Leaving an unhitched trailer on the street “at any time” would be prohibited by ordinance. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
At its semimonthly meeting Thursday night, the Red Bank council is expected to finalize its ban on “unhitched” trailers parked curbside throughout town.
After a four-and-a-half-month closure, the northern blocks of Broad Street in downtown Red Bank were reopened to vehicular traffic Monday.
The council meets twice monthly at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Salaries for Red Bank’s mayor and council, which haven’t risen in at least 15 years, will remain unchanged at least through the remainder of 2023, under an resolution up for a vote Thursday night.
But whomever the governing body selects to fill the new borough manager post will have the latitude to give them specified raises under a related ordinance that’s also up for a vote.
Here’s a quick look at the agenda:
Access to the boardwalk in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park is temporarily closed this week.
Dreamers Club executive committee members Selena Martinez-Santiago, Madelyn Sanchez-Berra and Bethzy Vera Varela looked on as president Edith Lozano Zane addressed the RBR board on September 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
UPDATE: Because of rain in the forecast, this Saturday’s Hispanic Heritage Celebration in Riverside Gardens Park has been rescheduled for September 30.
By JOHN T. WARD
Kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, Red Bank’s mayor and council trained a spotlight on four young Latina students at Red Bank Regional High School last week.
The self-styled “Dream 4” were fresh off an emotional revival of a school club that advocates for Hispanic and Latinx students.
A view down South Street on August 3, above, and a century-old tree being removed Monday. (Photos by John T. Ward, above, and Kenny Katzgrau. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The abrupt removal of nine trees along South Street in Red Bank this week was “unavoidable,” according to interim borough Manager Darren McConnell.
Residents, though, said they were in the dark about the plan until it was too late to change it.
Red Bank cops posing as pedestrians issued summonses to 30 motorists for safety violations earlier this week, Captain Mike Frazee announced Thursday.
The council meets twice monthly at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council would clear the way to give itself its first pay bump in at least 15 years under an ordinance up for introduction Thursday night.
It would also reset the maximum salaries for the top three unelected positions at borough hall, one of which is open.
Here’s a quick look at the agenda:
As part of a road repaving project, a crew began removing nine trees along South Street in Red Bank amid complaints from residents Wednesday morning.
redbankgreen plans to follow up with a story. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Dreamers Club executive committee member Selena Martinez-Santiago delivers a petition in support of the group to RBR board president Patrick Noble. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Reversing an action that sparked a civil rights complaint and community outrage, Red Bank Regional High School’s board of ed restored funding for an immigrants’ advocacy student group Monday night.
At special session in the Little Silver school’s cafeteria that drew a large crowd – including Red Bank’s entire governing body – speakers voiced support for the Dreamers Club while denouncing a lone board member’s vote that they said imperiled years of progress.
Three of the four members of the Dreamers Club executive committee volunteering at Dog Days on Saturday: from left, Madelyn Sanchez-Berra, Selena Martinez-Santiago and Bethzy Vera-Varela. Below, club president Edith Lozano Zane. (Top photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Dreamers Club at Red Bank Regional High School has filed a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights alleging it has been “singled out for nine years” of discrimination, the group announced Friday.
The allegations of bias are expected to be in the spotlight when the RBR board of education meets in a special session Monday night. Meantime, Superintendent Lou Moore said he’s “hopeful” the board will reinstate the club by reappointing its advisor.
A backhoe en route to start work on a park makeover project tipped off a trailer in Red Bank Wednesday morning.
A boat that was sinking in the horsehoe-shaped municipal marina in Red Bank’s Marine Park was pulled from the water Tuesday night.
One of downtown Red Bank’s traffic bollards survived its first real-world test when it was struck by an SUV early Monday.
Workers laying the sidewalk that blocked access to White Street from the Better Housekeeping Shop, the beige building visible at far right, in October, 2020. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Less than three years after a complete makeover, downtown Red Bank’s main parking lot would be reconfigured to comply with the terms of a lawsuit settlement up for approval Thursday night.
At issue: an 84-year-old appliance shop’s truck access to the street.
Purple flags outside Red Bank borough hall call attention to the dozens of drug overdose deaths in Monmouth County in the first three months of 2023, according to the Prevention Coalition of Monmouth County.
The nonprofit organization says 52 municipalities in the county will host purple flag initiative displays leading up to International Overdose Awareness Day August 31. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Hundreds of Red Bank residents turned out for free food and games at the annual police-sponsored National Night Out Against Crime festival at Count Basie Park Tuesday night.
Check out the photos below to see who you know. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Borough attorney Greg Cannon, right, with interim Administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell, will draft proposed new laws to limit graffiti. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
See CLARIFICATION below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s mayor and council are planning measures they hope will counter an increase in graffiti around town.
Here are some highlights from last Thursday’s semimonthly meeting.
In lawn chairs, on blankets and aboard boats, thousands of music lovers flocked to Marine Park in Red Bank for the return of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra after a three-year absence Saturday night.
Were you there for the sublime concert on the Navesink? Check out redbankgreen‘s photos below to spot familiar faces, and let us know what you thought of the event, organized as in the past by downtown promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
An aerial view of the Red Bank Senior Center property, located at 80 Shrewsbury Avenue. (Photo from Google Maps. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Following what one critic called “the old switcheroo,” Red Bank’s soon-to-be-unseated council pushed through a measure to include the Senior Center property in a state conservation program Wednesday night.
The 11th-hour, unadvertised move was opposed by Mayor Billy Portman and at least four members of the council that’s slated to take office July 1, setting the stage for possible reversal.
The Senior Center as seen last August. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a failed attempt to preserve part of the Red Bank Senior Center property by subdividing it, the council will try another approach Wednesday night.
An aerial view of the Senior Center property. (Photo from Google Maps. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s planning board rejected a proposed subdivision of the borough’s riverfront Senior Center property Monday night.
Board members said the plan would cede too much control of the riverfront site to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, when other conservation tools would not.
The borough has been “flooded” with requests for bodycam video of DWI arrests, said the police chief. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council rejected, without comment, a police department request to set fees for providing bodycam videos sought by the public Wednesday night.
Adoption would have helped cops reduce a “flood” of demands from requesters who simply want to monetize footage on social media, said Chief Darren McConnell. More →
Red Bank officials this week began to address one of the foremost complaints about the downtown Broadwalk zone: the presence of “ugly” orange safety barrels used to supplement steel bollards installed last year.
Red Bank’s Broadwalk returned Monday night for at least a four-month run. And the weather for the next week looks good for outdoor dining.