Jan 9 minutes:
Ken Buckley (HOA Trustee) stated that he trusts that summonses will be issued to people parking in the snow emergency zones and for failure to clear snow from sidewalks.
Jan 23 minutes:
Ms. Rizzo stated that the (Parking) Task Force did a great job and came up with good recommendations. She indicated that she is favor of moving forward with angled parking on the north side of Main Avenue between New Jersey and Lawrence Avenues and on the west side of Central Avenue between Webb and Main Avenues.
Mr. Williams also noted that a Sub-Committee of Task Force members was created to examine parking permits. It was noted that parking permits would not increase the number of parking spots or decrease the number of cars. Concerns were raised about permit parking proposals such as increased demand for non-permit spaces, impact for families with multiple vehicles, fairness to hotels and bed-breakfast establishments, and cost of the start-up and enforcement of about $90,000.
Mayor Brantley thanked the parking task force. He felt they did a tremendous job and it has improved the situation.
Feb. 13 minutes:
Ken Buckley (HOA big shot) stated that the shoveling of sidewalks in the recent snowstorm was good and issuing summonses really works.
Jack Bredin, 94 1⁄2 Heck Avenue, stated the name of Wesley Lake on the tax map was changed from Wesley Lake to Wesley/Retention Basin. He went to a Wesley Lake Commission meeting and they stated they really had no input into that name change. Asbury Park assured him that they had no part in the name change. He asked at a Township meeting how did it get changed and Mr. Bishop stated they were told to change it but he did not mention by whom. He stated he believed that Mr. Bishop thought to himself that somethings were left better off not said.
Editor’s Notes:
–Isn’t it great that the OGHOA was pleased with itself after pushing for fines to punish those who didn’t shovel? Ken Buckley should get a medal for that one. What’s next—-bad parking techniques, raking leaves the wrong way?
The Committee was pleased that they are going to squeeze more cars into town using more diagonal parking without addressing the more fundamental problem of too many cars. The HOA Parking Committee also loved the idea.
And how hard did the HOA push to get we taxpayers stickers to reduce our parking concerns?
—-Why isn’t the HOA pushing the Township to deal with land use violations that guarantee more and more cars and crowding in town?
—And why didn’t the HOA find out why Committeeman Brantley was showing developers around the North End site last year. Why was this activity part of his job as an elected representative of we the people?
—And why isn’t the HOA trying to find out why Wesley Lake has undergone a worrisome name change? Well don’t expect the HOA to get involved in Wesley Lake’s problems. Here is an item from their November 2016 minutes regarding items to discuss for 2017: “Westley Lake pollution” If you can’t spell it, you’re not likely to be helpful.
As we can see from the minutes, no one in the big chairs on the podium will tell the truth about the Wesley Lake name change. Why are all our committeemen willing to accept an answer of “we don’t know” or “we can’t say?”
—-And what has happened to the HPC guidelines? The HPC made an initial fuss over what they saw as a threat to the town’s future and then they clammed up and joined the other opaque silent groups in town. Did somebody from the shadow government threaten them? Meanwhile the HOA Nov. minutes say, “It appears as if the goal of the township is to limit the power of the HPC to reduce cost to home owners.” So why don’t we hear from the HOA on this matter? Why is the HOA perpetually busy going against the taxpayers of Ocean Grove?
—-And Carol Rizzo, the only Committeeman from Ocean Grove, seems to have jumped on the big boys bandwagon up on the podium. She seems reluctant to step out of the box and tackle some of the worrisome issues for OG such as violations of land use laws and investigating the secretive North End situation with a questioning eye. She seems to be sticking with safe zones such as parking. We would welcome hearing from her as to her activity vis a vis Ocean Grove. Maybe she can lead the charge for better fire safety in the Grove.
—And what does the Committee think about drug rehab facilities in town? They don’t seem to want to be daring and proactive when a potent issue like this shows up. This subject may reactivate this year, especially if funding for such facilities is retained at the federal level.
MARY McCARTY from Chicago (Of course, this song would apply to all members of the Committee–just change mama to poppa as needed.)
Paul,
It may sound like a good idea, but I am not in favor of parking permits.
Williams offers up a pile of reasons why parking permits might be a bad idea, but not a single mention of why they might benefit the citizens of Ocean Grove. Guess what side he’s on?
Jack: Let me know when this truth teller presents us with the truth about the North End Redevelopment Plan.
Paul, It’s not a technical thing, it’s just intuition.
My experience after interacting with politicians for over 40 years is, the most important thing you can learn, is to know when they are telling you the truth.
When I talk to Nick Williams, I believe that he is telling me the truth. A rare commodity in politics.
Jack. You will have to explain to us why you think that Williams “does care” about OG.I looked over his 2015 campaign materials and could find nothing about OG except that he has been on the Citizens Patrol.
He ran with Dr. Brantley whose interest in the Grove seems minimum. I also know that Williams famously once said that he would never comment on Blogfinger. So much for his caring about the Grove.
I would hope to have another Committeeman who demonstrate his interest in the historic district. The recent minutes of the Committee show him praising more vehicular crowding in town.
Independent, The one member of the all Democrat Township Committee that does care about Ocean Grove is Nicholas Williams.
The Neptune Township Committee is a joke.
Unfortunately, the joke is on us.
Five seats: all always occupied by Democrats.
They can do anything they want. Or nothing.
Are they applying those shoveling fines equitably around town and are they also running around Neptune fining people as well? What precedent exists for fining Grovers? What about all the other ordinances that may not be enforced? Couldn’t they have found some other approach to encourage shoveling?
I’m glad they ‘enforced’ the snow emergency parking regulations however it took multiple calls from residents on my street to get a violator towed. Why can’t there be an alternate side parking regulations during snow emergencies after one pass so the whole street can be cleared curb to curb? It would certainly help with the ‘off season warehousing’ of cars. 3 (all out of state) have been parked on my street since September, never moved. It also might help with the lakes that form and freeze overnight at intersections during the melt.