By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
It’s very interesting to read the minutes of the Neptune Township Committee. Unfortunately, the minutes are not typed and made available in a timely way. For example, on April 25, 2015, two days before the next meeting, the latest minutes posted on the Township web site are from March 9, 2015. You can get your hands on the actual recording of the meeting by going to the Clerk’s Office where, for a nominal charge, they will give you an audio recording on a disc.
Anyone can read the typed minutes by going to Neptunetownship.org. then click on Agendas and Minutes. This is an important service.
One part that is always of interest is the Public Comments section at the end where anyone can go to the mic and say what they wish. They are allowed 5 minutes, and it doesn’t elicit any discussion, but you can find out some interesting information anyhow.
For example, at the March 9 meeting, Ken Buckley of Ocean Grove said a number of things, but these two stood out:
1. “He also discussed the parking problem in Asbury Park and stated their problems could become our problems. He felt the parking problems in Ocean Grove needed to be looked at and solved.”
2. “He stated as far as the North End he had an idea to add a street down the middle of the North End and construct single family homes on either side of the street.”
Jack Bredin of Ocean Grove must have raised some eyebrows when he “stated that the Ocean Grove beach is not owned by the Camp Meeting Association. They have riparian rights.”
Jack also asserted that there are problems with the Township’s land use regarding the north end pavilion and #4 Boardwalk. He said that some of it might be illegal and he asked the Township to get an opinion from the State. Details of his comment can be found in the minutes.
Since very few OG citizens attend those Committee meetings, the minutes and recordings provide a way to know what transpired. You can also read Blogfinger to see our succinct selections.
If the Township Committee had adopted Ken Buckley’s plan in 2008 to extend the street grid one block to the north, with single family houses on half acre lots, by now all of the multi-million dollar houses would have been built and sold.
Instead, we have an unbuildable plan.
As the old saying goes, ” If there is a knock on the door, and a voice says, ‘I’m from the Government and I’m here to help’………run like the dickens.”