An aerial view created by JCP&L shows the southern terminus of the line at a substation in Red Bank. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
New Jersey regulators have pulled the plug on a controversial plan for electricity provider Jersey Central Power & Light to construct a 10-mile long, high-voltage electricity transmission line that would end in Red Bank, the Asbury Park Press reported Friday.
Homeowners living along the line and other objectors packed a public hearing on the JCP&L proposal held at Brookdale Community College last March. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Electrical utility JCP&L has failed to prove it needs a to build a controversial 10-mile long, high-voltage electricity transmission line that would end in Red Bank, a judge has ruled.
The decision, handed down Thursday, represents at least an interim victory for a grassroots effort led by homeowners to thwart the proposed $111 million project.
A pedestrian suffered minor injuries when she was hit by falling debris as a FedEx truck exiting the Red Bank Post Office caught overhead wires and pulled a utility pole down on Broad Street at about 4:40 p.m. Thursday, according to police Chief Darren McConnell.
Many in the crowd came with signs and wore stickers indicating the distance of their homes from the proposed power line. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Thwarted from speaking two months ago, hundreds of opponents of a proposed high-voltage electricity transmission line from Aberdeen to Red Bank came electrified with anger Tuesday night.
The occasion was a public comment session at Brookdale Community College on the Jersey Central Power & Light Company proposal, which calls for support poles as tall as 210 feet running for 10 miles along the North Jersey Coast Line railroad, ending at a substation in Red Bank.
Two months after an overflow crowd jammed a first hearing, opponents of a proposed high-voltage electricity transmission line from Aberdeen to Red Bank are expected to gather at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft Wednesday evening.
A view north along the North Jersey Coast Line from the Red Bank train station. The proposed JCP&L power line would be strong alongside the railroad right-of-way on poles as tall as 140 feet. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A controversial 10-mile long, high-voltage electricity transmission line that would end in Red Bank is no more welcome today than it was when it was shelved more than two decades ago, two local legislators said Thursday.
State Senators Jen Beck, of Red Bank, and Joe Kyrillos, of Middletown, jointly introduced a trio of resolutions in Trenton aimed at blocking electricity provider JCP&L from building the line.
A power outage prompted officials to close Brookdale Community College Wednesday, the school announced on social media.
An aerial view created by JCP&L shows the southern terminus of the line at a substation in Red Bank. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Setting the stage for a faceoff with residents living alongside it, electricity provider JCP&L on Tuesday filed its formal request to build a controversial 10-mile long, high-voltage electricity transmission line that would end in Red Bank.
Fair Haven Mayor Ben Lucarelli says the controversial transmission line may help his town avoid a repeat of the long outage experienced after Hurricane Sandy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven Mayor Ben Lucarelli stepped onto a political third rail Tuesday, proclaiming his support for a controversial 10-mile long, high-voltage electricity transmission line that would end in Red Bank.
The 10-mile high-capacity power line would run above the Red Bank train station on new, taller pylons and terminate a few blocks south at a power substation, according to JCP&L. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council tabled a resolution Wednesday night opposing a proposed 10-mile long, high-voltage electricity transmission line that would end in the borough.
Councilman Mark Taylor put the brakes on the measure when he said he hadn’t seen it before the start of the governing body’s semimonthly meeting and wanted a chance to do some research into the issues.
Kyle King, an environmental health consultant to JCP&L, was surrounded by questioners at the event. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Plans for a 10-mile long, high-voltage electricity transmission line terminating in Red Bank drew dozens of concerned residents to an information session in Lincroft Tuesday night.
Dubbed the Monmouth County Reliability Project, the 230-kilovolt transmission line is needed to keep pace with demand for electricity, according to Jersey Central Power & Light.
But residents living along its path — the existing New Jersey Transit right-of-way between existing substations in Aberdeen and Red Bank — said they fear it will have harmful health effects and reduce home values.
A view of the North Jersey Coast Line northward from the Red Bank station in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Jersey Central Power & Light is reviving a plan, mothballed 25 years ago, for a high-voltage electricity transmission line to Red Bank, according to a report by NJ.com.
The 230-kilovolt transmission line would run along the existing New Jersey Transit right-of-way between existing substations in Aberdeen and Red Bank. And it’s needed to keep pace with demand for electricity, the company says.
Crews from JCP&L and Little Silver cleared a fallen tree and electrical line on Branch Avenue, where a service line was torn away from the house at left during a wind storm Sunday morning. The utility company’s outage map showed up to 100 customers in both Little Silver and the River Plaza section of Middletown without power, with lesser numbers in Shrewsbury and Fair Haven.
The National Weather Service had a high-wind warning in effect until noon, with possible gusts of of 50 to 60 miles per hour. And . (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Traffic was heavy on Bridge Avenue and other roads surrounding Hubbard’s Bridge during Wednesday’s morning rush. Below, an unidentified worker carries a granite block, one of many such paving stones and old red bricks unearthed during the first day of work on the intersection on the Red Bank side of the span. (Photo below by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Message to motorists stuck in the somewhat-suddenly-worse-again traffic surrounding Hubbard’s Bridge between Middletown and Red Bank: think of the kids.
That’s one spin that officials put on a two-to-three-week closure of the span that was announced late last Friday and took effect Wednesday morning.
By JOHN T. WARD
Two hot topics were removed from the Red Bank council agenda Wednesday night:
• a proposed $2 million bond to pay for replacing every residential and business water meter in town
• and possible end to a moratorium on parking fees paid in the past by downtown developers.
The borough-owned water utility would replace every meter in town – more than 3,800 of them – under the proposal. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan for a wholesale modernization of Red Bank’s water-metering technology is back, as promised, after getting tabled late last year.
A $2.2 million bond to pay for the replacement of every water meter in town is slated for introduction next week.
A series of eruptions displaced a manhole cover and bricks outside Red Bank Catholic, above. Below, JCP&L workers on making repairs in the “handhole” early Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Were there explosions on Broad Street in Red Bank on Sunday?
Yes, according to eyewitnesses. No, according to a JCP&L spokesman – and the sidewalks downtown are as safe as ever.
Through spokesman Ron Morano, the electrical utility on Monday disputed claims that its equipment had exploded up to four times outside the St. James Church/Red Bank Catholic High complex, as reported on redbankgreen and elsewhere.
The claim that there were no explosions surprised police Chief Darren McConnell, who said he saw two himself as he stood in the cordoned-off stretch of Broad Street shortly after 3 p.m.
“I don’t know what they’re defining as an explosion,” McConnell said. “I saw what happened, and what happened looked an awful lot like an explosion to me.”
The explosions occurred in two transformer pits outside Red Bank Catholic High and St. James Church Sunday afternoon. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials are scheduled to meet Monday with power company representatives to determine what caused Sunday’s electrical equipment explosions on Broad Street, Mayor Pasquale Menna tells redbankgreen.
Also on the table, he said, is the question of whether JCP&L’s underground equipment, which runs the length of Broad Street downtown, is safe, he said.
A JCP&L crew working outside RBC at about 4:35 Monday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Utility workers restored electrical power to downtown Red Bank Sunday night following a series of underground transformer explosions that sent manhole covers and bricks flying at mid-afternoon.
No one was reported injured in the blasts, which occurred in two curbside service pits located about 100 feet apart outside the Red Bank Catholic High School/Saint James Church complex on Broad Street, with the first of four explosions reported at about 3:06 p.m.
Smoke billows from one of two manholes on Broad Street Sunday afternoon. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A series of explosions in underground electrical boxes rocked Broad Street in Red Bank Sunday afternoon.
No injuries were reported as the eruptions, in front of the St. James Church/Red Bank Catholic High School complex, sent steel covers and bricks flying from two manholes shortly after 3 p.m.
The Red Bank Police Department issued this notice early Wednesday afternoon:
WARNING: GREEN DOT PHONE SCAM
In the recent weeks, Red Bank Police Department has received a large number of reports from victims of a telephone fraud operation. These frauds have been documented on the news and are occurring throughout the nation.
In the scam, the victim is contacted by a person representing themselves as an employee of a business. In many of the scams, the callers have been identifying themselves as representatives of JCP&L (power company) however other business names and agencies have been used as well. The caller tells the person that they are late on paying their power bill and their power will be shut off if they do not pay immediately. The caller then directs the victim to purchase Green Dot MoneyPak cards.
Councilwoman Cindy Burnham, right, listens as Councilwoman Kathy Horgan reads an Environmental Commission resolution that denounced any move to privatize Red Bank’s water utility. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
New Red Bank Councilwoman Cindy Burnham‘s recent suggestion that the town sell its water utility got a thorough hosing Wednesday night.
Two weeks after discussion of $2.2 million capital improvement bond prompted Burnham to call for privatization of the water system, Burnham sat stone silent through a critique of the idea Wednesday night – and then voted in favor of the bond.
By Thursday morning, though, the council’s lone Republican was talking again, calling opposition to her suggestion an “attack” by the Democratic majority.
‘Tis always the season for Where Have I Seen This?, the year-round test of your knowledge of landmarks on the sparkly place we call the Green.
Do you know Where this week’s photo was taken? If you’d like to guess, please send an email to wherehaveiseenthis@redbankgreen.com.
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank man who tried to rally last-minute opposition to a bond vote engaged elected officials in a tense exchange over taxes and debt Wednesday night, but got no vocal backing from the audience.
Sean Di Somma, 31, of Morford Place, had robocalled an unspecified number of residents just hours before the bimonthly borough council meeting with a pre-recorded message warning that the governing body was about to “ram through” a $500,000 bond ordinance “to continue their own reckless and out-of-control spending.”
Di Somma did not speak during the public comment session prior to the vote on the bond, which won unanimous approval. Afterward, though, he engaged in an increasingly sharp exchange with Councilman Mike DuPont, each interrupting and telling the other to “hold on.”
TJ Pruitt of Alabama Power chats with admirers in Fair Haven Monday night. Below, a gingerbread utility truck make by resident Elizabeth Drummond. (Photo above by Wil Fulton; below by Larry Quigley. Click to enlarge)
By WIL FULTON
It was a homecoming of sorts for Alabama Power workers on Monday night when they made their long-awaited return to what they now can safely refer to as their home away from home Fair Haven, New Jersey.
At Knollwood School, the Alabama Power workers were honored for their storm relief efforts with an official proclamation, gifts and tokens from residents and local business owners, and an audience with enough enthusiasm to match a Springsteen concert.