Fort Monmouth marina expansion violates environmental regs, state stays

• Tweet

Water main break caused road and bridge closure in Oceanport and Little Silver

A water main break on Oceanport Ave at the County Bridge S-25 has caused an emergency closure between Silverside Ave in Little Silver and Main St. in Oceanport, according to a statement released by the Monmouth County Department of Tourism and Public Information.

Tricia Ring Wadja of the Information Office told MMM that the bridge will reopen today at 2PM and will be open with an alternate lane traffic feed tomorrow, February 4.

New Jersey American Water Company is performing the emergency repair work, which is expected to be completed tomorrow afternoon.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

FDU Poll: Most in New Jersey oppose casinos outside of Atlantic City

A majority of New Jersey residents oppose expanding legalized gambling in the State beyond the borders of Atlantic City, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson Public Mind Poll released this morning.  50 percent oppose casinos outside of AC. 42 percent favor expanding gambling venues in New Jersey.

Men favor casinos elsewhere in the State by a small margin, 48-46, while women are opposed , 53-36.  Young adults aged 18-34 are in favor of gambling venues outside of AC, 52-38.  Those aged 35-50 are opposed, 53-41 and those over 60 are opposed by a 56-36 margin.

Of the 819 respondents, those who have been to Atlantic City within the last 12 months are most likely to favor casinos elsewhere in New Jersey, by a 52-35 margin.  Those who have been to casinos elsewhere but not in AC favor new gaming halls in New Jersey by a much narrower margin, 47-45.  Those who have not been to a casino in the last 12 month are opposed to expanding gambling in NJ by 45-40.

When asked if they favored expanding to the Meadowlands or Monmouth Park in Oceanport, the Meadowlands was favored.  Respondents favored opening casinos in the Meadowlands by a 47-45 margin.  They opposed casino gambling at Monmouth Park by narrow 44-43 margin.

The margin of error of the poll is +/- 3.4%

• Tweet

O’Scanlon joins Oceanport’s fight against crematorium

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon said he supports the Borough of Oceanport’s efforts to prevent a crematorium from being built in a residential neighborhood.

“I am concerned with the process and the minimal amount of communication,” said O’Scanlon.  “The fact that the only public notification of this pending permit was published in the Home News Tribune, which is not even distributed in the Borough, is hardly adequate notice.”

“I have seconded the municipal request for a public hearing so that all the facets of this permit request can be discussed and the residents have an opportunity to voice their concerns,” O’Scanlon explained. “Projects such as this should never be implemented behind closed doors. I plan on remaining involved in this issue to see that all concerns are addressed.”

Oceanport Borough Administrator John Bennett was surprised last week when he was informed by the Department of Environmental Protection that Woodbine Cemetery had applied for an Air Pollution Control permit.  As Acting Governor in 2002, Bennett signed legislation that required crematoriums be approved by the governing bodies of the municipalities where they were proposed.  That legislation was repealed in 2011. The current law gives the New Jersey Cemetery Board the authority to approve crematorium construction permits. The majority of the Cemetery Board is comprised of owners or managers of cemeteries.

• Tweet

Crematorium Has Oceanport Officials Hot

Oceanport officials are burning over the prospects of the Woodbine Cemetery installing a crematorium with a smoke stack in a residential neighborhood of the borough.

In a statement released by Councilman Joe Irace yesterday and posted on the Oceanport website , the borough complains that the only public notification that Woodbine Cemetery was seeking to build a crematorium was in a public notice published in the Home News, an Asbury Park Press affiliated publication that is distributed in Middlesex and Somerset counties.

The borough became aware of the situation via a letter from the Department of Environmental Protection informing them that Woodbine was seeking an Air Pollution Control Permit.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Officials honor Shore Regional student as an ‘Unsung Hero’

Officials honor Shore Regional student as an ‘Unsung Hero’ (via NJ.com)

WEST LONG BRANCH – One of the most valuable members of the Shore Regional High School football team last season never caught a pass, gained a yard, completed a tackle or scored a point for the Blue Devils. James Danskin, a 16-year-old sophomore, was…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Oceanport Is Advertising For A Borough Administrator

It seems that Monmouth GOP Chairman John Bennett will not be both the Borough Administrator and Borough Attorney in Oceanport after all.

The borough is advertising the borough administrator position on its website and on the League of Municipalities site.  Applications were due last week, but the ads are still running.

Click to read ad

The Borough Attorney, Bennett became the Acting Administrator in early November after the previous Acting Administrator, Phil Huhn, stepped down. Kimberly Jungfer resigned as Borough Administrator and Clerk to take the same job in neighboring Little Silver in June.

Bennett pitched the idea of being both the Borough Attorney and Administrator to Mayor Michael J. Mahon and the Council as a cost saving measure.

“It would be a win-win for everybody,” Bennett said, noting that the borough would save money in legal fees if he held both posts. He said he is not seeking pension credits or health benefits in the proposed position.

But questions about the inherent conflicts put the kibosh on the arrangement, even on a temporary basis.  Scott Arnette  was hired as Acting Borough Attorney for the month of December and Bennett continues as Acting Administrator for the remainder of 2013.

• Tweet

Bennett: Supreme Court Decision Does Not Apply To His Oceanport Job

Ethics Expert Disagrees

John Bennett. Photo credit: Rhoda Chodosh

Monmouth County Republican Chairman John O. Bennett said that a State Supreme Court Opinion written in 2000 by Justice Daniel J. O’Hern that states that the positions of Borough Attorney and Borough Administrator may not be held by the same person does not apply to his job in Oceanport.

In re ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, DOCKET NO. 18-98, the Court ruled 5-2, to affirm an ACPE opinion that Gregory C. Hart could not serve the Bergen County Borough of Old Tappan as both attorney and administrator.

We respect the wishes of the Borough to engage for its day to day management an attorney in whom it has reposed great trust and confidence. Likewise, we respect the attorney who is certain that his integrity would assure an unfettered exercise of judgment in either capacity. Yet we must fashion a rule that will apply equally as well in more demanding circumstances, as in a fast-growing suburban community. It asks too much for an individual to be able to give objective advice to the municipality without being materially limited by the “lawyer’s own interest” as the subject of the inquiry.

For these reasons, we hold that one attorney may not hold both the position of municipal attorney and clerk-administrator for the same municipality. As modified, the advisory opinion of the ACPE is affirmed.

In a phone interview on Tuesday, Bennett said he became aware of the Opinion after his appointment as Acting Administrator in Oceanport earlier this month, but that he did not believe it would prevent him from holding both positions on a permanent basis.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Oceanport Councilman Resigns To Take County Job

William Johnson, right and Oceanport Councilman Joe Irace. Photo credit: Rhoda Chodosh

William Johnson resigned his seat on the Oceanport Borough Council on November 1, due to his recent employment by Monmouth County.  Johnson’s resignation was first reported by LittleSilver-Oceanport Patch.

Johnson is the Monmouth County Recycling Coordinator, working out of the County Reclamation Center in Tinton Falls.  Prior to his employment by the county, Johnson was a loan officer at Colonial American Bank.

Municipal elected officials from Monmouth County towns are banned from employment with the county due to a Resolution proposed by Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, then a Freeholder, in 2005.  The resolution was passed unanimously by the all Republican Freeholder Board in April of 2005 in the wake of the Operation Bid Rig raid that February wherein numerous county employees and municipal elected officials were arrested on corruption charges.

Employees who held elective office at the time the resolution was passed were grandfathered.  County Administrator Teri O’Connor said this morning “there might be a few” employees still grandfathered and holding elected office, but she wasn’t aware of any.

Freeholder Director Tom Arnone said that Johnson applied for the job through a posting on the County’s website, and that the appointment was not a matter of political patronage.

• Tweet

Oceanport Councilman Joe Irace’s remarks to the Assembly Regulartory Oversight and Gaming Committee, July 19, 2012

Chairman Ramos, and members of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee, thank you for inviting me to speak before you today on this

important topic. I am Oceanport Councilman Joseph Irace.

When the State of New Jersey voted to allow casino gambling in Atlantic City in 1976, it marked the dawn of an era wherein, for close to a decade and a half, New Jersey had a de facto monopoly on casino gambling on the East Coast.  That era ended in 1992 with the advent of  Foxwoods Resort Casino.  In the years since then, we have seen a steady encroachment upon Atlantic City’s position as the premier East Coast destination for casino type gambling.  New York, Connecticut, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland now offer substantial gaming options to the general public. Indeed, as of April of 2012, Pennsylvania’s gaming industry was second only to that of Las Vegas. Quite clearly, the landscape has changed immeasurably since 1976 and New Jersey’s stranglehold on the East Coast gaming industry is no more.  This isn’t an Atlantic City gaming industry problem, it is a New Jersey business development and retention problem.

Similarly, three decades ago, the State of New Jersey was a pre-eminent player in the horseracing industry.  The Meadowlands, Freehold Raceway, Monmouth Park, Atlantic City Race Course and Garden State Park — the latter three called the “Golden Triangle” of New Jersey racing — all offered top notch, stakes level horse racing at quality venues.  As we are all aware, the New Jersey horseracing industry has suffered setbacks over the past few decades and the root of these setbacks can be traced to the same source as that which has negatively impacted on Atlantic City.  New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia have all committed to the Racino business model and this has placed the State of New Jersey’s horseracing industry at a decided disadvantage.  Again, this isn’t a horseracing industry problem, it is a New Jersey business development and retention problem.

For far too long now, New Jersey’s gaming industry and New Jersey’s horse racing industry circled each other warily as opponents.  It is high time that they stop viewing each other as competitors and start viewing themselves as comrades at arms with a singular purpose: melding both industries in such a fashion that New Jersey once again becomes the East Coast’s premier gaming AND horse racing destination.  Based on the revenues generated by Racinos in the surrounding states and across the nation, the question of whether or not these two industries can co-exist, and indeed THRIVE, is no longer arguable.  Quite simply, if New Jersey’s gaming and horse-racing industries fail to embrace this new business model, both will perish and the State of New Jersey will be lesser for it.

Our elected officials and both industries need to stop thinking parochially and start thinking globally.  The infrastructure, manpower and talent are already in place.  We just need the desire and commitment to get this done, and get it done sooner rather than later.  The State of New Jersey has waited long enough to get its act together.  The states that have already embraced the Racino business model have demonstrated that what is good for the horseracing industry is good for the gaming industry and vice versa.  More importantly, what’s good for those industries is also good for all of New Jersey. 

I implore our legislators to make every effort to convince these two parties that it is imperative that they stop competing with each other and start complementing each other in order to re-capture the hearts, minds and loyalty of their consumers. If the gaming and horse racing industries fail to adapt to the new paradigm, neither will survive.  And that won’t be a gaming or horse racing problem — that will be a tragedy for the State of New Jersey.

• Tweet