 10 minutes,” he said. “There is no higher honor than having the opportunity to serve.
“The speech from Adam and Mary Jane got me really fired up, and I almost went up there to have Irene swear me in, but there were no empty seats.”
Brown also reflected on his service on both the council and zoning board.
“These past 29 years have been to me and my family one of honor,” he said. “As the mayor said, we were a family and we could not have done it without those who have worked as employees of this city.”
Newly elected Councilman Michael Sirianni said he was picked for Schneider’s ticket without even knowing it.
“I was born and raised here and I bring a strong love for this city,” he said. “These past few months have been a roller coaster.
“I had a very nice talk with [Schneider] around November, December, not realizing I was being interviewed to run on his ticket,” he added. “I am honored that he selected me; it is going to be a very enjoyable four years.”
Sirianni said that his family is already expecting a lot from him.
“I received my first councilman phone call last night,” he said. “I was quite pleased it was my sister-in-law; she is already making me earn my keep.”
Councilwoman Kate Billings spoke next, joking that she is able to stay under the city’s five-minute limit on public comment at council meetings.
“I am a woman of few words and I can always say what I have to say in under five minutes,” she said. “I’ll have no problem with that.
“I look forward to working with the mayor, my fellow council members, the city employees and most importantly the residents.”
Celli isn’t the only experienced council member, with John Pallone returning to council after a 16-year hiatus.
“I was here 20 years ago to the day as well,” he said. “Mayor Schneider and I used to go jogging together, so I hope he’s still up for the challenge.”
Pallone also joked about what a close call the election was.
“I’m really honored to be back and I won by 11 votes, so I think I’m lucky to be back as well,” he said.
Councilwoman Joy Bastelli said a new chapter in Long Branch is beginning.
“Today we begin a new chapter in the progress, and it is my hope that a few of those pages will foster a climate of healing,” she said. “We all have the common goal, and that is to make Long Branch a better place.
“We are all on that same side; we must continue to envision where all the business districts are thriving and where schools and government work together,” she added. “The rest of the chapter will be to continue the hard work and the sacrifice.”
The reorganization meeting ended with a longtime member of the administrative team announcing her retirement.
“This has been a very emotional time for me,” City Clerk Irene Joline said, fighting back tears. “I want to thank the outgoing council for having the confidence and trust in me.
“This is my last swearing-in of mayor and council, as of Sept. 1,” she added.
“I look forward to working with the new council for the next 60 days.”
The first official meeting of the new council is scheduled for July 13.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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City approves budget, prepares for future
City approves budget, prepares for future
Mehlhorn: Future budgets likely to call for layoffs
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — With four new City Council members in place, Finance Director Ronald Mehlhorn Sr. doesn’t see their job being any easier than the old council’s.
Mehlhorn said that the administration spent the last two months preparing budget projections for 2011 and 2012, and that layoffs would likely be included in the budget.
“The projections for 2011 and 2012 based on current budget guidelines and proposed guidelines are devastating,” Mehlhorn said during the June 29 special council meeting. “At present next year is a bad year, and we will definitely have layoffs.”
At the special meeting June 29 the standing council voted 5-0 to approve the 2010 municipal budget, prior to the July 1 municipal reorganization. The $48.7 million budget includes a $33 million tax levy.
Because of amendments to the budget, the tax levy rose from $31.5 million in the budget introduced April 27 to $33 million, and the total budget rose from $48.5 million to $48.7 million.
Mehlhorn said at a previous council meeting that future budgets would be difficult because there is very little flexibility.
“The administration is working toward 2011, and it is an impossibility to cut operating expenses because [those options] are just nonexistent,” he said at the June 22 council meeting. “A large part of the budget is fixed…; the only really thing you can touch is salaries and fringe benefits.”
Mehlhorn said that because of a recent citywide reassessment, residents could be confused by the $1.85 per $100 of assessed valuation tax rate.
“This is a very difficult year to explain taxes because of the reassessment,” he said. “To oversimplify what is going on: This would create instead of a 2-cent tax increase, it would be a 5-cent tax increase based on the old values back in 2009.
“The average [taxpayer’s bill] is going up about $159 from school, county and the local [taxes]. We’d like it to be zero but it just can’t be,” he said.
Long Branch resident Vincent LePore questioned whether it made sense to raise taxes during the difficult economic climate.
“We added a 4.75 percent increase in the total municipal levy,” he said. “Do you believe that was financially and fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of this city?
“It is still, knowing next year is going to be difficult, adding 4.75 percent, and that is a very questionable maneuver,” he added. “I request a vote no on this budget.”
With government officials advocating for going from a 4-percent cap on increases in the tax levy to either a 2.5 percent hard cap or a 2.9 percent soft cap, Mehlhorn said the administration is preparing for all scenarios.
“The past eight weeks we’ve projected out the 2011 and 2012 budgets based on various scenarios, including a 2.5 percent flat increase and a 2.9-percent soft cap,” he said.
Some of the major increases in the 2010 budget include $1.9 million in pension costs, $707,000 in salaries, and $426,000 in debt service.
Budget cuts include $252,000 less in landfill costs, over $200,000 in expenses in the division of solid waste and recycling, and $129,000 in utilities.
Mehlhorn said the city received a $1.1 million reduction in state aid, bringing the total state aid to just over $4 million.
After the council adopted the 2010 budget, the only other item on the agenda during the special meeting was an ordinance approving a $109,000 bond issue with a $6,000 down payment for road improvements.
Mehlhorn said that the city has received $496,000 in grant money from the state to do roadwork and the bond money mostly will be used to pay the engineers.
“We had a $496,000 grant that just covers the work,” he said. “We need money for engineering and a little bit in case it runs over.
“The reason for that bond is to pay professional services,” he added. “We have $496,000 in grant money and we are matching that with $100,000 for the engineer.”
Long Branch Business Administrator Howard Woolley Jr. explained what the grant money is used for.
“We get about $250,000 a year through the state Transportation Trust Fund to do primary streets in the city,” he said. “We did Broadway with it; Third Avenue just got done last year as a part of it.
“What we are trying to do is use two years together so we can get a bigger bang for our buck,” he added. “We have to pay for the engineering; that is our share of this deal.”
This year Bath Avenue is scheduled for roadwork.
Woolley also said that the city may not end up paying that much money for the engineer.
“It is not necessarily what we are paying for the engineer. I got an estimate from a couple of engineers who are in our pool who will give us prices to do this work,” he said. “We will go with the most reasonably priced firm who is going to give us a quality job, not only by design but through construction and inspection.”
Woolley said that while the city regularly receives the grant money, it isn’t certain the funding will continue.
“Each year we put in for it we get about $250,000, although I don’t know if we could expect it in 2011 and 2012,” he said. “With the Department of Transportation Trust Fund money the only eligible streets are what they consider primary arteries.”
In addition to Broadway and Third Avenue, Brighton and Rockwell avenues have also been paved with grant money.
A resident criticized the city for focusing only on certain sections, such as Elberon, West End and North Long Branch, but Woolley said the city maintains all sections.
“There are about 120 streets, and we try to do five or six a year if the money permits,” he said. “We try and do certain streets in all sections.”
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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Mehlhorn: Future budgets likely to call for layoffs
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — With four new City Council members in place, Finance Director Ronald Mehlhorn Sr. doesn’t see their job being any easier than the old council’s.
Mehlhorn said that the administration spent the last two months preparing budget projections for 2011 and 2012, and that layoffs would likely be included in the budget.
“The projections for 2011 and 2012 based on current budget guidelines and proposed guidelines are devastating,” Mehlhorn said during the June 29 special council meeting. “At present next year is a bad year, and we will definitely have layoffs.”
At the special meeting June 29 the standing council voted 5-0 to approve the 2010 municipal budget, prior to the July 1 municipal reorganization. The $48.7 million budget includes a $33 million tax levy.
Because of amendments to the budget, the tax levy rose from $31.5 million in the budget introduced April 27 to $33 million, and the total budget rose from $48.5 million to $48.7 million.
Mehlhorn said at a previous council meeting that future budgets would be difficult because there is very little flexibility.
“The administration is working toward 2011, and it is an impossibility to cut operating expenses because [those options] are just nonexistent,” he said at the June 22 council meeting. “A large part of the budget is fixed…; the only really thing you can touch is salaries and fringe benefits.”
Mehlhorn said that because of a recent citywide reassessment, residents could be confused by the $1.85 per $100 of assessed valuation tax rate.
“This is a very difficult year to explain taxes because of the reassessment,” he said. “To oversimplify what is going on: This would create instead of a 2-cent tax increase, it would be a 5-cent tax increase based on the old values back in 2009.
“The average [taxpayer’s bill] is going up about $159 from school, county and the local [taxes]. We’d like it to be zero but it just can’t be,” he said.
Long Branch resident Vincent LePore questioned whether it made sense to raise taxes during the difficult economic climate.
“We added a 4.75 percent increase in the total municipal levy,” he said. “Do you believe that was financially and fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of this city?
“It is still, knowing next year is going to be difficult, adding 4.75 percent, and that is a very questionable maneuver,” he added. “I request a vote no on this budget.”
With government officials advocating for going from a 4-percent cap on increases in the tax levy to either a 2.5 percent hard cap or a 2.9 percent soft cap, Mehlhorn said the administration is preparing for all scenarios.
“The past eight weeks we’ve projected out the 2011 and 2012 budgets based on various scenarios, including a 2.5 percent flat increase and a 2.9-percent soft cap,” he said.
Some of the major increases in the 2010 budget include $1.9 million in pension costs, $707,000 in salaries, and $426,000 in debt service.
Budget cuts include $252,000 less in landfill costs, over $200,000 in expenses in the division of solid waste and recycling, and $129,000 in utilities.
Mehlhorn said the city received a $1.1 million reduction in state aid, bringing the total state aid to just over $4 million.
After the council adopted the 2010 budget, the only other item on the agenda during the special meeting was an ordinance approving a $109,000 bond issue with a $6,000 down payment for road improvements.
Mehlhorn said that the city has received $496,000 in grant money from the state to do roadwork and the bond money mostly will be used to pay the engineers.
“We had a $496,000 grant that just covers the work,” he said. “We need money for engineering and a little bit in case it runs over.
“The reason for that bond is to pay professional services,” he added. “We have $496,000 in grant money and we are matching that with $100,000 for the engineer.”
Long Branch Business Administrator Howard Woolley Jr. explained what the grant money is used for.
“We get about $250,000 a year through the state Transportation Trust Fund to do primary streets in the city,” he said. “We did Broadway with it; Third Avenue just got done last year as a part of it.
“What we are trying to do is use two years together so we can get a bigger bang for our buck,” he added. “We have to pay for the engineering; that is our share of this deal.”
This year Bath Avenue is scheduled for roadwork.
Woolley also said that the city may not end up paying that much money for the engineer.
“It is not necessarily what we are paying for the engineer. I got an estimate from a couple of engineers who are in our pool who will give us prices to do this work,” he said. “We will go with the most reasonably priced firm who is going to give us a quality job, not only by design but through construction and inspection.”
Woolley said that while the city regularly receives the grant money, it isn’t certain the funding will continue.
“Each year we put in for it we get about $250,000, although I don’t know if we could expect it in 2011 and 2012,” he said. “With the Department of Transportation Trust Fund money the only eligible streets are what they consider primary arteries.”
In addition to Broadway and Third Avenue, Brighton and Rockwell avenues have also been paved with grant money.
A resident criticized the city for focusing only on certain sections, such as Elberon, West End and North Long Branch, but Woolley said the city maintains all sections.
“There are about 120 streets, and we try to do five or six a year if the money permits,” he said. “We try and do certain streets in all sections.”
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
Click here to enlarge
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Sunday, August 1, 2010
Food pantry: Have wheels, will travel this summer
Food pantry: Have wheels, will travel this summer
Mobile food bank unit to target senior citizens
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Minnie Daniels, 82, walks 1.2 miles to Foodtown to get her groceries. With so many seniors, like Daniels, struggling to find transportation and funds to buy food, the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties unveiled its mobile pantry last week.
Volunteers help give out food at the Red Bank Housing Authority from the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties’ mobile food pantry at a June 21 press conference. ANDREW DAVISON Volunteers help give out food at the Red Bank Housing Authority from the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties’ mobile food pantry at a June 21 press conference. ANDREW DAVISON The pantry made its inaugural stop at the Red Bank Housing Authority on June 21 for a press conference.
The mobile pantry is a refrigerated truck that will store tables, chairs and an awning and will travel around Monmouth and Ocean counties in order to deliver food to residents.
FoodBank Board Chairman Robert Brown explained the idea behind the mobile pantry.
“We learned there are areas that do not have an emergency pantry nearby to support the emergency food needs of their residents,” he said. “In order to reach those areas the FoodBank purchased this mobile food pantry.
“The pantry on wheels is a [specially] outfitted refrigerated truck that can park in an empty lot,” he added.
FoodBank Executive Director Susan Kelly explained that the food would be distributed through a U.S. Department of Agriculture senior nutrition program.
“We have 420 slots where we can give food out to seniors, and we are giving out food to 24 seniors today,” she said.
Kelly said that the mobile pantry would allow the FoodBank to reach more areas, especially those that do not have food pantries.
“We know the mobile pantry provides many opportunities beyond the scope of what we’re doing today,” she said. “We know it’s difficult in high rent areas for charities to open up a food pantry, so we can go out and distribute.”
Brown said the need to administer food has risen in recent years.
“This is a great day for FoodBank,” he said. “Currently we are serving over 127,000 people in need of emergency food in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
“This is an 84 percent increase over the number of recipients identified in 2005,” he added.
Although the mobile pantry is not limited to senior citizens, seniors will be a target group.
“We know and understand the challenges of our senior population today; many [are] living on fixed incomes,” Brown said. “More than one of three emergency-food recipients must choose between an everyday necessity such as medical care and housing costs or having sufficient food.”
Brown said that the idea for the mobile pantry has been under consideration for some time.
“It’s been in the works for a long time,” he said. “We knew we had a need to get a mobile food pantry out there because we knew we weren’t reaching everybody we needed to reach. We had to bring food to them.”
Brown said programs have been expanding.
“Unfortunately I’ve only seen the need grow,” he said. “The programs are expanding, and we’d all like to see them shrinking because that means it’s getting better out there.
“We have an abundance of senior citizens where transportation is an issue and where there is a gap of food pantries,” he added. “We serve over 280 agencies and you would think that would cover everything, but it doesn’t and that is what the mobile pantry is for.”
Brown said that the refrigerated trucks that the FoodBank currently uses allow them to administer food to the pantries, but the mobile pantry allows them to administer food directly to the people.
“This is just our way so that the people can come to our truck opposed to the pantries,” he said. “We can distribute right out of the truck.”
Brown predicted that the mobile pantry would see a full schedule.
“Unfortunately I think it is going to be oversubscribed once the word gets out. In some cases we will deal directly with the charities; in some cases we will deal with other charities where food maybe isn’t their primary mission.
Brown also thanked New Jersey Natural Gas, which is a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources, for a $50,000 grant to help purchase the mobile pantry and for providing volunteers to help administer food.
Vice President of Business Development at New Jersey Resources Energy Ventures Richard Gardner said it was an easy decision for NJR to help FoodBank.
“It is only a natural extension for us to help FoodBank,” he said. “The truck allows the FoodBank to provide a fundamental need.
“There are so many communities that are underserved by food pantries and kitchens,” he added. “This is why we wanted to give Susan [Kelly] and her team the ability to bring that food right where it is needed most.
“We will continue on with volunteer hours.”
Commissioner of the Department of Human Services Jennifer Velez credited the FoodBank for the innovative idea.
“One of the things we are all trying to do is to try to make it easier for people to get food,” she said. “This is incredible. I’ve only seen one other mobile food van, and that is in Essex County.
“Everybody needs help at some point in their lives, and this is making it easier for you to get food,” she added. “It is just a tremendous statement.”
Velez also said that the state is trying to help people in need by making it easier for them.
“Another thing we are trying to do at the state level is to make the application process easier for anybody who needs food stamps,” she said. “One way is the application for PAAD [Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled], we are trying to link that up with food stamps.
“We are also trying to have telephone interviewing so you don’t have to go into an office and stand in line to fill out lengthy applications,” she added.
“We are trying at the state level to make it as easy as possible and be cognizant of people’s transportation needs. Under tight budget times we certainly understand the needs of struggling families.”
Monmouth County Freeholder Amy Mallet said the demand for food at the county level is rising.
“This is so creative and innovative and something we truly needed in this community,” she said. “During the past year at the county level the demand for food stamps is up 28 percent.
“If we go back one year further, we are looking at 53 percent,” she added. “Those are huge numbers.
“This is an opportunity to bring it here for those who could use the extra help. Having partners come up with something like this is valuable.”
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna said that having the mobile pantry would only help Red Bank.
“We provide a service, but that service is now being augmented by the partnership we have here today,” he said. “What a great symbiotic relationship this really is.”
Menna said that although Red Bank has a food pantry already in Lunch Break, many seniors cannot get there.
“Obviously we have Lunch Break down the street, but some of our seniors can’t go to Lunch Break,” Menna said. “By providing additional food supplements, you’re not only providing nutrition for them but you’re providing something else.
“The wonderful youth volunteers, and those who are not so young, provide companionship. You provide solace, you provide that human element that is so important in all our lives,” Menna added.
Menna expects the mobile pantry to catch on throughout the state.
“It is something that will be duplicated in many parts of the state as a successful program,” he said.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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Mobile food bank unit to target senior citizens
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Minnie Daniels, 82, walks 1.2 miles to Foodtown to get her groceries. With so many seniors, like Daniels, struggling to find transportation and funds to buy food, the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties unveiled its mobile pantry last week.
Volunteers help give out food at the Red Bank Housing Authority from the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties’ mobile food pantry at a June 21 press conference. ANDREW DAVISON Volunteers help give out food at the Red Bank Housing Authority from the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties’ mobile food pantry at a June 21 press conference. ANDREW DAVISON The pantry made its inaugural stop at the Red Bank Housing Authority on June 21 for a press conference.
The mobile pantry is a refrigerated truck that will store tables, chairs and an awning and will travel around Monmouth and Ocean counties in order to deliver food to residents.
FoodBank Board Chairman Robert Brown explained the idea behind the mobile pantry.
“We learned there are areas that do not have an emergency pantry nearby to support the emergency food needs of their residents,” he said. “In order to reach those areas the FoodBank purchased this mobile food pantry.
“The pantry on wheels is a [specially] outfitted refrigerated truck that can park in an empty lot,” he added.
FoodBank Executive Director Susan Kelly explained that the food would be distributed through a U.S. Department of Agriculture senior nutrition program.
“We have 420 slots where we can give food out to seniors, and we are giving out food to 24 seniors today,” she said.
Kelly said that the mobile pantry would allow the FoodBank to reach more areas, especially those that do not have food pantries.
“We know the mobile pantry provides many opportunities beyond the scope of what we’re doing today,” she said. “We know it’s difficult in high rent areas for charities to open up a food pantry, so we can go out and distribute.”
Brown said the need to administer food has risen in recent years.
“This is a great day for FoodBank,” he said. “Currently we are serving over 127,000 people in need of emergency food in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
“This is an 84 percent increase over the number of recipients identified in 2005,” he added.
Although the mobile pantry is not limited to senior citizens, seniors will be a target group.
“We know and understand the challenges of our senior population today; many [are] living on fixed incomes,” Brown said. “More than one of three emergency-food recipients must choose between an everyday necessity such as medical care and housing costs or having sufficient food.”
Brown said that the idea for the mobile pantry has been under consideration for some time.
“It’s been in the works for a long time,” he said. “We knew we had a need to get a mobile food pantry out there because we knew we weren’t reaching everybody we needed to reach. We had to bring food to them.”
Brown said programs have been expanding.
“Unfortunately I’ve only seen the need grow,” he said. “The programs are expanding, and we’d all like to see them shrinking because that means it’s getting better out there.
“We have an abundance of senior citizens where transportation is an issue and where there is a gap of food pantries,” he added. “We serve over 280 agencies and you would think that would cover everything, but it doesn’t and that is what the mobile pantry is for.”
Brown said that the refrigerated trucks that the FoodBank currently uses allow them to administer food to the pantries, but the mobile pantry allows them to administer food directly to the people.
“This is just our way so that the people can come to our truck opposed to the pantries,” he said. “We can distribute right out of the truck.”
Brown predicted that the mobile pantry would see a full schedule.
“Unfortunately I think it is going to be oversubscribed once the word gets out. In some cases we will deal directly with the charities; in some cases we will deal with other charities where food maybe isn’t their primary mission.
Brown also thanked New Jersey Natural Gas, which is a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources, for a $50,000 grant to help purchase the mobile pantry and for providing volunteers to help administer food.
Vice President of Business Development at New Jersey Resources Energy Ventures Richard Gardner said it was an easy decision for NJR to help FoodBank.
“It is only a natural extension for us to help FoodBank,” he said. “The truck allows the FoodBank to provide a fundamental need.
“There are so many communities that are underserved by food pantries and kitchens,” he added. “This is why we wanted to give Susan [Kelly] and her team the ability to bring that food right where it is needed most.
“We will continue on with volunteer hours.”
Commissioner of the Department of Human Services Jennifer Velez credited the FoodBank for the innovative idea.
“One of the things we are all trying to do is to try to make it easier for people to get food,” she said. “This is incredible. I’ve only seen one other mobile food van, and that is in Essex County.
“Everybody needs help at some point in their lives, and this is making it easier for you to get food,” she added. “It is just a tremendous statement.”
Velez also said that the state is trying to help people in need by making it easier for them.
“Another thing we are trying to do at the state level is to make the application process easier for anybody who needs food stamps,” she said. “One way is the application for PAAD [Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled], we are trying to link that up with food stamps.
“We are also trying to have telephone interviewing so you don’t have to go into an office and stand in line to fill out lengthy applications,” she added.
“We are trying at the state level to make it as easy as possible and be cognizant of people’s transportation needs. Under tight budget times we certainly understand the needs of struggling families.”
Monmouth County Freeholder Amy Mallet said the demand for food at the county level is rising.
“This is so creative and innovative and something we truly needed in this community,” she said. “During the past year at the county level the demand for food stamps is up 28 percent.
“If we go back one year further, we are looking at 53 percent,” she added. “Those are huge numbers.
“This is an opportunity to bring it here for those who could use the extra help. Having partners come up with something like this is valuable.”
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna said that having the mobile pantry would only help Red Bank.
“We provide a service, but that service is now being augmented by the partnership we have here today,” he said. “What a great symbiotic relationship this really is.”
Menna said that although Red Bank has a food pantry already in Lunch Break, many seniors cannot get there.
“Obviously we have Lunch Break down the street, but some of our seniors can’t go to Lunch Break,” Menna said. “By providing additional food supplements, you’re not only providing nutrition for them but you’re providing something else.
“The wonderful youth volunteers, and those who are not so young, provide companionship. You provide solace, you provide that human element that is so important in all our lives,” Menna added.
Menna expects the mobile pantry to catch on throughout the state.
“It is something that will be duplicated in many parts of the state as a successful program,” he said.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.
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T.F. considering installing solar panels at boro hall
T.F. considering installing solar panels at boro hall
Mayor: Further study warranted to investigate costs vs. savings
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
TINTON FALLS — Despite an upfront cost of over $5 million, some Tinton Falls officials believe that installing solar panels at Borough Hall will save money.
In a presentation at the June 15 Borough Council meeting, Technical Advisory CommitteeVice Chairman Rob Mauro gave a preliminary presentation on the borough’s options for solar power.
“The Technical Advisory Committee has been investigating solar options the last 12 months,” he said. “The total cost of the system is $5.1 million, and it is set up to generate about 80 percent of our usage.
“We’d have a positive cash flow in year one,” he added.
Mauro explained to the council what the solar panels really do.
“The solar panels absorb the energy from the sun and produce the electricity,” he said. “They make something called DC, and our houses require AC electricity.”
A solar power inverter would make the necessary conversion, he said.
Mauro said that different amounts of solar energy would be produced at different times during the year.
“The interesting thing about solar energy is this time of year you are making a lot of electricity,” he said. “In December when the sun is out only a few hours a day, you are not making that much electricity.
“The amount of electricity that you make at different times of the year is going to vary.”
Mauro said that the borough couldn’t produce more electricity than it uses.
“At the end of the year you can’t have generated more electricity than you’ve used,” he said. Mauro explained the pricing for installing solar panels.
“Currently installation is going anywhere between $4.50 to $5.20 per watt,” he said. “We use about 1 million watts here per year between borough hall and the public works building.
“The largest component cost is the panels. Right now they are about 50 percent of the costs; the rest of it is in the other equipment and the installation costs,” he added.
Mauro explained that there are certain tax incentives that can be achieved at the state and federal levels, but Tinton Falls would not be eligible.
“Unfortunately … as a government, we don’t get to enjoy that tax credit,” he said.
Mauro said there are three ways that the borough can finance the panels.
“There are three mainstream financing models right now,” he said. “The first two are purchase or lease.
“The third is something relatively new; it’s called the power purchase agreement [PPA],” he added. “It is a legal contract between a company that installs the equipment on your property, owns the equipment, maintains the equipment and then sells you the electricity from it.
“We would essentially be buying a portion of our electricity from the PPA and a portion of our electricity from the utilities.”
Mauro said that solar panels would save the borough from rapid price increases from the utility companies.
“Whatever electricity you generate is electricity you don’t have to buy from the electric company,” he said.
Mauro said there were other benefits for considering this.
“Right now, another pro from the purchase is, money is relatively cheap; bond rates are relatively low,” he said. “So timing-wise, this may be a good thing to do.”
Mauro also mentioned some negatives about purchasing solar panels.
“Cons for purchasing is, there is initial capital outlay, there is financing and [we] as a government organization will not benefit from any of the tax incentives available,” he said. “Another con is, there [are] operation and maintenance costs.”
He went on to describe the leasing program.
“As far as the leasing program goes, there [are] no upfront costs, and the same significant reduction on the electric bill for year 1,” Mauro said. One disadvantage for leasing is the potential for a large buyout at the end, as opposed to initial capital outlay, he said.
Mauro also described the purchasing agreement benefits and detractions.
“For the PPA, no upfront costs and they absorb the insurance costs,” he said. “The con is, it is not a zero electric bill.
“You are not eliminating your electric bill; you are reducing your electric bill somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 percent.”
Mauro said that he has had conversations with at least one company that would use the tax incentives to help save Tinton Falls money.
“They take advantage of the tax incentives and they pass the savings on to us,” Mauro said.
Mauro said the initial study shows that purchasing would be the best option.
“Based on the numbers, we see the purchase as the best option,” he said.
Tinton Falls Finance Director Stephen Pfeffer explained how the financing would work.
“In order to fund the project it would all have to built into the bond ordinance, and the bond ordinance would have to be adopted first in order to fund all the initial legwork,” he said. “From their financing models, they did show that there was more than enough positive cash flow.
“Do a temporary financing for a year, pay hopefully a minimal amount of interest, and when the project was complete, sell the bonds so that by the time the first payment of the bonds are due, you’d already have a full year of generating cash,” he added.
“The borough might have some minor exposure in the first year covering the interest. For the numbers they presented to me, [purchasing] looked like the best option.”
Mauro also said that the panels do not require much upkeep.
“The panels are virtually maintenance free; they don’t wear out,” he said. “Their life expectancy is 25 to 30 years.
“It shouldn’t be a lot of maintenance. We have enough rain out here that the rain will wash off.”
Mauro described some of the places that the borough may look for installing the solar panels.
“One proposal would be to do an installation along the parkway,” he said. “Another would be … using the space at the public works building.
“We had it analyzed and it is conducive to putting solar panels,” he added. “Another option, which we explored, which would be a little more expensive, would be essentially putting a roof over the parking lot and having the solar panels on top of that roof.”
Mauro acknowledged that all research and discussion on the feasibility of installing solar panels in Tinton Falls have been informal thus far.
“This was a rough analysis both financially and technically,” he said. “We would advise that we do a more in-depth, thorough analysis for exactly what size system we are going to need and what the cost structures would look like.” Mauro gave the steps that would happen after the analysis.
“Then there would be a bond or a lease preparation,” he said. “There would be an RFP [request for proposal] preparation, a proposal review and implementation.”
Councilman Andrew Mayer, who is also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee, said he is in favor of the solar panels, and a Rowan University study may also shed some light on wind energy.
“Solar is one piece of it, and once we get the results of the Rowan [study], maybe we can tie wind into it too,” he said. “It is a win-win situation both for the environment and the taxpayers.”
However, Councilman Gary Baldwin was concerned by the price of the project.
“We are pretty tight on the budget; cash isn’t just laying around to get started on this,” he said. “I sure would like to see a good financial study done.”
Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera said that the administration would study this further.
“We will take the time and look,” he said. “We want to be able to digest this and make sure the numbers are what they are.”
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Mayor: Further study warranted to investigate costs vs. savings
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
TINTON FALLS — Despite an upfront cost of over $5 million, some Tinton Falls officials believe that installing solar panels at Borough Hall will save money.
In a presentation at the June 15 Borough Council meeting, Technical Advisory CommitteeVice Chairman Rob Mauro gave a preliminary presentation on the borough’s options for solar power.
“The Technical Advisory Committee has been investigating solar options the last 12 months,” he said. “The total cost of the system is $5.1 million, and it is set up to generate about 80 percent of our usage.
“We’d have a positive cash flow in year one,” he added.
Mauro explained to the council what the solar panels really do.
“The solar panels absorb the energy from the sun and produce the electricity,” he said. “They make something called DC, and our houses require AC electricity.”
A solar power inverter would make the necessary conversion, he said.
Mauro said that different amounts of solar energy would be produced at different times during the year.
“The interesting thing about solar energy is this time of year you are making a lot of electricity,” he said. “In December when the sun is out only a few hours a day, you are not making that much electricity.
“The amount of electricity that you make at different times of the year is going to vary.”
Mauro said that the borough couldn’t produce more electricity than it uses.
“At the end of the year you can’t have generated more electricity than you’ve used,” he said. Mauro explained the pricing for installing solar panels.
“Currently installation is going anywhere between $4.50 to $5.20 per watt,” he said. “We use about 1 million watts here per year between borough hall and the public works building.
“The largest component cost is the panels. Right now they are about 50 percent of the costs; the rest of it is in the other equipment and the installation costs,” he added.
Mauro explained that there are certain tax incentives that can be achieved at the state and federal levels, but Tinton Falls would not be eligible.
“Unfortunately … as a government, we don’t get to enjoy that tax credit,” he said.
Mauro said there are three ways that the borough can finance the panels.
“There are three mainstream financing models right now,” he said. “The first two are purchase or lease.
“The third is something relatively new; it’s called the power purchase agreement [PPA],” he added. “It is a legal contract between a company that installs the equipment on your property, owns the equipment, maintains the equipment and then sells you the electricity from it.
“We would essentially be buying a portion of our electricity from the PPA and a portion of our electricity from the utilities.”
Mauro said that solar panels would save the borough from rapid price increases from the utility companies.
“Whatever electricity you generate is electricity you don’t have to buy from the electric company,” he said.
Mauro said there were other benefits for considering this.
“Right now, another pro from the purchase is, money is relatively cheap; bond rates are relatively low,” he said. “So timing-wise, this may be a good thing to do.”
Mauro also mentioned some negatives about purchasing solar panels.
“Cons for purchasing is, there is initial capital outlay, there is financing and [we] as a government organization will not benefit from any of the tax incentives available,” he said. “Another con is, there [are] operation and maintenance costs.”
He went on to describe the leasing program.
“As far as the leasing program goes, there [are] no upfront costs, and the same significant reduction on the electric bill for year 1,” Mauro said. One disadvantage for leasing is the potential for a large buyout at the end, as opposed to initial capital outlay, he said.
Mauro also described the purchasing agreement benefits and detractions.
“For the PPA, no upfront costs and they absorb the insurance costs,” he said. “The con is, it is not a zero electric bill.
“You are not eliminating your electric bill; you are reducing your electric bill somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 percent.”
Mauro said that he has had conversations with at least one company that would use the tax incentives to help save Tinton Falls money.
“They take advantage of the tax incentives and they pass the savings on to us,” Mauro said.
Mauro said the initial study shows that purchasing would be the best option.
“Based on the numbers, we see the purchase as the best option,” he said.
Tinton Falls Finance Director Stephen Pfeffer explained how the financing would work.
“In order to fund the project it would all have to built into the bond ordinance, and the bond ordinance would have to be adopted first in order to fund all the initial legwork,” he said. “From their financing models, they did show that there was more than enough positive cash flow.
“Do a temporary financing for a year, pay hopefully a minimal amount of interest, and when the project was complete, sell the bonds so that by the time the first payment of the bonds are due, you’d already have a full year of generating cash,” he added.
“The borough might have some minor exposure in the first year covering the interest. For the numbers they presented to me, [purchasing] looked like the best option.”
Mauro also said that the panels do not require much upkeep.
“The panels are virtually maintenance free; they don’t wear out,” he said. “Their life expectancy is 25 to 30 years.
“It shouldn’t be a lot of maintenance. We have enough rain out here that the rain will wash off.”
Mauro described some of the places that the borough may look for installing the solar panels.
“One proposal would be to do an installation along the parkway,” he said. “Another would be … using the space at the public works building.
“We had it analyzed and it is conducive to putting solar panels,” he added. “Another option, which we explored, which would be a little more expensive, would be essentially putting a roof over the parking lot and having the solar panels on top of that roof.”
Mauro acknowledged that all research and discussion on the feasibility of installing solar panels in Tinton Falls have been informal thus far.
“This was a rough analysis both financially and technically,” he said. “We would advise that we do a more in-depth, thorough analysis for exactly what size system we are going to need and what the cost structures would look like.” Mauro gave the steps that would happen after the analysis.
“Then there would be a bond or a lease preparation,” he said. “There would be an RFP [request for proposal] preparation, a proposal review and implementation.”
Councilman Andrew Mayer, who is also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee, said he is in favor of the solar panels, and a Rowan University study may also shed some light on wind energy.
“Solar is one piece of it, and once we get the results of the Rowan [study], maybe we can tie wind into it too,” he said. “It is a win-win situation both for the environment and the taxpayers.”
However, Councilman Gary Baldwin was concerned by the price of the project.
“We are pretty tight on the budget; cash isn’t just laying around to get started on this,” he said. “I sure would like to see a good financial study done.”
Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera said that the administration would study this further.
“We will take the time and look,” he said. “We want to be able to digest this and make sure the numbers are what they are.”
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L.B., O'port officials get pollution update
L.B., O’port officials get pollution update
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
OCEANPORT — Officials from both Long Branch and Oceanport were given an exclusive tour last week of the $20 million project designed to eliminate runoff from Monmouth Park that is the cause of pollution in Branchport Creek.
The tour took place June 24, led by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority.
Oceanport Councilman Joseph Irace said that every Oceanport council member except Jerry Bertekap was there, as well as Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon, Long Branch Councilwoman Kate Billings, former Long Branch Councilman Anthony Giordano, Long Branch resident Robin Kampf and Oceanport resident Jen McDermott.
Irace said he was impressed by the tour given by the Sports & Exposition Authority.
“It went pretty well. I was impressed with the size and scope of the project,” he said. “It’s a massive project to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“We kind of went in there and I thought it would be a dog and pony show, but I was very impressed.”
Irace said that Monmouth Park’s position as the borough’s largest taxpayer put the borough in a difficult position.
“We are kind of in the middle of it,” he said. “We want to see the racetrack survive and flourish because it is our largest ratable, but also we understand that they can’t continue to pollute the water.
“When we met with them through the mayor, they were able to agree to this and put this drainage in so the water doesn’t overflow and go into the rivers,” Irace said. “They’ve always been good neighbors, except for this.”
Irace described what the project is going to entail.
“They are going to put a 10 million-gallon sewage treatment plant in the Elkwood section,” he said. “It’s unbelievable, the retention pond that they’ve done and what they are going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“They’ve actually gone above and beyond what they were ordered to do,” he added. “I think they realized it’s been a problem in the past, and they are looking to fix that.”
Irace said the project is moving along slowly because the track is active with horses nine months a year.
“We tried to pin them down on how much water would have to come down in order to overflow the system,” he said. “They haven’t come up to that number since the horses have been in the barn.
“They really look like they understand the issue, and they are trying to push the project forward quicker,” he added. “Part of the problem is that the horses are there, and they can’t do some of the heavy work during the nine months or so that the horses are there.
“The work gets done in the winter time. They are ahead of schedule now and have already gone out to bid for the second phase of the project.”
Irace said he doesn’t know how much rain would have to fall before a problem would occur.
“They couldn’t give us specifics on how much rain would have to fall, but I think we’d need 6 inches of rain in a 24-hour period,” he said. “There are other factors of how fast it would have to fall before they run into a problem with overflow in the creek.”
Irace said that one of the most important aspects of the project is that dirty and clean water no longer mix.
“The clean water doesn’t co-mingle with the horse water,” he said. “The water from the parking lots doesn’t co-mingle, either.
“They are trying to take the dirty water and make sure it doesn’t mix with the clean water coming off the roofs and the parking lot,” he added. “The main thing is, I think they realized this time they have to get it right.”
Authority spokesman John Samerjan said he was happy with the progress that has been made.
“There has been a lot going on the last two years,” he said. “We are in the process of a $20 million project for long-term storm-water management.
“There has been tremendous progress made there already,” he added.
Samerjan explained some of the finances of the project.
“We submitted an engineering solution to DEP [state Department of Environmental Protection], and they agreed to it,” he said. “The state environmental trust provided a low-interest loan to execute that plan.”
Irace said the borough is making payments and is being paid back by the Sports & ExpositionAuthority.
“We are the ones who borrowed the money on behalf of the Sports and Exposition Authority to get this thing moving along,” he said. “They are paying through the trust, and we signed off on it and they pay us back.”
Samerjan said he expects the project to be completed by Aug. 31, 2012.
“There has been substantial progress made already, and there is major construction involved in the long-term solution, including the building of a pumping station and the replacing of 50-year-old piping,” he said. “That takes time, but in the meantime, as each phase goes on, there is major progress being made to minimize the impact of the storm-water runoff.
“A lot of steps have been taken to better control the runoff as it is, and the most significant thing is the agreement with Two River Storage Authority for them to take up to 500,000 gallons a day of runoff when we have major storms,” he added. “This becomes an issue when there are major rain events.”
Kampf, founder of the Rivergate Keepers, a group aiming to protect the river, was critical of how long the project is taking.
“It’s work that’s happening, and I’m really glad to see it, but it’s work that should have happened a long time ago,” she said. “I’m glad to see we are actually making some progress.”
Kampf is skeptical of the 2012 completion date, however.
“Working with public contractors, timelines and deadlines are often affected by weather and other things, and the one thing they are talking about is they don’t want to traumatize the horses,” she said. “I’m a big animal lover, but I’m also a big river user and I live next to the river, and we’ve been traumatized for the last few years.
“Ideally, shut down the track and do the work. That would probably never happen because it is all about money, and that is why the timeline is so stretched out.”
Kampf also said that there haven’t been any progress reports on the pollutants made public.
“What is surprising to me is that there doesn’t sound like there is any real checks and balances,” she said. “The work that they are doing, they need to be sampling the water that comes out of the track.
“I don’t know if they are doing that yet. I haven’t been told that they haven’t done it, but I haven’t been told that they have done it. I am hoping we are able to get some numbers to show that these improvements are working.
“We can talk in futuristic terms, but I want to see the numbers. We should have regular checkpoints along the way,” Kampf said.
Irace said the borough has spoken to federal representatives about possibly dredging the creek, which could hypothetically happen as Monmouth Park completes its project.
“If we could get it dredged, hopefully we can get it as normal as we can,” he said. “We hope that becomes part of the project at some point.
“I think it could happen simultaneously, but it may only happen as Monmouth Park is finishing their part of the project,” Irace said.
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BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
OCEANPORT — Officials from both Long Branch and Oceanport were given an exclusive tour last week of the $20 million project designed to eliminate runoff from Monmouth Park that is the cause of pollution in Branchport Creek.
The tour took place June 24, led by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority.
Oceanport Councilman Joseph Irace said that every Oceanport council member except Jerry Bertekap was there, as well as Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon, Long Branch Councilwoman Kate Billings, former Long Branch Councilman Anthony Giordano, Long Branch resident Robin Kampf and Oceanport resident Jen McDermott.
Irace said he was impressed by the tour given by the Sports & Exposition Authority.
“It went pretty well. I was impressed with the size and scope of the project,” he said. “It’s a massive project to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“We kind of went in there and I thought it would be a dog and pony show, but I was very impressed.”
Irace said that Monmouth Park’s position as the borough’s largest taxpayer put the borough in a difficult position.
“We are kind of in the middle of it,” he said. “We want to see the racetrack survive and flourish because it is our largest ratable, but also we understand that they can’t continue to pollute the water.
“When we met with them through the mayor, they were able to agree to this and put this drainage in so the water doesn’t overflow and go into the rivers,” Irace said. “They’ve always been good neighbors, except for this.”
Irace described what the project is going to entail.
“They are going to put a 10 million-gallon sewage treatment plant in the Elkwood section,” he said. “It’s unbelievable, the retention pond that they’ve done and what they are going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“They’ve actually gone above and beyond what they were ordered to do,” he added. “I think they realized it’s been a problem in the past, and they are looking to fix that.”
Irace said the project is moving along slowly because the track is active with horses nine months a year.
“We tried to pin them down on how much water would have to come down in order to overflow the system,” he said. “They haven’t come up to that number since the horses have been in the barn.
“They really look like they understand the issue, and they are trying to push the project forward quicker,” he added. “Part of the problem is that the horses are there, and they can’t do some of the heavy work during the nine months or so that the horses are there.
“The work gets done in the winter time. They are ahead of schedule now and have already gone out to bid for the second phase of the project.”
Irace said he doesn’t know how much rain would have to fall before a problem would occur.
“They couldn’t give us specifics on how much rain would have to fall, but I think we’d need 6 inches of rain in a 24-hour period,” he said. “There are other factors of how fast it would have to fall before they run into a problem with overflow in the creek.”
Irace said that one of the most important aspects of the project is that dirty and clean water no longer mix.
“The clean water doesn’t co-mingle with the horse water,” he said. “The water from the parking lots doesn’t co-mingle, either.
“They are trying to take the dirty water and make sure it doesn’t mix with the clean water coming off the roofs and the parking lot,” he added. “The main thing is, I think they realized this time they have to get it right.”
Authority spokesman John Samerjan said he was happy with the progress that has been made.
“There has been a lot going on the last two years,” he said. “We are in the process of a $20 million project for long-term storm-water management.
“There has been tremendous progress made there already,” he added.
Samerjan explained some of the finances of the project.
“We submitted an engineering solution to DEP [state Department of Environmental Protection], and they agreed to it,” he said. “The state environmental trust provided a low-interest loan to execute that plan.”
Irace said the borough is making payments and is being paid back by the Sports & ExpositionAuthority.
“We are the ones who borrowed the money on behalf of the Sports and Exposition Authority to get this thing moving along,” he said. “They are paying through the trust, and we signed off on it and they pay us back.”
Samerjan said he expects the project to be completed by Aug. 31, 2012.
“There has been substantial progress made already, and there is major construction involved in the long-term solution, including the building of a pumping station and the replacing of 50-year-old piping,” he said. “That takes time, but in the meantime, as each phase goes on, there is major progress being made to minimize the impact of the storm-water runoff.
“A lot of steps have been taken to better control the runoff as it is, and the most significant thing is the agreement with Two River Storage Authority for them to take up to 500,000 gallons a day of runoff when we have major storms,” he added. “This becomes an issue when there are major rain events.”
Kampf, founder of the Rivergate Keepers, a group aiming to protect the river, was critical of how long the project is taking.
“It’s work that’s happening, and I’m really glad to see it, but it’s work that should have happened a long time ago,” she said. “I’m glad to see we are actually making some progress.”
Kampf is skeptical of the 2012 completion date, however.
“Working with public contractors, timelines and deadlines are often affected by weather and other things, and the one thing they are talking about is they don’t want to traumatize the horses,” she said. “I’m a big animal lover, but I’m also a big river user and I live next to the river, and we’ve been traumatized for the last few years.
“Ideally, shut down the track and do the work. That would probably never happen because it is all about money, and that is why the timeline is so stretched out.”
Kampf also said that there haven’t been any progress reports on the pollutants made public.
“What is surprising to me is that there doesn’t sound like there is any real checks and balances,” she said. “The work that they are doing, they need to be sampling the water that comes out of the track.
“I don’t know if they are doing that yet. I haven’t been told that they haven’t done it, but I haven’t been told that they have done it. I am hoping we are able to get some numbers to show that these improvements are working.
“We can talk in futuristic terms, but I want to see the numbers. We should have regular checkpoints along the way,” Kampf said.
Irace said the borough has spoken to federal representatives about possibly dredging the creek, which could hypothetically happen as Monmouth Park completes its project.
“If we could get it dredged, hopefully we can get it as normal as we can,” he said. “We hope that becomes part of the project at some point.
“I think it could happen simultaneously, but it may only happen as Monmouth Park is finishing their part of the project,” Irace said.
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Locals draw line in the sand over drilling
Locals draw line in the sand over drilling
Hands Across the Sand rallies beach-goers across the globe
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Alifelong county resident was joined last weekend at the beach in Long Branch with many other concerned residents protesting offshore drilling in New Jersey.
Dozens of people hold hands for 15 minutes Saturday at one of the beaches at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, Long Branch, as part of an international protest against off-shore drilling organized by Hands Across the Sand. More photos at gmnews.com. ERIC SUCAR staff Dozens of people hold hands for 15 minutes Saturday at one of the beaches at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, Long Branch, as part of an international protest against off-shore drilling organized by Hands Across the Sand. More photos at gmnews.com. ERIC SUCAR staff Long Branch resident Shawn Torbert led the charge on the city’s Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park beaches on Saturday as part of the Hands Across the Sand movement.
The event, which was scheduled for beaches around the world, urged people to join hands for 15 minutes to protest offshore oil drilling.
Torbert said the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a leading factor in the organization of the event.
“It is a statement of everyone getting together and drawing a line both literally and figuratively in the sand to try and prevent the type of catastrophe that we are seeing happening in the Gulf from happening again,” he said.
Top left: Anja Chatzopoulos (l-r), Sophia Chatzopoulos, 4, both of Bayonne, and Sandy Van Sant of Little Silver hold hands as part of a protest organized by Hands Across the Sand at Seven Presidents Park beach in Long Branch on June 26. The international event was held to protest off-shore oil drilling and to champion clean energy. Top left: Anja Chatzopoulos (l-r), Sophia Chatzopoulos, 4, both of Bayonne, and Sandy Van Sant of Little Silver hold hands as part of a protest organized by Hands Across the Sand at Seven Presidents Park beach in Long Branch on June 26. The international event was held to protest off-shore oil drilling and to champion clean energy. Torbert, who is actively involved in the Surfrider Foundation, a local nonprofit that works toward protecting the ocean, said growing up near the beach makes it important for him to protect it.
“I grew up here in Monmouth County, and I’ve been going to the beaches before I could walk with my family,” he said. “Protecting the coastline has always been the utmost importance to me.
“Even back in the ’80s when I was in high school, I was involved in Clean Ocean Action and beach cleanups, and I’ve been involved with the Surfrider Foundation for several years here,” he added.
Torbert also said that Seven Presidents is the perfect place for the protest to take place.
“My local beach is Seven Presidents so I figured we should do the same thing here and get as many beaches and as many people involved, and to get the locals to come out and see if we can make a chain of people up and down the entire coast,” he said last week.
Torbert said he thinks approximately 200-300 people, possibly more, participated in Saturday’s event at Seven Presidents beaches.
“It was difficult to count,” he said Monday, “because some beach-goers that were not necessarily there for the gathering decided to join the line to say ‘no’ to off-shore drilling and ‘yes’ to clean energy.”
PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Torbert said that the crisis in the Gulf is helping spread awareness of the issues.
“It is nothing new, I think it’s just what’s going in the Gulf has finally raised the awareness to the general public,” he said. “It is an opportunity for all of us to get together regardless of political affiliation to make a statement.
“No one industry should be able to put an entire coastal economy and marine and coastal environment at risk,” he added. “This isn’t about politics; it’s about protection of our oceans and marine life, our coastal environment and our coastal economies.”
Torbert said that after the event, Hands Across the Sand would make a political statement.
“We are actually going to be providing a petition,” he said. “Each one of the beaches involved with this is going to have a petition and we are going to ask people to sign it and then we will send it to President Obama.”
Torbert said the Surfrider Foundation is one of many nonprofit organizations involved with Hands Across the Sand, including the Sierra Club and Clean Ocean Action.
Torbert provided the mission statement for Hands Across the Sand: “To organize a national movement to oppose offshore oil drilling and champion clean energy and renewables,” the statement reads.
“These gatherings will bring thousands of American citizens to our beaches and cities and will draw metaphorical and actual lines in the sand; human lines in the sand against the threat oil drilling poses to America’s coastal economies and marine environment.
“To convince our state legislators, governors, Congress and President Obama to stop the expansion of offshore oil drilling and adopt policies encouraging clean and renewable energy sources.
“Establish legislation that creates tax incentives and subsidies to encourage the growth of clean energy and renewable industries for America’s future.”
Area Hands Across the Sand events also took place in Asbury Park, Monmouth Beach, Seaside and Brick.
Staff writer Adele Young contributed to this story.
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Hands Across the Sand rallies beach-goers across the globe
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Alifelong county resident was joined last weekend at the beach in Long Branch with many other concerned residents protesting offshore drilling in New Jersey.
Dozens of people hold hands for 15 minutes Saturday at one of the beaches at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, Long Branch, as part of an international protest against off-shore drilling organized by Hands Across the Sand. More photos at gmnews.com. ERIC SUCAR staff Dozens of people hold hands for 15 minutes Saturday at one of the beaches at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, Long Branch, as part of an international protest against off-shore drilling organized by Hands Across the Sand. More photos at gmnews.com. ERIC SUCAR staff Long Branch resident Shawn Torbert led the charge on the city’s Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park beaches on Saturday as part of the Hands Across the Sand movement.
The event, which was scheduled for beaches around the world, urged people to join hands for 15 minutes to protest offshore oil drilling.
Torbert said the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a leading factor in the organization of the event.
“It is a statement of everyone getting together and drawing a line both literally and figuratively in the sand to try and prevent the type of catastrophe that we are seeing happening in the Gulf from happening again,” he said.
Top left: Anja Chatzopoulos (l-r), Sophia Chatzopoulos, 4, both of Bayonne, and Sandy Van Sant of Little Silver hold hands as part of a protest organized by Hands Across the Sand at Seven Presidents Park beach in Long Branch on June 26. The international event was held to protest off-shore oil drilling and to champion clean energy. Top left: Anja Chatzopoulos (l-r), Sophia Chatzopoulos, 4, both of Bayonne, and Sandy Van Sant of Little Silver hold hands as part of a protest organized by Hands Across the Sand at Seven Presidents Park beach in Long Branch on June 26. The international event was held to protest off-shore oil drilling and to champion clean energy. Torbert, who is actively involved in the Surfrider Foundation, a local nonprofit that works toward protecting the ocean, said growing up near the beach makes it important for him to protect it.
“I grew up here in Monmouth County, and I’ve been going to the beaches before I could walk with my family,” he said. “Protecting the coastline has always been the utmost importance to me.
“Even back in the ’80s when I was in high school, I was involved in Clean Ocean Action and beach cleanups, and I’ve been involved with the Surfrider Foundation for several years here,” he added.
Torbert also said that Seven Presidents is the perfect place for the protest to take place.
“My local beach is Seven Presidents so I figured we should do the same thing here and get as many beaches and as many people involved, and to get the locals to come out and see if we can make a chain of people up and down the entire coast,” he said last week.
Torbert said he thinks approximately 200-300 people, possibly more, participated in Saturday’s event at Seven Presidents beaches.
“It was difficult to count,” he said Monday, “because some beach-goers that were not necessarily there for the gathering decided to join the line to say ‘no’ to off-shore drilling and ‘yes’ to clean energy.”
PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Torbert said that the crisis in the Gulf is helping spread awareness of the issues.
“It is nothing new, I think it’s just what’s going in the Gulf has finally raised the awareness to the general public,” he said. “It is an opportunity for all of us to get together regardless of political affiliation to make a statement.
“No one industry should be able to put an entire coastal economy and marine and coastal environment at risk,” he added. “This isn’t about politics; it’s about protection of our oceans and marine life, our coastal environment and our coastal economies.”
Torbert said that after the event, Hands Across the Sand would make a political statement.
“We are actually going to be providing a petition,” he said. “Each one of the beaches involved with this is going to have a petition and we are going to ask people to sign it and then we will send it to President Obama.”
Torbert said the Surfrider Foundation is one of many nonprofit organizations involved with Hands Across the Sand, including the Sierra Club and Clean Ocean Action.
Torbert provided the mission statement for Hands Across the Sand: “To organize a national movement to oppose offshore oil drilling and champion clean energy and renewables,” the statement reads.
“These gatherings will bring thousands of American citizens to our beaches and cities and will draw metaphorical and actual lines in the sand; human lines in the sand against the threat oil drilling poses to America’s coastal economies and marine environment.
“To convince our state legislators, governors, Congress and President Obama to stop the expansion of offshore oil drilling and adopt policies encouraging clean and renewable energy sources.
“Establish legislation that creates tax incentives and subsidies to encourage the growth of clean energy and renewable industries for America’s future.”
Area Hands Across the Sand events also took place in Asbury Park, Monmouth Beach, Seaside and Brick.
Staff writer Adele Young contributed to this story.
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