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RED BANK: WATER LINES, CANNABIS ON AGENDA

A map used in a February presentation indicated that 366 properties were known to be served by lead water supply lines, with most others “unknown.” (Image by ENGenuity. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAt its final meeting before a history-making election, the Red Bank council will take up a big cost increase for removing lead water service lines.

Also on deck: adoption of a cannabis zoning law that the planning board said does not comply with the town’s Master Plan.

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RED BANK: PIPES, RENTALS, VOTING ON DECK

Branch Avenue resident Alberto Larotonda with a lead pipe he brought to a council meeting in 2015. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See Correction below

By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topicThe Red Bank council may authorize spending up to $2.4 million to replace water service lines made of lead when it meets Wednesday night.

Also on the heavy agenda: possible adoption of a controversial law restricting short-term residential rentals; a study of water rates; a change in the zoning law governing cannabis sales; and authorizing early, in-person voting for an historic May election.

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RED BANK: DPU HEAD OUSTED

Cliff Keen on Broad Street last June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAt its first working session of 2023, the Red Bank council fired public utilities director Cliff Keen Wednesday night.

Unmentioned at the meeting: he was replaced on an interim basis, at a cost of $16,500 per month, by Gary Watson Sr., whom Keen succeeded in 2016.

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RED BANK: DETOURS, FOUR-WAY STOP COMING

Motorists who travel Spring Street in Red Bank will need to adjust for some temporary changes resulting from road work this week and next.

And there will be a permanent change in place once the work is done: a new four-way stop intersection.

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RED BANK: SPRING STREET PROJECT ADVANCING

Parking is prohibited this week on the southern half of Spring Street in Red Bank as “minor concrete work and fire hydrant replacement” is scheduled to begin Monday, acting borough administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.

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RED BANK: BROADWALK SET FOR RETURN

An employee of Catch 19  setting up tables Friday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njWith borough workers and contractors putting finishing touches on an eight-month-long streetscape  project, a handful of restaurants hastily set up for a return of Red Bank’s Broadwalk plaza Friday.

Outside the traffic-free zone, however, none of the parking-space streateries used over the past two summers have returned, following a sixfold increase in fees by the borough council.

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RED BANK: PAVING TO BRING DAYS OF DETOURS

A crew from Montana Construction adjusting one of the new retractable bollards on Broad Street Friday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

Accustomed to detours and dust from an eight-month-long rebuilding of Broad Street, merchants and motorists in Red Bank will face what officials hope will be one last series of shutdowns next week.

Weather permitting, several days of paving and striping should all but finish the streetscape project.

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RED BANK: BROADWALK CURTAILED, FEES UPPED

Businesses readied for the second year of Broadwalk in May, 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

Delayed by months, the third season of Red Bank’s Broadwalk shopping-and-dining plaza may finally get going July 22.

This year’s edition, however, is slated to run only through Labor Day. And new fees for in-street dining will cost restaurateurs twice what they paid over the past two summers, said Bob Zuckerman, executive director of the downtown promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter.

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RED BANK: BROADWALK ACTION EXPECTED

Newly installed retractable bollards will allow for upper Broad Street to be converted quickly to a vehicle-free Broadwalk. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

Red Bank’s council is scheduled to hold two meetings Wednesday night, its only sessions in July.

Though not on the agenda for either the workshop or regular meeting, action to enable a third season of Broadwalk is anticipated by the downtown business community.

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RED BANK: BROADWALK CONCERNS AIRED

A view of Broadwalk at lunchtime last October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

Red Bank merchants and residents pressed officials with concerns regarding a third season of Broadwalk at a community forum Wednesday night.

With less than a month to go before a disruptive streetscape makeover project wraps up, they called for efforts to address litter, traffic, speeding on residential streets and more.

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RED BANK: BROAD STREET PROJECT NEARS END

Retractable bollards were installed on Mechanic Street near Broad Street Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

A messy, overdue and over-budget makeover of upper Broad Street in Red Bank is expected to conclude in late July, acting borough Administrator Darren McConnell said Wednesday.

The project, which began last November, marked a milestone with the installation this week of retractable hydraulic bollards that will enable quick closure of the street to vehicular traffic.

Still to be determined is when the Broadwalk dining promenade will return for a third, if abbreviated, season.

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RED BANK: BROADWALK PANEL FORMED

red bank what's going on hereNavigating sidewalks on Broad Street in downtown Red Bank is a bit of a challenge these days.

What’s the latest on the streetscape project that’s been underway since November in the streets northernmost blocks? Read on.

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RED BANK: COUNCIL SPARS OVER BROADWALK

Curb replacement work underway as part of the Broad Street streetscape project last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAn ongoing split among Red Bank council Democrats played out as a power struggle Wednesday night over who will steer the reopening of the seasonal Broadwalk dining and shopping plaza.

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RED BANK: BROADWALK MAY RETURN IN JULY

Diners enjoying lunch in the Broadwalk zone in October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njDelayed by street a reconstruction project, Red Bank’s Broadwalk outdoor dining plaza will return this summer, borough officials agreed Wednesday.

The informal consensus of the council was the first indication that the downtown car-free experiment, launched in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, would get a third edition.

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RED BANK: COUNCIL OKS MAIN, TIE-IN COSTS

A Montana Construction crew working on Broad Street earlier this month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njBroad Street in Red Bank will get a new, $1.3 million water main, following council action to expand a $2.7 million sanitary sewer project that has disrupted downtown traffic for the past three months.

And property owners won’t have to pay thousands of dollars to replace their water connections, as some had feared.

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RED BANK: COUNCIL WRAPS UP 2021

The council meeting was the final one scheduled for 2021. (Screenshot from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council’s final regular meeting of 2021 included a new police contract, a plan to recombine workshop and regular sessions, a new used Tesla, and praise for a departing colleague.

Here’s an overview.

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RED BANK: “YOU BROKE IT, YOU FIX IT”

A Montana Construction crew working on Broad Street earlier this month. (redbankgreen photo. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njProperty owners in downtown Red Bank pushed back Wednesday night on the notion that they should pay thousands of dollars each to replace their water service lines.

Addressing the borough council on their behalf, Red Bank RiverCenter Executive Director Glenn Carter invoked the adage, “you broke it, you fix it.”

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RED BANK: STREET CLOSURES ANNOUNCED


hot topic red bank njMuch of Red Bank’s central business district will be closed to vehicle traffic Monday to allow for work in connection with the installation of a new sewer line on Broad Street, police announced Sunday.

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