CORZINE TO ADDRESS FORT’S FUTURE

Mar 13, 2007

Gov. Jon Corzine is scheduled to appear at the Lincroft campus of Brookdale Community College tomorrow morning to “outline his vision” for the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth and to answer questions from the public, the Asbury Park Press reports today.

Corzine

Local officials apparently haven’t been clued into what Corzine will say, but they’re not expecting to hear anything that undermines their goal of turning the 1,100-plus-acre facility into a center for technology R&D.

From the story:

Corzine will “outline what we’ve done so far and what there is yet to do to ensure the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth is the driver of high-tech jobs in the region and the state,” said Brendan Gilfillan, a Corzine spokesman.

March 13, 2007 - 10:21 am |

FROZEN OUT OF THE STACKS

Mar 7, 2007

A partial reopening of the Red Bank Public Library initially planned for December and then postponed until this month probably won’t happen at all, library officials say now.

The upshot: library users will have to wait until May or June, when the entire renovation project is completed, to access the facility, said library director Debbie Griffin-Sadel.

The latest holdup: making up for weeks of work lost to the February cold snap, which brought the installation of a new sprinkler system to a halt. For the duration of the delay, a trench exposing a water line between the building and the supply line under West Front Street lay open, as contractors waited for a break in the Arctic freeze to fix a leak.

The trench was has now been refilled, and work has been resumed. But the partial re-opening? “Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen,” said Griffin-Sadel, who called the delays “extremely frustrating.

“We’re hoping not to become the Eastern Branch,” she said, referring to the Monmouth County Library branch in Shrewsbury that has been under reconstruction for almost four years.

March 7, 2007 - 2:37 pm |

ZAZZALI: LET ‘EM GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE

Mar 7, 2007

New Jersey’s citizens have the right to videotape public meetings, the state Supreme Court has ruled in a unanimous opinion written by Rumson resident and Chief Justice James Zazzali.

The Star-Ledger has news of the ruling, which came this morning in the case of a South Jersey man twice arrested for videotaping council meetings in his hometown of Pine Hill.

From the story:

The state Supreme Court today ruled that New Jerseyans have a common-law right to videotape public meetings, although governmental agencies can impose “reasonable guidelines” to make sure the recording does not disrupt their official business.

March 7, 2007 - 2:03 pm |

DRAFT BUDGET: AVERAGE TAX BILL UP $97

Mar 7, 2007

It’s only a draft document, one that even councilman and finance committee chairman Michael DuPont said he had not seen beforehand. But a preliminary Red Bank budget unveiled at a first-ever presentation of its kind Monday night calls for a municipal tax increase this year of 6.5 percent.

Bottom line: for the owner of a home valued at $404,981 the new average, according to the recently completely reassessment that would mean a tax jump of $97 for the year, to $1,595, before factoring in school and county taxes.

DuPont says he wants to get that $97 down to zero by the time the proposed spending plan is introduced at Monday night’s council session.

Among the line items he thinks need serious reconsideration is a proposal to hire three additional code enforcement workers a plan that DuPont’s fellow Democrats have made a centerpiece of their strategy to address overcrowding and other safety issues in the rental housing market, particularly on the West Side.

“The budget may not allow for three full-timers,” DuPont said. “We might have to look at that to see if it should be one full-timer and a clerk.”

Mayor Pasquale Menna was not present, nor were other council members.

March 7, 2007 - 12:18 am |

SOURCE OF SOARING WATER BILL FOUND

Mar 2, 2007

A head-scratcher over why water usage appeared to triple last year at the Red Bank Middle School appears to have been solved, the Asbury Park Press reports today.

The problem wasn’t leaks or kids suddenly turned ambitious about hygiene. It was a faulty water meter.

From the story:

“We put in a new meter, which solved a big portion of the problem,” Peter Noble, Board of Education vice president, said at Tuesday’s board meeting.

March 2, 2007 - 6:53 am |

OVERDUE: COUNTY LIBRARY REMODELING

Feb 28, 2007

The $10.1 million renovation of the Eastern Branch of the Monmouth County Library is now expected to be completed in June, four years after work began and two years later than originally expected, according to a story in today’s Asbury Park Press.

The article reports on the reopening if the of the Route 35 facility two days ago, following a monthlong shutdown:

The closing was initially supposed to last two weeks, but delays occurred with Internet and telephone rewiring work and other tasks related to inspections, Eastern Branch Chief Librarian Janet Kranis said.

February 28, 2007 - 6:35 am |

CURLEY TRIES REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY

Feb 27, 2007

Jammed up by a Democratic majority at odds with his demand for a reduction in the $38 overtime parking fine, Councilman John Curley last night offered a compromise plan, and then agreed to wait and see about its feasibilty.

Curley asked the council to consider a six-month ramping up of meter enforcement at the present fine rate to include the hours between 4p and 8p six days a week hours, apparently, when the meter patrol is off-duty, despite signs all over town suggesting otherwise.

“If nothing else, I’m sure it will give us additional revenues,” said Curley.

February 27, 2007 - 12:07 am |

STATE HANGS UP ON CELL TOWER SWAP

Feb 23, 2007

Those dead spots you keeping hitting in Fair Haven when talking on your cell phone? They’re no closer to being filled, thanks to a decision by the state Department of Environmental Protection that the borough may not use Green-Acres funded land as a site for a cell tower.

And Mayor Michael Halfacre says he thinks the DEP officials who heard the borough’s hourlong presentation on the request had made up their minds in advance, according to a story on the Asbury Park Press website.

From the story:

The application, which could have set a statewide precedent if it had been approved, was denied after Fair Haven officials made an hour-long presentation to about five state officials.

“When we were through, they left the room and came back after two minutes and said, “we’re not doing this,'” said Mayor Michael Halfacre, who was at the meeting. “It was clearly a predetermined denial.”

February 23, 2007 - 5:04 pm |

PRESS BACKS CURLEY ON FINES

Feb 6, 2007

The Asbury Park Press is backing Councilman John Curley’s push for a reduction in overtime parking fines in Red Bank from $38 to $25, a move some of the Democratic majority says will blow a $188,000 hole in the borough budget.

The headline on today’s Press editorial on the issue: “Stop gouging on fines.”

From the piece:

Councilman Michael R. DuPont said the town would need a tax increase to compensate for the projected $188,000 loss in revenue. That’s unacceptable. Councilman John Curley, who suggested reducing the fine, has come up with some sensible ideas for closing the gap, including enforcing meter hours into the evening. The posted hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., but enforcement officers work only until 4 p.m. That makes no sense.

February 6, 2007 - 7:24 am |

PARKS & REC DUO BACK IN SWING

Jan 31, 2007

The top two people at the Red Bank Parks & Recreation Department, whose names were curiously absent from the borough council reappointments list on Jan. 1, have gotten the seal of approval to remain in their positions.

Director Bob Evans and Assistant Director Tomora Young were reappointed by the council last week, following an oral report by Councilman John Curley on efforts to address issues raised by a recent audit of the department.

Citing personnel policies, borough officials are still rather vague about what the holdup was.

But redbankgreen has learned that the audit, completed in October, turned up some bookkeeping mismanagement issues in the department.

There was no suggestion of any type of malfeasance, Curley said.

“There were difficult problems of accounting procedures, and that’s about all I can say,” Curley told redbankgreen.

January 31, 2007 - 8:48 am |

BRIDGE JUMPER CHILLS DATE

Jan 24, 2007

Today’s Asbury Park Press has a story about the difficult rescue of an intoxicated, 25-year-old man who jumped off the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge early Saturday morning to impress a woman he was on a date with.

It didn’t work: the Rumson woman told police it was only their second date, and that there wouldn’t be a third, the Press reports.

January 24, 2007 - 6:59 am |

FECAL BACTERIA: THEY’RE ON IT

Jan 19, 2007

Shellfishermen downriver in Sandy Hook Bay weren’t entirely satisfied, but Red Bank and state officials say they’re attacking elevated fecal coliform levels in the Navesink River with all they’ve got, and that it’s working.

The most effective tool at their disposal, they say, is a study conducted by a unit of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection showing high levels of bacteria entering the river from borough storm drains.

With that as a guide, the borough has been tracing sources of storm-sewer flows on dry days, videotaping the insides of sewer lines, re-lining or replacing infrastructure and taking other measures, borough officials told a gathering of several dozen people at Borough Hall Wednesday night.

A state official endorsed the strategy.

“We’re very optimistic,” Eric Feerst, of the DEP’s Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring told the audience. “You have a very proactive approach.”

January 19, 2007 - 12:12 am |

CURLEY: TEAR DOWN THOSE FINES!

Jan 17, 2007

Jpc2_3

Today’s Asbury Park Press has a story about what may prove to be the first test of the Democratic majority’s professed willingness to “work with” Councilman John Curley: parking fines.

Curley, one of two Republicans on the six-member council, wants them slashed from $38 per violation to $25. The council Dems are saying, whoa, not so fast.

January 17, 2007 - 10:34 am |

TAKE MY POND. PLEASE.

Jan 16, 2007

The would-be developer of the former Doremus estate in Fair Haven wants to give the adjoining Schwenker’s Pond to the borough.

He may soon be advised to go jump in a lake.

“The pond is a mess, frankly,” says Mayor Michael Halfacre. “So the feelings are mixed. It would increase the borough’s open space, but it’s in pretty bad shape.”

January 16, 2007 - 9:26 am |

NAVESINK BACTERIA A CONCERN

Jan 15, 2007

Officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection are scheduled to present the results of a recent study of fecal coliform in the Navesink River Wednesday night.

The news isn’t good.

The meeting of Navesink River Municipalities Committee is of particular interest to Red Bank, because it will show huge plumes of [fecal] coliform emanating into the river from three storm sewer outfall pipes, says Edward Pitts, a member of the Monmouth County Environmental Council.

The knowledge that that is happening will basically require Red Bank to clean up its act, because thats where the pollution sources are, Pitts says.

January 15, 2007 - 6:59 am |

‘Y’ BUILDING ON WEST SIDE SOLD

Jan 12, 2007

A gateway property on Red Bank’s West Side, the administration headquarters of the Community YMCA on Drs. James Parker Boulevard, has been sold, redbankgreen has learned.

Ymca

The buyer, PS5 LLC, paid $1.3 million for the longtime public school building, according to Y CEO Gary Laermer.

The transaction involves a prominent structure in a section of Red Bank that is heavily trafficked and in need of some TLC.

January 12, 2007 - 2:54 pm |

PARKS & REC MINI-MYSTERY

Jan 9, 2007

Something’s brewing at the Red Bank Parks and Recreation Department, which has Borough Hall watchers abuzz with speculation. But no one in a position to say what, exactly, is up will say much, citing rules covering government-employee rights.

Hmm.

Here’s what we know.

January 9, 2007 - 5:43 pm |

LUCKY IN THE LEDGER

Jan 7, 2007

Sunday’s Star-Ledger has a terrific profile of Fair Haven’s Bob Lucky, head of the Fort Monmouth re-use panel and an engineer whose seminal work led to the creation of the Internet.

The article, by Wayne Wolley, begins:

Bob Lucky earned his status as an information-age pioneer while idling at a stop light in Red Bank.

January 7, 2007 - 11:34 am |

FIVE-YEAR ‘GO’ FOR CHARTER SCHOOL

Jan 3, 2007

Having dodged a bullet last August, the Red Bank Charter School has now gotten a green light to continue operating for another five years, the Asbury Park Press reports today.

From the story, by Larry Higgs:

The best news came for the Red Bank Charter School that its charter has been renewed for another five years in a letter that sat in a fax machine “in basket” since Friday.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all year; I’m very excited,” said parent Christopher Hansen, 39, of Madison Avenue. “I know they’d get through their difficulties and move ahead. Five years is fantastic.”

In the Dec. 29 letter, state Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy told officials that the renewal was based on the Oakland Street school’s academic progress, ongoing improvements and the commitment by the board of trustees and administration.

“We are thrilled,” said Meredith Pennotti, school principal.

January 3, 2007 - 7:31 am |

RB LEADS NJ IN HISPANIC STUDENT JUMP

Dec 24, 2006

Red Bank led all 623 school districts statewide in Hispanic student enrollment growth from 2000 to 2006, according to a report in today’s Star-Ledger.

An analysis by the state’s largest newspaper found that 57.9 percent of students in the Red Bank schools are today Hispanic, up 32.8 percent in the past six years.

Not coincidentally, Red Bank also led the state in terms of percentage decrease in African-American student enrollment, to 28.3 percent of the total, a drop of 26.7 percent in six years.

In three of the cities cited in the articleRed Bank, New Brunswick and Plainfield”Hispanic children are actually replacing the black population in the schools,” the Ledger reports.

December 24, 2006 - 10:43 am |

LIBRARY UPGRADES BEHIND SCHEDULE

Dec 22, 2006

The remodeling of the Red Bank Public Library will take up to three months longer than planned, in part because of the discovery of asbestos in a chimney, the Asbury Park Press reports today.

From the story:

The West Front Street borough library is now not expected to reopen until March because of asbestos removal and a utility’s delay in installation of new electrical service, library officials said.

“That (electrical work) has been done, but it took a while to get done,” said Jane Eigenrauch, adult services librarian. “The asbestos is in an old chimney area and has to be properly removed, and the schedule is to do it next Thursday or Friday.”

Email this story

December 22, 2006 - 11:43 pm |

WATERY MYSTERY AT MIDDLE SCHOOL

Dec 20, 2006

Today’s Asbury Park Press has a story about an effort to explain what appears to be soaring water usage at the Red Bank Middle School, which tripled in the July-October billing period, to 1,500 gallons per day.

So far, plumbers, public works officials and heating-and-cooling professionals have been stumped. The water meter is working properly, officials say, but there’s no sign of a leak or open tap.

December 20, 2006 - 9:18 am |

WHERE HAVE I SEEN THIS?

Dec 14, 2006

We’re not quite sure what to make of it when not even one reader correctly identifies a ‘Where‘ entry.

December 14, 2006 - 1:35 am |

A HALF-ASPHALTED JOB?

Nov 30, 2006

What’s with the partial pave jobs on Hudson Avenue and East Bergen Place?

Almost two weeks ago, paving contractors laid down a 10-foot wide strip of steamy new asphalt along the north side of East Bergen. At the same time, they paved exactly half of Hudsonthe western half of the north-south thoroughfare. Then the contractors packed up and left.

What gives?

November 30, 2006 - 12:42 am |

POSTAGE DUE ON THE WEST SIDE

Nov 29, 2006

Postal

A year after the shutdown of the Westboro Post Office on Shrewsbury Avenue because of mold contamination, officials have set an estimated reopening date.

A postal service spokesman, George Flood, tells redbankgreen that the substation is expected to re-open by early March.

That would be a relief not only to West Siders, but to residents and business owners beyond Red Bank’s borders, in Fairview, River Plaza, northern Tinton Falls and elsewhere. Many were upset when the station was closed, and clamored for its quick reopening.

“The consensus is that the demand is there,” says Mayor-elect Pat Menna. “It was never a money-losing proposition for the post office.”

November 29, 2006 - 11:52 am |

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