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LITTLE SILVER: LAW TARGETS 5G CELL TECH

The new cell tower in the heart of Little Silver inspired a citizen backlash in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A year after a big new cell tower popped up in the middle of Little Silver’s business district, to the shock of many residents, two new borough council members hope to head off any similar, or even smaller, jolts in the future.

They introduced a proposed law Monday night that would give the borough some say over telecom carriers wishing to install new high-speed wireless equipment in town.

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LITTLE SILVER: TOWN HIRES TOWER LAWYER

The tower looms over homes on Prospect Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Little Silver council hired an attorney Monday night to help it determine if it’s stuck with a new a cell tower that’s dialed up widespread anger in the borough.

As special counsel, Kevin Starkey is expected to start out by reviewing some two years worth of correspondence and other records for guidance on how the governing body might proceed in dealing with the tower’s sole user so far: Verizon Wireless.

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LITTLE SILVER: CELL TOWER DIALS UP OUTRAGE

Many in the overflow crowd voiced concerns about health safety and the tower’s impact on property values. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Hundreds of Little Silver residents packed a school auditorium Monday night to give elected officials an earful about their decision to allow a 95-foot-tall cell tower to be built just 500 feet away.

Few appeared placated by either an account of how the tower came to be or the assurances of a telecom engineer that it’s safe.

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LITTLE SILVER: ANTENNA PLAN ADVANCES

ls tower 070615A new tower would be almost 30 feet taller than the existing antenna behind borough hall. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Little Silver officials endorsed a proposal Monday night for the possible construction of a new telecommunications antenna that could rise to 90 feet above the heart of town.

And the plan, which might have generated fierce pushback in the early days of cellphone proliferation, didn’t generate so much as a beep of opposition.

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SEA BRIGHT: PROPOSED TOWER ON THE MOVE

sea-bright-boro-hallThe town’s first cell tower would now be sited east of borough hall, against the sea wall under a plan approved Tuesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03A years-overdue cellphone tower contemplated for the Sea Bright municipal parking lot will now probably go elsewhere.

The borough council, acting under the threat of unilateral action on the siting issue from Verizon, authorized telecom consultant Declan O’Scanlon to work with the phone giant to get the tower approved and built on the ocean side of borough hall Tuesday night.

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SEA BRIGHT: CELL TOWER GENERATES STATIC

sb muni lot 011014The proposed 160-foot tower would be sited in the municipal parking lot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

HOT-TOPIC_03Sea Bright is facing an “ultimatum” over it’s long-discussed but never-built solution to spotty cellphone service, NJ.com reports.

Telecom giant Verizon has told the borough it will pull out as a planned user of a proposed cell tower if it doesn’t build it soon, the Star-Ledger’s website says.

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MIDDLETOWN: PHONES OUT FOR EIGHT DAYS


Some 25 telephone landlines in the Shady Oaks over-55 condo community in Middletown remained out of service Friday, eight days after a weather-related outage, Verizon tells redbankgreen. “Verizon’s repair crews are working to restore the service and then implement a long-term solution to ensure uninterrupted service for these customers,” a company spokesman said.

A resident tells redbankgreen that he and others finally heard from the company via their cellphones – after our inquiries. “Now, Verizon reps are knocking on doors” of the affected residents, he said. Hey, call – or email anytime. (Click to enlarge)

RED BANK: TAKEDOWN STREET

rb trees 2 100713The stump of one of four Bradford pear trees taken down Tuesday afternoon. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

rb trees 3 100813Remember the White Street tree slaughter of 2007?

Well, it happened again Tuesday in Red Bank. And as was the case six years ago. it was necessary and justifiable, tree-care advocates said.

The latest takedown, by the Monmouth County Shade Tree Division, involved four mature Bradford pear trees on Broad Street in front of the Verizon switch building and some nearby stores.

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RED BANK POWER RESTORATION CONTINUES

A map issued by the Red Bank Office of Emergency Management late Tuesday afternoon shows, in yellow, areas of town that have been restored to full electrical service.

At right, Verizon workers replace one of two fallen utility pole on Washington Street that have inhibited the return of electrical service to Red Bank’s East Side, officials said. At 4 p.m., a Verizon worker said the second pole would be up and ready for JCP&L to do its thing within the hour. (Photo at right by Rebecca Desfosse. Click to enlarge)


HAIRCUTS, JUICE, RUGS AND OTHER CHURNAGE

Robinson Hernandez cuts a customer’s hair at Red Bank House of Fades earlier this week. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508Some updates from the continual swirl of comings and goings among Red Bank businesses that we like to call Retail Churn:

• After months of dormancy, the conversion of the storefront at 8 Monmouth Street was completed this week. Or half-completed, that is.

With its opening on Monday, barbershop Red Bank House of Fades took over roughly half the space that for more than 50 years was home to Red Bank News and last occupied by Exotic Birds of Red Bank.

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COPS WARN OF FAKE EMERGENCY ALERTS

just_in1Red Bank police and other emergency personnel are warning of a false emergency text message received Monday by numerous cellphone users.

The text messages warn of a civil defense emergency and advise recipients to “take shelter,” said police Captain Darren McConnell.

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SEA BRIGHT TO GET POLE-BY-POLE REPORT

t-poleA Verizon employee inspects a utility pole on Ocean Avenue Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Sea Bright officials have requested that Verizon and JCP&L inspect all utility poles in town and provide a report on their condition, a move spurred by a chain-reaction of pole collapses during last week’s rainstorm.

Heavy winds knocked down poles on New Street, leading to a power outage and evacuation of all residents of the street.

In addition to heading off a potential problems in the future, the council wants to know if the failures might have been avoided.

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