Community News

Jackson MUA Approves Up To $15,000 Pine Snake Survey for Six Flags Water Plant

JACKSON-At the February 23rd meeting of the Jackson Municipal Utilities Authority Commissioners, MUA Director David Harpell reported that a more involved pine snake survey at the proposed Six Flags Water Treatment Plant will be required before the authority can bid the project out.

“Mr. Harpell stated that the Authority heard from our environmental consultant this week and they identified mammalian burrows which could be an overwintering habitat for the pine snake. Mr. Harpell stated that the Authority will have to do an RFP for this additional survey and we will plan on awarding this project in March,” the MUA said.  “The survey can be done early April to see if pine snakes are present. If no pine snakes are identified, we should be able to go out to bid on the project. Mrs. Blake questioned if there is anything that can be put into the holes to see what is in it and Mr. Harpell stated that the normal routine is to put silt fence around the hole and wait to see what comes out. Chairman Allmann stated that if the Authority should need any approvals on this survey prior to the award at the next public meeting, please notify the Board.”

On Tuesday, the authority issued a public notice awarding the contract to DuBois Environmental Consultants, LLC in an amount not to exceed $15,000.

 

 

Private Beach Debate Boils Over as Proposed Parking Fees Could Aide Off-Limits Beach Clean Up

DEAL-A plan by the borough council is under fire by the New Jersey Chapter of the Surfrider Organization.  The organization is claiming that beaches aren’t the only thing here that need cleaning, but so does a new ordinance that could allocate public funds to beaches that are off limits to the general public.

According to Andrew L. Chambarry, Esq., representing the public, “The Borough of Deal has proposed their most sinister parking plan to date. They want to charge the public for parking passes which would fund the purchase of a beach sweeping machine. The machine will be used to clean beaches that you can’t access.”

At a public meeting on April 5, 2017, the Borough of Deal introduced Ordinance #1143 which would require permit parking during the summer months on five streets (Monmouth Terrace, Monmouth Drive, Hathaway, Sydney and Neptune Ave) with two vital beach access points for a cost of $100 for the summer or $50 per month.

“Mayor Cohen also said, and this is a direct quote from the public hearing, that this ordinance is the lesser of two evils,” said Harry Chambarry.  “So he admits that the ordinance is evil.”

A release by the organization read:

At the meeting, Mayor Cohen said it best, “If you want easier public access, you’re going to have to pay!” The Borough wants the public to pay $100 for a parking permit that won’t guarantee a space. They won’t restrict beachfront residents from purchasing permits and parking on the street to keep you away. They won’t admit that restricting parking is restricting access. They have no plan for ADA access or handicapped parking. They have no plan for increased traffic west of Ocean Ave. They want to push Ordinance #1143 through.

Worst of all is the Borough’s reasoning behind the Ordinance. They plan to purchase a $100,000 “beach sweep” machine to clean the beaches. Sounds great right? Wrong. Deal has notoriously horrible public access. Many of the street ends lead to dead-ends where access points should be. These street ends were vacated by the Borough in the 1980’s and early 1990’s to benefit adjacent homeowners and create private beaches. In essence, the Borough wants to charge you for a permit to fund beach cleaning equipment for beaches that you can’t enjoy.

The borough tried to pass similar ordinances in October 2015 and June 2016 restricting access. Those ordinances were tabled after they were met with fierce opposition. Ordinance #1143 is another slap in the face to local taxpayers, given that Deal’s beaches were recently the benefactor of a $40 million taxpayer-funded beach restoration project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

It’s clear to everyone that the Borough intends to keep surfers, fisherman and the general public away from what they consider to be “their” private beaches. We have a right to access and enjoy the shoreline under New Jersey law. We can’t allow the Borough of Deal to restrict access to beaches that we all paid for.

 

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An almost week-long commuting nightmare for NJ Transit train commuters may be over on Friday when Amtrak officials say they expect to complete repairs to track damage from Monday’s train derailment in Penn Station New York. “We’re hoping to have the work done by Friday,” said Mike Tolbert, an Amtrak spokesman. Until then, NJ Transit trains…

Statement Against Gentiles in Lakewood Shopping Center "Walked Back"

Yesterday, we reported on an article posted on the “Take Back Lakewood” website in which a post on the page claimed to show 1,200 signatures in opposition to a retail mall project in the Cedarbridge office park.

Along with the petition was a letter from an unsigned resident highlighting their opinions against the development, citing things like teenagers hanging out, boys and girls co-mingling, gentile (non-Jewish) owned shops and other reasons.

The letter also referred to non-Jewish residents as “goyim”, those who are not Jewish, many non-Jews feel it is a derogatory term.  The letter referenced the potential presence of goyim within the shopping plaza as “terrifying”.

Read full article here.

Today, Take Back Lakewood is walking back its claim that the letter and the petition were connected and the original article was pulled from the website.

“We have now spoken with the organizer of the petition who clarified to us that the petition had 2 simple lines on it – as written on the text of the petition page – it reads (in a mixture of hebrew and english) : ‘We are requesting from Cedarbridge Corporation to withdraw from their involvement in making a shopping center in our town’.”, TBL, stated.

“The intention of the organizers of the petition related to the fact that the Yeshiva (BMG) was founded upon and espouses certain values. Those values include living a life of austerity and shunning materialism in the pursuit of living a life dedicated to the service of God. Many in the yeshiva community choose not to eat out in restaurants (yes even kosher ones) choose not to indulge in nice cars or name brand clothing and instead dedicate their time and efforts in the service of God. Most do not have a TV in their home and many do not have internet. Some don’t even own a cell phone. They are entitled to choose to live their lives in that way the same way America allows individuals to choose how to live their lives. While they would not tell others how to live their lives and indeed many many people in Lakewood do live a more luxurious lifestyle with nice houses, cars and nice strip malls, they felt that it was unbecoming of BMG to tarnish it’s name by suddenly changing gears and promoting materialism since in this case, BMG/Cedarbridge was the applicant and developer. If a private developer were to apply for a mall that they would not object. The reality is that private developers have been building stores all over Lakewood and the BMG students have not objected to that. Their concern related to what they felt was a weakening of the yeshiva’s values and a lack of practicing what they preach in regard to materialism,” TBL continued.

“Furthermore, the intent of the letter which was written by an individual,  was not to say that non Jewish stores should not be allowed in Lakewood. When BMG was initially accused of promoting materialism through a shopping center that would be built in the middle of a predominantly jewish area, some of the concerns related to the fact that there would surely be tenants who served non kosher food, draw traffic to the area on Sabbath when most stores in the area are generally closed, and possibly have stores like Victoria Secret etc which would display pictures of scantily clad women that would generally not be preferred by the ultra orthodox. Again, the primary objection related to the fact that BMG was the developer. It would be analogous to a Catholic Church building an abortion clinic,” the statement continued.

“No one in Lakewood is trying to deny business opportunities for gentiles,” TBL added.

You can see the full post on Take Back Lakewood’s website.

Although the letter and the petition are now alleged to be disjoined from each other, the letter highlighted the deep cultural divide between some in Lakewood’s Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and the surrounding communities which must be overcome as the Orthodox community expands into neighboring towns.

The original letter is published below:

Statement against gentiles in lakewood shopping center "walked back"

 

In Lakewood, new scrutiny on 'business as usual' | Di Ionno

Pastor Glenn Wilson’s church in Howell Township is austere and seats just about 50 worshipers for Sunday service. The four gospel singers are backed by a five-piece band — guitar, bass, drums, organ and alto sax. Some numbers are sung in English, some in Spanish. Wilson’s congregation is largely black and Hispanic and most come from…

Dog shop owner finds new way after puppy mill sales

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Jackson's Stolarz Gets Goal Time After Flyers' Neuvirth collapses on ice

PHILADELPHIA — In a terrifying moment, Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth collapsed on the ice and had to be removed from Saturday night’s game on a stretcher. With 12 minutes, 23 seconds left in the first period and the Flyers holding a 1-0 lead over New Jersey at the Wells Fargo Center, Neuvirth fell on his back…

Plans for New Cell Tower in Jackson Introduced

Eco-Site, a North Carolina based telecommunications firm is proposing to build a 105′ cell tower at 405 Cassville Road (Route 571) in Jackson.  The 17 acre property is zoned R3 Residential under the township’s master plan.

In a notice published today, the company is accepting comments from the community regarding this project.

In the public notice published by the company, the property is denoted as a historic property, located near the Cassville Crossroads Historic District and is located across from St. Mary’s Russian Orthodox Church.

Any interested party wishing to submit comments regarding the potential effects the proposed facility may have on any historic property may do so by sending comments to: Project 6116004472-AMG c/o EBI Consulting, 6876 Susquehanna Trail S., York, PA 17403, or via telephone at 585-815-3290.

Site location via NJParcels.com.

Plans for new cell tower in jackson introduced