1. Effective March 1, Neptune Township Public Works will no longer collect e-waste curbside. All computers, monitors, laptops, TVs, servers, printers, stereos, VCRs, DVDs, cell phones and other such devices will have to be dropped off at the Neptune Township Recycling Center, which is at 2201 Heck Avenue. Public Works Director Wayne Rode, in an email announcement, said the policy change was “to protect our workers and the public from recycling thieves, who are breaking into electronic items at the curb and leaving behind what may be considered a hazardous waste.” The Recycling Center will only accept TVs and computer monitors, Rodes said, if the picture tube is not smashed and is still intact with all components. “Scrap parts from dismantled TVs/monitors, computers etc. are not eligible for the Neptune Township E-Waste Recycling Program,” he said.
2. The notoriously dilapidated house at 91 Cookman Avenue should be completely restored and ready to go on sale in about six months. So says Jack Green, the builder who purchased it last June. Green got the Historic Preservation Commission’s blessing this week to proceed with the work. “Hopefully we can submit plans [to the Township] in about two to three weeks,” he said on Friday. Once he gets a building permit, he said, it will probably take another five months or so to finish the job. “Jack’s plans include restoring all original elements when possible and replicating those that are beyond help,” said Deborah Osepchuk, who chairs the HPC. “There will be an addition added to the rear in place of the sheds currently there.” Although the HPC had balked at a previous proposal, submitted by Green in November, this week’s revised plan met with approval. “All in all, a home run,” Osepchuk said. The house, which dates back at least to 1891, is considered one of Ocean Grove’s “key structures,” which means it is of special architectural and historic significance.
3. Ocean Grovers Harriet Bernstein and Luisa Paster had their pictures on the front page of the Asbury Park Press on Friday. The photo shows them in Trenton, applauding passage of the state gay marriage bill. Bernstein and Paster are co-chairs of Ocean Grove United. To see the photo online, go here.