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Seastreak Ferry Service to Resume Monday Morning

Limited Service Out Of Highlands Only.  Commuters To Enter Highlands From Linden Ave/Route 36 Only

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno comes through with additional police support

Seastreak LLC will resume ferry service between Highlands and Manhattan on Monday November 5 on a limited schedule.

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, Mayor Frank Nolan, Police Chief Joseph Blewet, members of the Highlands Borough Council and representatives of Seastreak met this afternoon to resolve the community’s security concerns.  Nolan told MMM that Seastreak has agreed to provide additional security lighting and that Guadagno promised 6 additional law enforcement officers to manage the flow of traffic while protecting the residents and their property.

Downtown Highlands was under 8-10 feet of water during Superstorm Sandy.  Only borough residents and their accompanied guests have been allowed past the police check points at the entrances to the riverside side community since the storm ended.

Seastreak ticket holders must abide by the following restrictions:

• Access to and from the Highlands facility will be limited to Linden Avenue only.
• A checkpoint will be in place which will limit access to ticket holders only, so please have your ticket ready to show at the checkpoint to keep traffic flowing as you arrive into town. 
• Seastreak will have ticketing staff at the checkpoint for customers who need to purchase tickets.
• Seastreak encourages carpooling.
• With the limited access to and from the Highlands facility, please allow ample time to arrive on time for your departure.

“I’m happy to see that even in their darkest hour the residents of Highlands, specifically Mayor Nolan, stepped up to help others,” said Guadagno, “this is what makes New Jersey great.”

Nolan’s home was destroyed in the storm.  He and his family are temporarily living in the shelter in town.

Seastreak announced the following limited schedule:

Departures from Highlands will be:

6:00am, 7:00am, 8:00am and 8:55am

Returns from East 35th St. and Pier 11 will be:

4:15pm E.35th St./4:40pm Pier 11

5:10pm E. 35th St./5:30pm Pier 11

6:30pm E. 35th St./6:45pm Pier 11

7:30pm E. 35th St./7:45pm Pier 11

The ferry service hopes to have their Atlantic Highlands location operating by mid-week

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Pallone: Devastation in Highlands is the worst he has seen

Congressman Frank Pallone told residents of Highlands that the devastation they’re suffering through is the worst that he has seen as he has toured his district.

In introducing the congressman to the residents attending an Emergency Information Meeting, Mayor Frank Nolan said that Pallone had been instrumental in getting federal assistance through FEMA to come to town.

Pallone pledge his support in rebuiling the community.

Following the public information session, Pallone met privately with members of the governing body to discuss funding for emergency housing for displaced residents.

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Highlands: No Ferry Service Without Power Or More Police Support

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.

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Flooding in Highlands

Flooding is a serious problem in Highlands.

Highlands resident Derek Gordon street kayaking after this afternoon's storm. Photo credit: Brian Cobb

The center of town, which is both residential and business, is at a lower elevation than the shore line. During a storm, water comes from the Sandy Hook Bay/Shrewsbury River and storm water comes rushing down to the below sea level downtown from “the hill,” the highest elevation on the east coast of the United States which includes parts of Highlands and the Monmouth Hills section of Middletown. During a big storm at high tide and a full moon, downtown Highlands looks like Venice without the charm and romance.

Councilman Chris Francy convinced the rest of the governing body to have T&M Associates, the borough’s engineers, design a flood mitigation system that includes new pumps and pipes to get the water out of town and back into the bay/river.   The project is said to be “shovel ready” and will cost roughly $4 million dollars.  The governing body is applying to FEMA to cover $2.2 million of the cost.  Congressman Frank Pallone is on board to advocate for the project with FEMA.  At a town hall meeting on Monday night, Francy, Pallone and Mayor Frank Nolan said that Highlands is currently number three on FEMA’s list of such projects in New Jersey but that only two will be approved.  Pallone is working to get Highlands bumped up on the list and secure the funding.  That might be good for Highlands and bad for a community along the Passaic River.

The governing body is set to vote on a resolution tonight that will put the project on the ballot in November as a non-binding referendum.  The referendum would ask the voters consent to fund the entire project without FEMA money.

There’s two problems with this scenario.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Little: Highlands Voters Unsophisticated

Fresh off her 2010 defeat at the hands of Congressman Frank Pallone, former Highlands Mayor Anna Little blamed the fact that she lost in her hometown by 55* votes on the lack of sophistication of her constituents and colleagues on the borough’s governing body.

Little told Politickernj her Highlands loss “was likely to involve some borough employees” who would could be effected by a layoff plan she had agreed to support.  One month after the election, lame duck Little killed the layoff plan by voting with the Democrats on the governing body over the objections of her fellow Republicans.

“The council is not politically savvy,” Little said, “They were running too.”

“I think there’s some feeling that I left them behind, too,” she said. “I’m their mayor, and I’m off doing something else. (But they don’t understand), everything I do outside of Highlands will relate back to Highlands.”

Little was the only Republican on the ballot in Highlands who lost in 2010.  Republican Frank Nolan was elected Mayor to replace Little.  Shaun Golden was elected Sheriff.  Rob Clifton and Tom Arnone were elected Freeholder.  We’d give you their numbers in Highlands, but the County Clerk’s Office hasn’t gotten around to posting the official election results of 2010 and 2011 on their website.

* News reports at the time indicated that Little lost Highlands by 76 votes.  When mail in and provisional ballots were counted the loss was by 55 votes.

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Wyndmoor Condos Get Power At 7:20 AM

Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan at Wyndmoor Condos 12:30 AM September 3

Yesterday afternoon JCP&L Government Affairs Rep Roberta Sheridan told Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan that tonight’s first crew would be dispatched to Highlands at 10PM to restore power to the Wyndmoor Condominiums.

Nolan held a public information meeting for Highlands residents Friday evening.  There were about 100 residents there, 40 from Wyndmoor.  Meals had been provided earlier in the day at the community center.  Too bad showers couldn’t be provided.   Nolan relayed JCP&L’s commitment to a respectful, yet frustrated and skeptical crowd .

At 11:30 a JCP&L rep, Jackie, told Nolan that the crew was in Union Beach heading to Highlands.  Nolan headed to Wyndmoor where he found residents Dick McCormick and Ray Goddard waiting.  McCormick had been waiting since 9:30.

Ray Goddard, Mayor Frank Nolan and Dick McCormick, a 12:15 AM September 3, waiting for JCP&L's crew to arrive at Wyndmoor Condos to restore power for 125 families

Wyndmoor has 125 electrical customers.  At 11:12 PM on Friday, JCP&L posted that only 79 Highlands customers were without power.

Goddard sent me at text at  11:27, “no trucks at Wyndmoor.”

The trucks showed up at 1:17 AM.  The power finally went on at 7:20 AM.

Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan and a JCP&L lineman, 1:30 AM, September 3, 2011

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Little Holds Her Ground

By Art Gallagher

Declaring that it was not a partisan issue but an individual decision, Highlands Mayor Anna Little again joined the two Democrats on Highlands Council in approving a amendment to the Highlands PBA contract, over the objections of her Republican successor, Council President Frank Nolan, and her Republican predecessor, Councilman Rick O’Neil.

In introducing the resolution to the public, Little distributed the statement she posted on her facebook page over the weekend.

Little said that the new agreement would result in a saving of $500,000 to Highlands taxpayers vs. a net savings of $34,000 had the resolution failed, which would have resulted in layoffs of three police officer.  During her remarks, Little admitted the numbers in her statement were her “beliefs” and the result of assumptions regarding police overtime of $18,000 per month provided by the Police Chief.  She admitted that her numbers had not been certified by the Chief Financial Officer.

Little addressed the penalties in the new agreement only after Nolan brought them up.  Nolan asserted that Little’s calculations were off by at least $300,000, which she disputed.  Nolan argued that the council should not accept the penalities knowing that there will very likely layoffs necessary that will trigger the penalites.  At that point Little scolded Nolan for speaking out of turn regarding Executive Session matters that council had not agreed to make public.

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Little Addresses The Highlands PBA Deal

By Art Gallagher

Highlands Mayor Anna Little issued the following statement on her facebook page and in an email to MMM this morning:

Highlands Borough Budget and the PBA Agreement

The following is an explanation of the facts regarding a decision of the Highlands Borough Council on December 1, 2010.  

The Borough Council asked the Highlands PBA to agree to a wage freeze to allow the Borough to evaluate our budgetary circumstances in light of the 2.0 cap imposed by the State of NJ upon Municipal budgets.  After analysis of the Borough’s budget, the Borough Council asked the PBA to find $420,000 in savings.   The Highlands PBA contract had already been finalized and there was no obligation on the part of the Highlands PBA to negotiate.   The Highlands PBA reviewed the State Health Benefits Plan recommended by the Borough and agreed to accept it.   The Highlands PBA and the Highlands Chief of Police have regularly reduced overtime during my tenure as Mayor.   Younger officers were hired in order to reduce exorbitant overtime costs necessary to cover State mandated shifts round the clock in the Borough.  As of December 1, 2001 the Highlands PBA has agreed to forego overtime completely in exchange for compensatory time.   This will guarantee over $100,000 permanent savings to the Borough per year.

 

The Agreement with the Highlands PBA for which I voted on December 1, 2010 includes:

1.  Highlands PBA concession to accept the State Health Benefit Plan, amounting to $320,000 in savings to the Borough of Highlands.

2.  Overtime savings in this budget of $66,668.

3.  Court time savings in this budget of $8,140.

4.  Overtime savings in 2011-2012 budget $106,205.

5.  Court time savings in 2011-2012 budget $13,000.

6.  Waiver of Retroactive contractual wages that the Borough owed the PBA from July 1, 2010 to December 1, 2010, a savings in this budget of $140,000.

7.   The single raise of 4.25% for a six month period from January 1, 2011 until June 30, 2011 allows retirement eligible officers to retire at a wage level less than but nearer to what they would have received under the contract to which the Borough was obligated.   This concession also produced a savings to the Borough in the 2011-2012 budget.   If retirements which have been mentioned actually occur as verbally represented, substantial savings to the Borough will result.

 

In conclusion, we must support Governor Christie’s tool kit.   Toward that end we must ensure that in the 2011 election cycle, WE THE PEOPLE deliver to Governor Christie a State Legislature that will work with him on the Tool Kit and other tax saving initiatives.   Until the Tool Kit is in place, agreements with bargaining units are the ONLY way to ensure savings to municipalities.   Layoffs of three police officers in the Borough of Highlands surely would have resulted in additional overtime costs to the Borough because of State mandates.  Initial calculations indicated that the Borough might have been charged up to $18,000 per month in overtime.

 

Therefore, the PBA Agreement for which I voted on December 1, 2010 and which secured savings to the Borough of $654,000 (not including the contractual reduction in raises and expected retirement of senior officers) was in the best interests of the People of the Borough of Highlands.   It is the People and only the People whom I serve during my tenure in elected office.

 

Little’s statement begs scrutiny.

She says the Highlands Borough Council requested the PBA come up with budget savings in light of the 2% cap imposed upon municipal budgets by the State.  However, Highlands fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. The first Highlands budget governed by the cap will not take effect until July 1, 2011.  The deal Little joined her Democratic colleagues on the Council in approving impacts the current budget, retroactive to July 1, 2010.  It would seem that the PBA deal impacts deficits in the current budget.

Highlands Mayor-elect Frank Nolan, the Republican Council President, told MMM that the PBA negotiations were part of an effort to plug a $400,000 hole in the current budget.  Nolan said he proposed a no layoff pledge through the current fiscal year in exchange for the PBA foresaking their 4.25% salary increase and switching health insurance plans.  He said Little and Democrats Chris Francy and Rebecca Kane approved the PBA’s counteroffer which carries into the 2011-2012 budget that is subject to the 2% cap and includes retroactive penalities that would benefit all union members should even one officer need to be laid off.

Nolan said that Little was absent from 40% of the Council’s meeting since March when she started running for Congress and is not up to speed on all that has gone on during the negotiations with the PBA.

Little’s statement does not address the penalties to the Borough should layoffs be necessary. 

Nolan said that Highlands CFO Steve Pfeffer is on record advising the Council that there is a 60% chance that additional layoffs will be required in the current fiscal year.  Nolan does not understand why Little, Francy and Kane would approve an agreement that imposes penalties for layoffs when they know such layoffs will be necessary.

Nolan said that Highlands fiscal crisis has been caused in large measure by the fact that the Borough has spent its entire surplus of $1.2 million since Little became Mayor.  Nolan was on the Council during Little’s first year as Mayor, 2008.  He was defeated in his reelection bid in the Obama wave of 2008 and elected again in November of 2009.  He has been Council President since taking office again in January of this year and will be sworn in as Mayor on January 1st.

The Highlands deal with the PBA will not take effect until approved by the Mayor and Council at their December 15, 2010 meeting or a subsequent meeting.

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