Asbury Boardwalk Water Park–a great place for the A. Park whiners to soak their heads.  They can skip the Lake and the Ocean and just go there.     Blogfinger photo © by Paul Goldfinger.

By Jack Bredin and Paul Goldfinger:    Blogfinger.net

It was a historic moment at last night’s Township Committee meeting. A large crowd assembled hoping to hear a momentous debate regarding Bridgegate.   The essence of the matter has been whether or not Neptune Township would continue its policy of locking the two bridge gates on the OG side every night from midnight until 5 am. This policy has been in effect since 1995.

The policy has been implemented by the Neptune police as a crime prevention measure which is supported by the vast majority of OG residents. The recent  Blogfinger Bridgegate Poll of nearly 250 Grovers confirmed that, as did a private poll conducted by Citizen/Mayor Carol Rizzo in the neighborhood most affected.

Whereas the Grove has good reason for wanting to continue the policy, the Asbury Park whiners have offered no convincing reason to change that policy. They are simply grandstanding and looking for something to kvetch about.

HOW SWEET IT IS:   Mayor Rizzo wasted no time at the start of the meeting by announcing that a decision had been made  at last night’s Workshop Session to continue the existing policy of closing the gates every night.

The room got silent quickly, because many, including a few A. Park kvetchers present, expected a debate. The Mayor of Asbury showed up and challenged the decision saying that a formal resolution was needed in Neptune and that the Mayor could not conduct such a private poll, and he demanded to see the Mayor’s official poll documentation.  He also threatened a legal action over this matter, but that seems nuts.

Gene Anthony, the Neptune Township Attorney, said that the Mayor had every right as a citizen to do what she had done, and that no formal resolution was necessary because there already was the 1995 resolution in place.

There was no explanation by the Mayor as to how this decision was reached so abruptly since she had been having “talks” with Asbury officials.  The A. Park Mayor complained that Rizzo had promised a process to arrive at a conclusion to the Bridgegate matter, but no such process was forthcoming.  What was heard instead, was a forceful decision by our Mayor in support of the desire of the people.

It is the first time that Grovers have heard her step to the plate with such determination and hit a home-run for the home team.

Then  the Public Session was held where each person received 5 minutes to speak. It was hard to hear because of the wind and rain storm which knocked out the microphone.  The vast number of speakers were from Ocean Grove and they overwhelmingly supported the Mayor in her decision. They spoke about the drunks, unruly people, filth, whisky bottles, peeing on their lawns,  noise and beer cans strewn about, among other complaints that have been lessened by the locked gates.

As for the Home Groaners Ass. they did not commend the Mayor for this decision, and once again they revealed themselves to be ineffective.   They tried to change the subject to parking, but they hit a wall.

Jack Bredin got up at the public session and thanked the Mayor for her decision “for the people.” He reminded everyone that at every level of government, officials have the responsibility to “serve and protect.”

FRANKIE VALLI AND THE FOUR SEASONS:  The song is dedicated to the Asbury  Council member, Chapwoman,  who started this latest fuss:—-