Manalapan Attorney: Pig Farm Not Permitted, Spano: Yes It Is

MANALAPAN- Township Attorney Roger McLaughlin said that the Township’s position regarding the proposed pig farm on the 123 acre property on the corner of Route 33 and Millhurst Road is that a pig farm is not a permitted use.

Speaking during the Township Committee’s public meeting on Wednesday night, McLaughlin said that the Committee had discussed the “press release” about the pig farm that owner Joe Spano plans for his property during executive session and that they had determined that the property, in a VC (Village Commercial) zone is not permitted to be a farm.  “Farming is not a permitted use in the VC zone,” McLaughlin said.  “There has been no application for a farm. If there is an application, it will be denied.  Farming is permitted in most zones, but not the VC zone.”

(MoreMonmouthMusings reported on Spano’s plans last week.  Spano did not issue a press release.)

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PIG FARM PLANNED FOR MANALAPAN

Developer Joe Spano seems to be resigned that the property he owns at the corner of Route 33 and Millhurst Road will remain a farm, after being thwarted in numerous attempts over the last thirteen years to get an acceptable development approved by the Manalapan Township Committee.  But soy beans and corn crops are not coming close to covering expenses and providing a fair return on the roughly $20 million Spano says has been invested in the property through his former company, Manalapan Retail Realty Partners, and his current company, Village at Manalapan Properties.

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In world record pushup attempt, community rallies around boy with rare muscular disease

MANALAPAN — Jim Raffone and more than 600 others came up a notch short Sunday afternoon in their world-record attempt to have the most people performing pushups simultaneously. But that’s not what the day was really about, Raffone proclaimed. “The record was just one microcosm of our mission,” he shouted from the bleachers at the Manalapan… Read the rest of this entry »

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The Show Must Go On!

Librarian Steps In As Actress

By Muriel Smith

Jemma Nigh Players: Myra Danon, Donna Mansfield, Martin Moskowitz, Fridel Buxbaum, Bob Landman

MANALAPAN – Donna Mansfield takes it seriously when she says “The Show must go on!” So seriously, in fact, that the Programming Coordinator at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters did the only thing she could think of to do when she learned a one act play scheduled to go on stage at the headquarters library had to be cancelled because one of the five actors had to drop out.  With scant weeks to go before the event Mansfield had been promoting throughout Monmouth County with great zeal was scheduled, and not wanting to spend as much zeal in announcing its cancellation, Mansfield volunteered to step in and do the job!

Mansfield…who is not an actress and has absolutely no experience on stage….pulled it off beautifully last week when she portrayed Nora in Sisters-in-Pain, a charming comedy written by Myra Danon of Jamesburg. Danon also played a role in this, the first comedy she has written on her own, though she did co-author one other play since she retired as an elementary school teacher in Harlem.

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Ginsberg defeats Green in Manalapan

Rebecca Ginsberg

Rebecca Ginsberg has defeated incumbent Committeeman Ryan Green for the GOP nomination for Township Committee in Manalapan.  The unoffical vote totals are 321 for Ginsberg and 188 for Green.

Ginsberg,  the chair of the Township’s Recreation Committee was backed by the Manalapan and Monmouth County Republican Organizations to fill the seat that Green has held for two terms.

Green fell out of favor with his colleagues on the Township Committee after he “declared war” after not being selected to be Mayor in 2014.  Former Manalapan GOP Chairman Steven McEnery dubbed Green a “petulant pipsqueak” in response the Committeeman’s juvenile behavior.

Ginsberg is slated to face Democratic nominee John Alfano in the November general election.

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Prosecutors want charge reinstated against man accused of shooting NYPD cop in Manalapan

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Youth Detention Guard, his wife and one other busted in Workers Comp scheme

Donna Marter. Photo via facebook

Ricky Marter, 51, his wife Donna Marter, 48, both of Tennent Road in Manalapan and Christine Bradach, 45, of  Freehold Township, were arrested this week following their indictments on Monday on insurance fraud charges, according to a statement issued by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Ricky Marter was employed by the County of Monmouth as a supervising detention officer at the Monmouth County Youth Detention Center (YDC) in January 2010 when he claims to have slipped on water on the floor of the detention center – hitting his head and elbow as he fell. As a result of the slip-and-fall, Ricky Marter filed for workers’ compensation benefits and subsequently filed for an accidental disability pension with the State of New Jersey, claiming permanent and total disability as a result of his fall.

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Exclusive: Andrew Lucas’s Sentencing Postponed Till March

By Jeremy Baratta

Andrew Lucas

Former Manalapan Township Mayor Andrew Lucas told More Monmouth Musings that his sentencing in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 20, has been postponed until March.

Matthew Reilly, Deputy Public Affairs Officer for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s Office, told MMM that Lucas’s sentencing is scheduled for March 25th.

During a telephone interview today, Lucas stated that the reason for the rescheduling is that the United States Probation Office has not prepared his Pre-sentence Investigation Report – which is a detailed account of the defendant’s history and convictions and is used by judges during sentencing.

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Now and then, Good does prevail

By Stuart J. Moskovitz

In every election there are winners and losers. This year was no exception. On the national scene, the obvious losers will be written about by most pundits – Obama and the Clintons. Obviously Harry Reid has probably seen his last days of power in any form. But there are other losers. The entire Democratic platform — the so-called war on women, the freebie mentality, the irresponsible blind eye to international distress, the cowardly acquiescence of the Democratic congress to Obama’s war on Israel, are all losers. Republicans elected young people, African-Americans, women, as diverse a group as anyone would want to see. In many cases these were the first of such to be elected in their state — an accomplishment the Democrats never managed and never would manage. These Democratic campaign platforms were as fake as their claim for the last forty years that Republicans would overturn Roe v. Wade. The electorate is simply not as naive as they were in 2008 and 2012. No more. Obama has accomplished at least that.

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Winners: The Battle for Monmouth

The 2014 Monmouth County election is in the books.

After the most intense campaign in memory funded by out of county Democrats, Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal has nothing but IOUs to show for his duplicitous efforts.

There are literally hundreds of winners in this campaign county wide.  From candidates making their first bid for elected office, to the seasoned pros defending their records, to the selfless volunteers who knocked on doors and made over 50,000 phone calls to voters. We congratulate the entire Monmouth Republican team.

On every championship team there are stars who get the accolades on behalf of the entire team.  Here are five special mentions from this hard fought victory:

The top Winners of the Battle for Monmouth:

Lillian G. Burry. Burry has been elected county-wide 4 times. Three of those four elections were hard fought.  None had the benefit of up ballot coattails. In 2005 she prevailed despite the anti-Republican sentiment generated by Operation Bid Rig.  In 2008, Burry prevailed as the top vote getter over the Obama wave that saw an unprecedented Democratic turnout.   The low turnout race of 2011 was relatively easy.  In the campaign that just concluded, Burry’s integrity was maliciously maligned by Gopal and his henchmen armed with hundreds of thousands of Democratic money wheeled into the county from Trenton, Essex, Hudson, Union and Middlesex counties.

Burry stood tall and fought hard.  She is a proven winner, in politics and life. A role model for women and men, Burry embraces the toughest challenges and prevails with honor.

Shaun Golden.  Already a rising star after his huge reelection victory as Monmouth County Sheriff in 2013, Golden risked his career in taking on Chairman John Bennett last spring in-order to lead beyond the status quo .

Bennett boasted of his fundraising prowess in his campaign to retain the Chairmanship, but left Golden with an overdrawn check book on June 10.

Undaunted, Bennett’s turd was just another challenge for Golden to overcome.

Shaun has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the face of adversity by doing what he said he would do. He assembled a strong team by appointing an unprecedented four Regional Vice Chairs. He empowered municipal Party leaders and candidates, expanded the Party’s demographic diversity, established a strong social media presence and fed the rank and file when they came out to work. He raised money and got the job done without wasteful spending. When all the money is counted the Democrats will have outspent the Republicans 3 or 4 to 1.

If the hapless NJGOP is ever to gain traction in the State, it will take a leader like Shaun Golden to make it happen.

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