Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan and Police Chief Joseph Blewet announced to an Emergency Information Meeting this afternoon that the borough’s restrictive access to downtown Highlands will continue for the foreseeable future and that as of now commuters will not be allowed to enter the town on Monday for ferry service to Manhattan.
Highlands has been closed to non-residents all week since the evacuation for Hurricane Sandy. Police check points are in place at the two entrances to the community…at the base of the Captain Joseph Azzolina Bridge and at the corner of Waterwitch and Linden Avenues…no one without identification with a Highlands address or accompanied by a Highlands resident are allowed beyond the check points.
Blewet said there had been “a dozen or so” looting incidents reported and that the check points would continue until power is restored to the community. The Highlands Police Department is being supported by officers from the State Attorney General’s office, the State Police, and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.
Nolan told MMM that Highlands would need at least three additional police officers inorder to allow commuters into town or the full restoration of power to the borough. Highlands is not yet on JCPL’s schedule for power restoration, according to the information they provided the Christie Administration.
Seastreak LLC, the ferry service that operates out of Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, sent an email to the customers on November 2 announcing that Nolan “will lift the public access restrictions” and that service would resume on Monday November 5. The same message emailed was posted on the company’s website.
Jack Bevins, the Seastreak manager in charge at the Highlands Connors location told MMM that the company was indeed planning to resume limited service on Monday. He said the Highlands OEM Director David Parker had given him permission, subject to a conversation with Blewet. “This is the first I’ve heard there was a problem,” Bevins said when informed of Nolan’s and Blewet’s announcement. He immediately left his crew that was restoring access to the fleet to speak with Blewet.
In Atlantic Highlands, Mayor Fred Rast and Harbor Commission Chairwoman Jane Frotton laughed at the notion of Seastreak operating out of their harbor on Monday. The company’s announcement said they “hoped” to be able to resume service in Atlantic Highlands on Tuesday. Rast and Frotton said the barge would have to be replaced and parking at the Senior Housing cleared before commuters would be allowed into Atlantic Highlands. Tuesday appears to be a pipedream.
Governor Called for Plans Yesterday to Give Affected Families Certainty and Accountability for Getting Their Power Back On
Trenton, NJ –Governor Chris Christie today released revised power restoration plans received from the three major power utility companies in the state in order to create greater certainty, transparency and accountability for New Jerseyans. PSEG, Jersey Central Power and Light and Atlantic City Electric provided plans at the Governor’s request to show restoration projections at the municipal level for the next 2 days in order to give New Jersey households and businesses, who continue to be affected by power outages, greater certainty as to when their power needs will be met.
“While progress has been made in restoring power to many businesses, households, and critical infrastructure in the aftermath of Sandy, there are still over 1.25 million customers without power,” said Governor Christie. “So many New Jerseyans have demonstrated significant patience and resilience through the storm and this initial recovery period, and it is our obligation to get them back online and with the certainty of a timeline they can reliably plan their lives around in the coming days.”
PDF copies of revised service restoration plans from PSEG, JCP&L and ACE can be found attached to this email.
The public can access these plans and see when service is expected to be restored in their area by visiting the State of New Jersey website, www.nj.gov, clicking on the Hurricane Sandy Information Center, and selecting the link to the power utility company that serves their region.
The plans can also be accessed at the below websites:
As of 7:00 a.m. this morning, 1,269,564 customers remained without power statewide, down from a high of 2.7 million through the storm and its immediate aftermath. Governor Christie has met personally with each of the CEOs of the three major utility companies and continues to talk with them daily to discuss restoration efforts and create accountability for New Jersey customers. Each utility company has a representative on-site at the State Police Regional Operation and Intelligence Center (ROIC) to work with state government and emergency management officials, develop action plans and troubleshoot problems as they occur.
There are currently over 16,000 mutual aid/work crews both from in state and out of state on the ground in New Jersey working to reestablish power. Additional crews continue to come in to New Jersey from out of state to assist with the effort.
Governor Chris Christie will announce this afternoon in Little Ferry that all New Jersey utilites are providing the State with town by town information with expected restoration times which will be posted on the State website.
MMM will provide a link to the site when it goes up.
Governor Christie responded to the report on WAFF-TV, Huntsville, Alabama by saying the workers traveling from Alabama never made it to New Jersey and that they were given bad information while traveling north.
Chrisite said that he would invoke his powers under the Disaster Control Act to prevent any qualified workers being turned away, but that he has been assured he does not need to take that step.
Has high praise for Congressmen Chris Smith and Rush Holt.
Angry with Congressman Pallone and JCP&L
Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore has set up a charitable fund to assist residents of the storm battered bayshore sections of the township. The Middletown Disaster Relief Fund is accepting tax deductible donations to help residents of Leonardo, Belford, Port Monmouth and North Middletown.
Donations can be sent to:
Middletown Disaster Relief Fund
c/o Mayor’s Office
1 Kings Highway
Middletown, NJ 07748
Praise for Smith and Holt
“Congressman Chris Smith has been an absolute godsend, he’s the hero of the bayshore,” Fiore exclaimed during an interview on Friday. “The north side of the township is a disaster area. Smith was here for hours. He’s getting us added security and federal assistance. That part of town is not even in his district.”
“Rush Holt has been great. Middletown is not part of his district anymore, yet he called and offered his help for which I am very grateful.”
Where’s Frank?
Fiore is not happy with Congressman Frank Pallone.
“I haven’t heard from him since August of 2011. Someone should tell him that his constituents on the bayshore are hurting. He’s off surveying a fishing pier in Middlesex County that no one fishes from and that is far from where anyone lives.” Fiore said that a “low level staffer” from Pallone’s office called his Mayor’s office. The mayor’s assistant called back and asked that the congressman call the mayor directly on his cell. Fiore said he hasn’t heard from him.
“JCPL was better after Irene”
“I’m tired of hearing about how this is the worst storm ever and how they’ve never encountered anything like this. Take the excuses back to Ohio,” a frustrated Fiore said of electric utility JCPL, a subsidiary of Ohio based First Energy Corp.
“PSE&G and Atantic City Electric are restoring power much faster than JCP&L is, I’m really tired of the excuses. They should have been better prepared.”
Fiore was highly critical of the utility during and after the August 2011 Hurricane Irene. His frustrations with them are worse this time.
“They are avoiding being held accountable, said the mayor ,”during Irene they gave me frequent updates and promises with which I could keep Middletown residents informed. Now they are informing directly with the public. There is no elected official holding them to account. My government affairs representative is doing as well as he can, but he and I can get the same information from the company’s web site.”
Trenton, NJ – The Christie Administration is encouraging New Jersey voters to take advantage of the extended weekend hours at New Jersey’s county elections offices to cast their vote before Election Day. Registered New Jersey voters can vote in-person by visiting their county clerk’s office no later than 3 pm Monday. Once they receive a ballot from their clerk’s office, voters will be able to complete their ballot and immediately deliver it to their county board of elections office. In a directive issued yesterday by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, county election offices are to remain open, at a minimum, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm beginning November 2 until November 5, and are to take all reasonable measures to inform voters of the extended hours.
“The extent of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction is impossible to fully describe,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno, who serves as Secretary of State and is responsible for overseeing the Division of Elections. “For many New Jerseyans, the hurricane’s impact may have made Election Day the last thing on their minds, but we want to make voting as easy as possible considering the devastating circumstances. Despite the devastation that surrounds many of our citizens, we are committed to upholding and honoring our nation’s ideals and having an open and transparent election.”
