February 28, 2010
The latest storm (number five)that hit the Northeast last Thursday and Friday brought heavy winds but, fortunately, light snow to LBI and Loveladies. Thursday morning presented us with an inch or so of wet slushy snow. By Thursday afternoon the winds picked up but the snow was intermittent. By Friday afternoon the sun was out, temps were in the 40s and the snow melted away. Now we prepare for another storm predicted to arrive this Wednesday.
Excerpted from the Beach Haven Times, reported February 11, 2010
For the first time in more than a decade, the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders is expected to increase the tax rate of 25.4 cents per $100 of equalized property value. According to Freeholder John Bartlett, Jr. the county expects to raise $8.1 million this year through an increase of 1.8%. The total 2010 county budget of $347.9 million is $9.7 million less than 2009 spending plan. The County has lost $6 million in interest income; $1 million in revenue from public fees collected for services in the county clerk’s office; $2 million in state grants, and $7.6 million in surplus. That amounts to a total loss in revenue of $16.6 million.
Ocean County must also cope with increases in routine levies for state government services and programs in which it participates. The pension bill from the state went up $2.4 million and the health benefits bill rose $5.4 million. Bartlett said Trenton’s math makes no sense because the county eliminated 65 positions through attrition and has fully contributed its share of benefits costs over the years. From a budgetary standpoint, the reductions in personnel resulted in a savings of $2.5 million in salaries, wages and benefits at the county level.
Note: The state has allowed municipalities and counties to skip pension contributions during the economic downturn. LBT and Ocean County did not skip their contributions which at some point have to be caught up.
Letter to the Sandpaper, January 27, 2010
Why are the Southern Regional School District’s Superintendent and Board of Education resistant to providing critical information to evaluate their administrative and fiscal practices involving taxpayer monies? Are Superintendent Craig Henry and the Board of Education afraid to provide information that will put them in bad light with the voters by disclosing inefficiencies and funding waste that will have a negative effect on the district’s proposed 2010-2011 budget vote in April?
The School Committee of the Joint Council of Taxpayer Associations of Long Beach Island has continually requested information on and explanation for the 2009-2010 budget expenditures. The purpose of these requests are to analyze and provide recommendations to the taxpayers and voters on Southern Regional’s annual budget and proposed referendums regarding potential cost saving which could be applied to the proposed 2010-2011 budget. The committees’ prime concern is the assurance from the District that quality education is provided in a safe environment, efficiently administrated but in a cost effective manner.
Unfortunately, the committee’s request for answers concerning: student safety, shared service agreements between Southern Regional School District and the Stafford Police Department, teacher assignments, curriculum, student participation, and maintenance including the shared services agreement with the island’s consolidated school district have been disregarded or only partially answered.
Superintendent Craig Henry has arrogantly refused to answer our questions and has referred all questions on administration decisions and budget expenditures to the Board of Education. The superintendent only provides copies of documents specifically requested under the freedom of information (OPRA) requirement. The pitfall of OPRA requests is that you may not be aware of all the documents containing information needed to evaluate the concern and thus be discredited for your findings.
The Board of Education’s refusal to respond to the committee’s written requests regarding administration decisions and budgetary expense approvals is also disconcerting. Both Superintendent Henry and the Board of Education have conspired to disarm the committee’s attempts to evaluate their actions by refusing to answer any questions unless they are asked during the public session of the Boards monthly meetings. The committee considers this action hostile with intent to create confrontation by discrediting our evaluation of their decision making and budgetary practices.
Can you expect meaningful dialogue with a Board of Education that authorized $1.6 million cost for safety doors that was eventually reduced to less than $500,000, a $6.7 million capital budget referendum that included such priorities as a new gym storage area, air conditioned hallways and new stage and stage lighting. Additionally a proposal to share 45% of Superintendent Henry’s time with Stafford School without addressing the impact on the District’s administration. Also, the complete disregard of four Island municipalities resolutions to be more forthcoming to the public on the contents of the shared services agreement with Stafford Police Department.
The committee considers the Superintendent’s and Board of Education’s decision as a clear affront to the taxpayers and voters in the Southern Regional School District and an attempt through confrontation to discredit our review of the cost-efficiencies, or lack thereof, of the southern Regional School District.
Of an even greater concern is how can this educational system teach open and transparent government while practicing just the opposite?
Peter Trainor, Chairperson
School Committee Joint Council of Taxpayer Associations of Long Beach Island
Excerpted from an article by Nicholas Huba - January 25, 2010
LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP — Citing an increase in water charges from surrounding municipalities, the township has introduced a plan that would increase water and sewer bills by approximately 8 percent. The Township Board of Commissioners introduced the ordinance during its meeting Friday (January 22). "The water charges that we have to pay to Harvey Cedars for the water that Loveladies uses has gone up drastically," said Commissioner Ralph Bayard, who oversees the township Water and Sewer Department. "We also have debt services and infrastructure that needs to be replaced."
Lisa Jones, the township's chief financial officer, said the Harvey Cedars rates went up about 50 percent. The residential properties in the township do not have water meters. Water and sewer rates are calculated by factoring in the number of fixtures in a home. Last year, the minimum charge for a household that includes a kitchen sink, hot and cold water, a bathtub, a toilet and a washstand, was $125 for the year. This year that charge will increase to $135. Last year the township approved a similar plan that increased the water and sewer rates 8 percent.
Mayor Joseph Mancini said the township is in the process of looking at different ways to prevent this from happening. "We have no control over what the other municipalities charge," Mancini said. "Right now we have (township engineer) Frank Little developing a plan for putting water meters in the north end of the municipality. "It's going to take about two years for the meters to be installed on the north end," Mancini added.
A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for 4 p.m. Feb. 5 at the municipal building, 6805 Long Beach Blvd.
"We have to do this now, because the new quarterly bills are scheduled to go out in three weeks," Mancini said.
Reported in the January 2, 2010 eNewsletter
After complaints by residents, the township is doing away with Saturday trash pickup during the busy summer months. Starting after Jan. 1, Saturday pickup will be eliminated, said Commissioner Ralph Bayard, who oversees the Department of Public Works. Saturday will be replaced by a weekday, officials said. "In the past we have had three sections in the township for trash pickup," Bayard explained. "Now we are going down to two sections and two days." The Board of Commissioners approved the change to the trash collection contract during its Dec. 18 meeting.
"People said the trash collection was coming too early, and it was making too much noise," Bayard said. "After meeting with the trash collection company (Pinto Bros.), we decided that this was best move for everyone." The new 2010 schedule will be mailed soon.
Excerpted from an Asbury Park Press article By NICHOLAS HUBA • December 17, 2009
LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP — The Township is looking at joining Stafford's initiative to limit the amount of runoff pollution caused by the use of fertilizers. Mayor Joseph H. Mancini said the township is using the recently approved Stafford ordinance as the model for its own. "It's something the residents should get familiar with," Mancini said. "There are going to be some changes of it, but nothing major."
The Stafford ordinance, which was approved Wednesday, clearly spells out when and where phosphorus-containing fertilizers are prohibited and where they may be used, with further details about grass clippings and professional landscaping. It explains when and in what types of weather the fertilizers may be used. It was passed in Stafford recently after almost two hours of public discussion.
Mancini said he is hoping to have the ordinance ready for introduction later this month (or next month). "I really would like to see this take off all over the Island," Mancini said. Mancini said he is going to ask the township's Landscape Committee to look over the proposal. Earlier this year, the Township Board of Commissioners created the Landscape Committee to review aspects of landscaping around the township. Commissioner Bill Knarre said Stafford Councilman John Spodofora, who conceived the ordinance, has been very supportive in the township trying to move in a similar direction. "They have e-mailed us the ordinance and we are in the process of reviewing it," Knarre said.
Note: The ordinance was passed on second reading
DOT to show detailed plans at meeting Monday
By NICHOLAS HUBA • MANAHAWKIN BUREAU • September 8, 2009
The state Department of Transportation will begin repairs to the Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridge next week. The project is expected to start Sept. 16 and should be completed by May 1, according to a letter from Department Commissioner Stephen Dilts to Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph Mancini.
The improvements were originally supposed to start in July, but concerns from local officials and businesses forced the DOT to postpone the start until after Labor Day.
The project will be done in nine sections: four this fall and the remaining five in the spring. While the work is ongoing, lane closures are planned.
The project includes deck rehabilitation, curb repairs and applying a deck overlay system on the entire bridge, the letter stated. "The NJDOT first developed this rehabilitation project to maintain the safety on an aging bridge that is scheduled for a full replacement within the next few years," the letter stated. "The application of a surface overlay will extend the life of the bridge deck until the new bridge is constructed."
The state will be hold a preconstruction public information session from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday (September 14) at the Ship Bottom borough hall, 1621 Long Beach Blvd. During the session, department representatives will answer questions and provide more detailed information. The mile-long causeway bridge system is composed of four bridges that link three small islands between the mainland and Long Beach Island. The longest span, officially named the Dorland J. Henderson Memorial Bridge, links Bonnet Island and a sliver of marshland just off the mainland's shore in Manahawkin Bay.
In 2004, the state concluded the Manahawkin Bay Bridge was safe, but in "poor structural condition" and needed to be either extensively refurbished or entirely rebuilt.
The project is a short-term solution for the bridge, Dilts said. "Be assured that the NJDOT recognizes that this bridge is a vital link for residents, businesses and visitors to Long Beach Island and we remain committed to the construction of a new bridge," Dilts said. "In the interim, this rehabilitation project will accomplish needed repairs to the bridge."
Editorial Comment: At one of our LPOA membership meetings this year, Mayor Mancini was asked if stimulus money could be used to construct the new bridge that has been proposed since 2004. He informed us that the local mayors had asked that very question of the State Department of Transportation. What they learned is the new bridge has yet to be designed and, therefore, is not a shovel ready project, a requirement to receive federal stimulus money. In other words the NJ DOT has not even begun the design phase of the project that could take as much as two years.
The Sandpaper , September 2, 2009
The Ocean County Engineering Department is recommending reconfiguring Long Beach Boulevard in Harvey Cedars from its current four-lane scheme to two lanes with a middle turning land and wider shoulders.
Mayor Jonathan Oldham said the county came up with the plan after a two-year study of traffic flow along the roadway, and presented it at a special forum last week. The study had been urged by the Harvey Cedars Taxpayers Association, which had said the shoulders were too narrow and created an unsafe situation for joggers, bicyclists and pedestrians.
However, Oldham said any permanent plan would not be decided anytime soon. “We’re going to survey people around town to see if they favor this,” said the mayor. “The Board of Commissioners can come up with a final recommendation, but because it is a county road, will have to go through the freeholders. We might study some other options.” He said there had been some concerns from the High Point Volunteer Fire Co. and the Barnegat Light First Aid Squad that the plan could impede their response times. “You’d only have one lane of traffic going north and south instead of two lanes, so there was some concern that might cause a backup of traffic,” said Oldham. But there wouldn’t be a concern 10 months out of the year and probably for five days during the summer week. Our peak traffic days are Saturday and Sunday during the summer.”
Philip Kunz, taxpayer’s association board member, said Boulevard safety was one of the priority issues taken up by the group when it formed in 2006. “In some areas, the shoulders were only 18 inches wide,” said Kunz who sat on the group’s traffic safety committee. “That is a very unsafe situation. I think this plan offers the best solution for traffic flow and pedestrian safety.”
Tom Christopoul, who was president when the group was founded, said he believed the plan “should get a lot of support.” During the peak times, the study showed it might take a motorist an average of 30 more seconds to drive through town,” said Christopoul, the group’s vice president. “That’s a reasonable sacrifice for a safer Boulevard. Hopefully, this can get done in the off-season so the restriping and resurfacing can get done in time for next summer.”
Frank Scarantino, Ocean County engineer, could not be reached for comment.
Editorial Note: Obviously, this will impact the citizens of Loveladies and we will be very interested in the facts, i.e. is the increase in travel really only 30 seconds. In the case of an emergency evacuation, what is the impact?
August 26, 2009
LACEY — The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant was operating at half its generating capacity Wednesday following a new tritium leak discovered Monday. Plant spokesman David Benson said the reduction in power generation "allows us to gain safe access to the turbine building and into the 6-inch aluminum line which was found to be leaking."
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said that the leak appears to be from an aluminum, non-safety-related, condensate transfer line. "The leak is about 48 hours old, and we have a rigorous monitoring system," Benson said Wednesday. "We contacted the state nine minutes within getting a positive hit on tritium within a water sample taken." Benson said the plant will repair or replace the line. "There is no half-stepping on this," he said. "They (plant engineers) will work 24 hours a day to get this done quickly and get it done right."
Sheehan said that preliminary indications showed that the leak was within the area where the pipe passes through the condenser building wall, which is about four feet thick.
Plant workers found and fixed two tritium leaks on April 15 in a cable vault, according to an NRC report. Sheehan said the amount of tritium detected this time was equivalent to that which was discovered in April. Further studies are being undertaken to determine just how much tritium exists within the water found Monday.
Sheehan said for the plant to repair the leaking line, which was replaced in 1994 and examined in 2007 as part of a license renewal provision, plant owner Exelon would have to either shut down the plant for a short time or power down its energy production. Were the company to take the latter option it would have to modify "the functions performed by this line." Benson said it was too early to determine exactly what the company would do as a long-term solution.
Sheehan said the NRC would be looking to find out why the line's problem was not identified during excavation work performed after the April leak. Tritium occurs naturally in the environment at very low levels, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Tritium may be released as steam or may leak into the soil and groundwater. Such releases are usually small and are required not to exceed federal limits. "While this is not a public or employee safety issue, we are immediately taking steps to make the necessary pipe repairs," said Mike Massaro, site vice president of Oyster Creek.
Environmentalists who oppose the power plant's operation were quick to respond.
"This is outrageous that another tritium leak has occurred at Oyster Creek," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "This is the second leak since the plant was relicensed. This shows the plant is unsafe and should be closed pending an independent evaluation." "We cannot trust Exelon to look after this plant," he added. "That plant should not have been relicensed for another 20 years." The NRC renewed Oyster Creek's operating license on April 8 one day prior to its expiration, following a four-year challenge of the renewal by a coalition of six environmental groups.
August 12, 2009
9th District Republicans select replacement to fill Assembly seat
STAFFORD — Long Beach Township Commissioner (and former Mayor) DiAnne C. Gove was selected …succeed former state Assemblyman Daniel M. Van Pelt, positioning her to become the only Ocean County woman to currently hold either county or state elective office. Gove, 58, was appointed without opposition to both complete Van Pelt's unexpired term, which ends in January, and replace him on the fall election ballot for a new two-year term. She is not expected to take office until the Assembly returns from recess following the Nov. 3 election. Note: As reported earlier, Van Pelt, who was arrested and indicted on bribery charges (along with 43 others), resigned his position as state Assemblyman.
The retired U.S. history teacher was chosen in a voice vote in which she appeared to receive the unanimous consent of the Republican county committees representing the 9th Legislative District, an area that includes a large portion of central and southern Ocean County, and two towns each in Burlington and Atlantic counties.
After thanking her family, the people of Long Beach Township and Mayor Joseph H. Mancini in particular for his support and guidance, she paid tribute to his father, the late longtime Mayor James J. Mancini, whose public service over 40 years shaped Long Beach Island. Gove had succeeded Mancini on the township's Board of Commissioners after his death in 2003. "But most of all, I need to thank each and every one of you here in the 9th District, the committee people," Gove said. "You are the heart and soul of our district. I thank you so much. I want to make you proud. I thank you for your vote of confidence because this is a very important position. Yes, I'm a woman, which does bring a different . . ."
When a member in the audience interrupted with applause and a drawn-out "Yeah," she paused, seemingly to show appreciation to the response. "That's right!" Gove continued. ". . . a different perspective. But I'm also dedicated, caring, and I'll make you proud. I do not take this task, this position, lightly, I take it very seriously. So it is a great privilege and honor, and I'm truly humbled to serve the 9th Legislative District as an assemblywoman."
Before the vote, a number of other prospective candidates for the seat had risen with the permission of Ocean County Chairman George R. Gilmore to withdraw their names from consideration and throw their support behind Gove. In his public remarks after Gove spoke, state Sen. Christopher J. Connors said he and Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf would have been proud to serve with "each and every one of you," he told the candidates.
"We're very, very proud of you for stepping aside and rallying behind DiAnne Gove. . . . Ladies and gentlemen, you made the right choice tonight in backing DiAnne Gove. And I'm very, very proud that she will be a part of this 9th Legislative District delegation," Connors said. And one more thing, he began. He knows there are some Republicans out there who are perhaps uncomfortable with her statement that as a woman she would bring "a different perspective" to the table. "Brian and I are used to a different perspective at least once every evening when we go home," Connors quipped to laughs and applause.
In his speech to the delegates, Rumpf, who is seeking re-election this November with Gove as his running mate, acknowledged the reason the committees were forced to meet Wednesday. "Let me begin by saying it has been a tough couple of weeks," Rumpf said. "We know we have a Republican family here in the 9th Legislative District . . . that recognizes the work that we do and will support us through hell or high water. Well, we've been through a little bit of hell, but I think the high water is going to rise to the top and we are going to carry the momentum that we see here this evening to a tremendous victory in November."
August 9, 2009
The police department of Long Beach Township is launching a safety blitz to better educate the public on the rules of the road for bicyclists, in wake of several accidents over the last couple of weeks. This month, officers will be stationed at various spots in the township to monitor bicyclists, Lt. Paul Vereb said. “If they are not following the rules of the road, they will be given warnings, then tickets,” Vereb said.
Vereb said this summer has been one of the busiest in bicycle-related incidents. “We are getting three to four calls a week about different bike accidents with injuries, and some of them required them to be medevaced out,” Vereb said. “We want bikers to understand that they have to follow the same rules that cars do.”
When bicyclists are stopped, they will be given a brochure from the state Attorney General’s Office, explaining in detail the rules of the road for bicyclists, Vereb said. “Bicyclists need to ride on the right side of the road, with traffic. Ride no more than two abreast, as long as it does not impede the flow of traffic,” Vereb said. “They always need to signal their intentions and be courteous to pedestrians and other vehicles.”
Mayor Joseph Mancini said the issue of bicycle safety has been discussed heavily over the last couple of weeks. “It’s something that has to be addressed,” Mancini said. “We have been getting complaints about it for the last couple of weeks, and we have to do something about it.”
If you have guests, family or friends, on LBI who are riding bikes, please let them know about this situation. It may save an injury or even a life.
August 7, 2009
The Joint Council of Taxpayers (of LBI) School Committee, are asking the Southern Regional School District to hold off on renewing a school resource officer with Stafford Township until they can be provided with more information regarding the agreement. The council, with support of Long Beach Township and Surf City administrations, is asking for the agreement to be put on hold until questions have been answered.
The JCT resolution reads: “It is the position of the Joint Council of Taxpayers of LBI that the agreement between the Southern Regional School District Board of Education and the Township of Stafford for a resource officer be held until such time as the rates and schedules are established, justified in lieu of the six SRSCD security attendance personnel and shared with the public in a timely fashion.”
Southern Regional Superintendent Craig Henry said the money for the school resource officers was approved during an April 2007 ballot question. The ballot question stated: “Approval of the taxes of $207,200 for the school resource officer, the security guard, and police coverage will result in a permanent increase in the district levy.”
Mayors from all six LBI municipalities voted in May to give the JCT School Committee their blessing in performing “a complete and thorough review of the 2009-2010 school budget.” The Committee has reviewed more than 200 pages of information from the district and developed an interim analysis and recommendations on Southern Regional budget issues. In addition to the school resource officer, the group has listed several other issues that they would like to see addressed, including a review of the maintenance staff and potential savings in staff assignments and courses provided.
August 3, 2009
The Long Beach Township engineer is reviewing a report on the township’s aging water system to determine which pipes are in the greatest need of repair. Commissioner Ralph Bayard, who oversees the water and sewer department, said many different spots in the township are in need of repair.
A report has been received from Video Pipe, a contractor that videotaped the inside of various underground systems earlier this year. According to Bayard, the township engineer is using the results to map out the problem areas. Some of the pipes in the township water system are as much as 80 years old. Repairs will be prioritized according to conditions of the system. Improvements are being paid for in part through a water and sewer rate increase of eight percent that was approved in January.
August 1, 2009
As towns near the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant await word from Trenton on the amount of emergency management funding they will get the coming year, state Sen. Christopher Connors, still seeks to find out why such aid has been drastically cut. For the fourth time in nine months, Connors has appealed directly to Gov. Corzine’s office to release details about why towns in his district now receive significantly less from an account dedicated to funding nuclear accident preparedness even as the account itself has grown.
Connors first wrote to the Governor last October after the Asbury Park Press revealed that southern Ocean County towns were getting less than a third of the money received in the past. The account, known as 966 Funding, is fed by an assessment on Oyster Creek and the state’s two other nuclear reactors. Last year the state collected more than $4 million and doled out $218,796 to towns in Connor’s district. However, in previous years when $3 million was collected, about $700,000 went to the towns near Oyster Creek. Local officials have said the cuts affect their ability to upgrade radio systems and shelter locations. A review of the funding shows a larger portion has gone to the DEP.
July 29, 2009
The Ocean County Executive Superintendent of Schools has recommended six feasibility studies for potential school district consolidations in the county.
The six proposals suggested by Bruce Greenfield:
-Pinelands Regional, Eagleswood, Tuckerton, Bass River and Little Egg Harbor.
-Southern Regional, Stafford Township, LBI Consolidated, Waretown and Beach Haven.
-Manchester and Lakehurst.
-Point Pleasant Beach, Bay Head and Lavalette.
-Toms River Regional, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and Island Heights.
-Central Regional, Berkeley and Ocean Gate.
The state Department of Education is expected to announce a first round of about 10 feasibility studies next week. The 21 county Offices of Education have identified 127 possible consolidations for studies, which are estimated to cost between $10,000 and $25,000 depending on the complexity of the consolidation. The state goal is to consolidate K-6, K-8 and regional high school districts into K-12 systems of about 5,000 students. The state colleges have been asked to do the studies. The studies will be due in December and will address district curriculum, facilities, salaries, socio-economic diversity and property tax impact.
All final proposals would go before the voters in the affected districts, and if voters in any district reject it, that plan does not take effect.