Hurricane Sandy updates for Monmouth County

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Curley: There will be no $1.2 million paid for Andrew Lucas’ property

Freeholder Director John Curley said yesterday that there is no support on the Freeholder Board to purchase the development rights for Manalapan Township Committeeman Andrew Lucas’ 98 acre farm on Iron Ore Road, despite the fact that the purchase, which was approved by the Board in May of 2011,  has been cleared of an ethics violation complaint by the State Department of Community Affairs’ Local Finance Board and was approved by the State Agriculture Development Committee.

“If elected officials want to apply for government money for their properties, they should resign from office,” said Curley, “we should not be using the positions the voters entrusted us with to enrich ourselves.”

“Andrew Lucas has not been forthcoming about the details of his purchase of this property.  The freeholders will not approve this purchase.”

Lucas, Manalapan’s former mayor and a former GOP candidate for freeholder, purchased the farm which had been slated for development in March of 2010 for an undisclosed amount. Soon thereafter he started the process of selling the development rights, for $1.152 million, through funding through the State, County and Township. Lucas participated on Township Committee discussions of his application.

The purchase approved by the Freeholder Board in May of 2011 was held up by an ethics complaint filed by former Manalapan Mayor George Spodak.  The State Agriculture Developement Committee conditioned its funding on an satisfactory ethics review of the transaction.  Local Finance Board Chairman Thomas Neff wrote Lucas last month to inform him that his application had been approved because he consulted with the Manalapan Township Attorney about his application.  Neff’s letter also said that the Board would use Lucas’s case to provide clear guidance to future office holders to recuse themselves from applications that they have an interest in.

Spodak is outraged that Neff and the Local Finance Board cleared the ethics of the transaction.  “I don’t think they even read my 111 page complaint,” said Spodak.  “I sent Neff a letter appealing his decision but have not heard back from him.”

The county monies approved in 2011 for the purchase are no longer available.  An article in the Asbury Park Press said that the county is applying for federal money to fund the purchase.

Curly said the the freeholders have not approved any federal grant application and will not approve the purchase.

Earlier yesterday, Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal issued a statement condemning the transaction as an example of Republcian cronyism, “Club Monmouth.”  Gopal was critical of Neff’s ties to the Monmouth GOP as evidenced by his $750 to Monmouth GOP Chairman John Bennett’s leadership PAC while Bennett was President of the State Senate. Prior being appointed to his position with the Department of Community Affairs, Neff, an attorney, was an employee of the Republican Senate Caucus.

Informed of Curley’s opposition to the Lucas farm purchase and his representation that the other freeholders, all Republicans, also oppose it, Gopal said, “What has changed since they approved it last year?  Only Amy Mallet (then a Democratic freeholder) voted against it in 2011.”

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Outdoor Water Restrictions Eased

Odd/Even Day Watering Restriction Still In Effect, But Sprinkler Use Is OK

New Jersey American Water Company said that the temporary repairs at the Swimming River Water Treatment Plant are completed and that its Monmouth County customers can water their lawns with sprinklers so long as they continue to observe the odd/even day schedule that has been in effect since Sunday.

The odd/even watering schedule entails:

• Outdoor water use between the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.  on odd-numbered days of the month if your street address is an odd number (i.e., 23 Oak St., 7 Maple Ave.)
• Outdoor water use between the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.  on even-numbered days of the month if your street address is an even number (i.e., 6 Oak St., 354 Maple Ave.)

Exceptions are:

• Watering of new sod or seed if daily watering is required (note: it is recommended that any planting of new sod or seed that has not already taken place be delayed until the fall)
• Use of private wells for irrigation
• Commercial uses of outdoor water, such as for nurseries, farm stands, power washing, plumbing, athletic fields, and car washes

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Boil water advisory lifted for 18 of 22 Monmouth towns

If you live in Aberdeen, Highlands, Holmdel, or Middletown, keep boiling your water before consumption.

New Jersey American Water Company, Monouth OEM and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection have lifted the boil water advisory for:

Allenhurst Borough
• Deal Borough
• Eatontown Borough
• Fair Haven Borough
• Lake Como Borough
• Little Silver Borough
• Loch Arbor Village
• Long Branch City
• Monmouth Beach Borough
• Neptune Township
• Ocean Township
• Oceanport Borough
• Rumson Borough
• Sea Bright Borough
• Shrewsbury Borough
• Shrewsbury Township
• Tinton Falls Borough
• West Long Branch Borough

Bottled water will continue to be distributed to residents of Aberdeen, Highlands Holmdel and Middletown at Middletown High School North, 63 Tindal Road, Middletown, from the hours of 8am-7pm.  Residents are also encouraged to bring there own water jugs for filling at this location.

Residents of the towns where the boil water advisory has been lifted should run all cold water faucets for one minute at a time at the highest flow possible without causing splashing or flooding of drains.  Flush all automatic ice makers, make three batches of ice and discard.  Run water softeners through a regeneration cycle.  Run drinking water fountains at the highest flow possible for one minute.

The outdoor water usage ban remains in effect in all 22 towns affected by the NJAWC infrastructure failure.

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Christie to Monmouth County Residents: Conserve water, don’t use fireworks

Water emergency to be repaired by July 4th

Gov. Chris Chrisite boarding a State Police helicopter on his way to address a power outage in Atlantic County after addressing the press in Monmouth County about the current water crisis. Photo by Art Gallagher

Oceanport, NJ- Governor Chris Christie implored Monmouth County residents to conserve water and to express their patriotism by not shooting off private fireworks for the duration of the water crisis caused by the major infrastructure failure at New Jersey American Water Company’s Swimming River water treatment plant.  Addressing the press at the Wolf Hill Recreation area in Oceanport, Christie said “if a lot of things go perfectly” the water crisis will be over by the July 4th holiday.

Christie announced that residents of twenty two towns should boil their water before drinking or cooking.  Those towns are : 

Read the rest of this entry »

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Why were his kids in the car? What was he investigating with his kids on Friday night before Christmas?

Maybe they were decoys during a shop lifting investigation.

The Asbury Park Press is reporting that a detective in the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office was involved in a head-on collision at 10:32 PM on Friday December 23.   Det. James Powers was driving a county owned vehicle.  He was determined to be at fault in the accident.  He wasn’t given a summons by the Wall Township police officer on the scene.  His kids were in the car.

The Press article seems to take issue with the fact that no summons was issued.   I don’t have a problem with that.

But it appears that Powers was engaged in personal use of a county owned vehicle.

Joan Marini of Wall was the driver of the 2011 Lexus that Powers hit head-on.  According to the app report, she sustained minor injuries and was taken to the hospital.   She has a lawyer who told her not to make public comments about the accident. 

Litigation to follow.  The deeper the pockets of the owner of the vehicle at fault in a motor vehicle accident, the more serious and long term are the injuries.

Here’s another 2012 prediction; Marini will get paid.  Her lawyer will get paid.  The lawyers defending the county will get paid.  Powers will be named in the suit but the same lawyers that defend the county will defend him.  Monmouth County taxpayers will get the bill.

Powers is the son of former Freeholder Director Thomas J. Powers.

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What do you want to know from the Freeholder candidates?

The Monmouth County Republican Committee will be electing a Freeholder on Saturday, January 14, to fill the vacancy resulting from Freeholder Director Rob Clifton’s election to the State Assembly.

The candidates are Holmdel Deputy Mayor Serena DiMaso, Atlantic Highlands Councilman Peter Doyle, Manalapan Committeeman Ryan Green and Howell Mayor Bob Walsh.

MMM will be reaching out to the candidates this week in preparation of a piece to be published next week prior to the Bayshore Tea Party Group’svetting session on Tuesday the 10th and the Monmouth County Affiliated Republican Club’sCandidates Night on Friday the 13th.

Among the questions I am thinking of asking the candidates are:

Why do you want to be a freeholder?

What is your most significant accomplishment as a municipal office holder?

What do you want to accomplish during your first year as a freeholder?

How has your previous experience as a municipal office holder prepared you to be a county freeholder?

What distinguishes you from your opponents?  Why are you the best candidate?

What else should I ask?   Tell me in the comments.

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How can we sustain this system?

Wall Township Administrator Joseph Verruni is retiring from his $179,000 per year job, after 20 years of service, on June 1, 2012.   He is 54 years old.  His pension will be between $80,000 and $90,000 per year, according to a report in The Asbury Park Press.

This rant is not about Verruni. 

As Wall is a wonderful place, I’m sure he did a terrific job over the last 20 years.   I don’t necessarily begrudge him the $179,000 salary for the work he did (even though Monmouth County Administrator Teri O’Connor makes significantly less)  But he’s 54 years old, starting a new career in the private sector,  that will be supplemented by $2,500,000  if he lives another 30 years!   That doesn’t include the tax payer funded health insurance that will keep him alive, hopefully for his sake and that of his family, more than 30 years!

If Verruni collects $85,000 per year for 30 years, he will have “earned” an additional $127,500 for every year he worked as Wall Township’s administrator.

I really should have taken a government job when I graduated from Georgetown in 1980.

This is not about Verruni.  It is about a system that pays adults in the prime of their earning years the equivalent of full time wages not to work.  Like my high school buddy who retired from the Bergenfield Police Department at 53 and takes home $20 per month less per month than he did when he put the uniform on every day.  Or like the retired State Police Investigator, 47 years old, collecting  a pension of $84,300 per year, who is Acting President of Brookdale Community College with a salary of $150,000 per year.

This system is not sustainable and it is not equitable.

The pension and benefit reform package that Governor Christie negotiated with the Democratic Legislature is an improvement of the previous system.  Yet the new system is not sustainable over time either.  We’re not feeling any of the pain yet.

Over the next 30 years, the state pension contribution will be $4.9 billion per year.  The local government contributions will be $2.3 billion per year over the next 30 years.  Both figures are on average.   We’re “enjoying” the savings now with smaller pension contributions that must increase by $500 million per year until we’re “caught up” with all the contributions we haven’t made since 2000.

Unless there is significant economic growth, soon, we won’t be able to sustain this system without significant tax increases. 

Who is going to be left to pay those taxes?

If we’re going to have a pension system for government employees, we shouldn’t be paying out until the retirees are 65 years old, or older as life expectancies increase.

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The Map

You’ve probably heard about the map that Rutgers grad Joe Steinfeld created on Monday night and posted to his reddit page.  By Tuesday night over 750,000 people viewed it on facebook and reddit.  The newspapers have all written about it. 

Steinfeld was enjoying all the attention until his bosses at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection took a dim view of it and released a statement saying it had nothing to do with the department.

Steinfeld reduced Monmouth County to “WHERE THEY FILMED CLERKS,” BANKERS AND BUSINESSMEN,” WORKING CLASS PEOPLE AND BEACH HOUSES: SPRINGTEEN COUNTRY, ” and “McMANSIONS.”

Obviously, Steinfeld doesn’t know Monmouth all that well.  The Bayshore is much more than where Kevin Smith filmed clerks.  Coastal Monmouth is extremely diverse, as are the central , western and southern parts of the county.

Just for fun, how would you correct Steinfeld’s map?

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Monmouth County Qualifies For Diasater Relief

Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre told MMM that Monmouth County will be included in President Obama’s declaration of a major disaster, making the county, its municipalities, businesses and individuals eligible for FEMA disaster relief.

Halfacre received a call Saturday evening from Chris Stark of the Governor’s office with the news which the Governor wanted to get out immediately.

FEMA inspectors canvassed damage throughout the county eariler throughout the day.

In a conference call with the media on Friday, Bill Vogel, FEMA’s Coordinating Officer, said there are two kinds of federal assistance available for major disasters.

Public Assistance is granted to government entities and non- profits for infrastructure repair, including roads, parks and government buildings.  The threshold for Public Assistance is $3.27 per capita per county.  Vogel said that currently there is only money available in this fund for debris removal and emergency repairs until Congress authorizes additional funds. 

Individual Assistance, as the name implies, is funding for citizens and businesses that have suffered disastrous damage.  These monies are fully funded and need no additional Congressional authorization.

Vogel said that all survivors who have suffered damages should register with FEMA by calling 800-621-3361 or on the web at fema.gov.  FEMA and NJ OEM employees that are canvassing the state this weekend will make their cells phones available to survivors to immediately register.

Residents should contact their own insurance companies immediately. FEMA assistance will only pay for damages that are not covered by insurance.

Major Dennis McNulty of NJ OEM said that Disaster Recovery facilities will be established throughout the state and open for business by Tuesday September 6.  The locations of the Disaster Recovery offices will be posted on fema.gov and ready.nj.gov.

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