Times
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS, INC.
Inside This Week’s Edition
THE SOUTHERN OCEAN
Vol. 3 - No. 35
Business Directory...................18 Classifieds................................19 Community News.................8-10 Dr. Izzy’s Sound News..............14 Government...............................7 Inside The Law .........................17 Letters to the Editor.....................6 School......................................11 Wolfgang.................................23 WWW.MICROMEDIAPUBS.COM
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83 Acres Once Slated For Townhomes Now For Preservation
By Daniel Nee LITTLE EGG HARBOR – Ocean County is set to purchase an 83-acre tract i n Lit tle Egg Ha rbor Township that was once slated for a 168-unit town home development. T he la nd , ow ned by Mezzina Real Estate of Tuckerton, is located off Mathistown, east of Route 9 and borders land already preserved as part of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. The development, which was approved for the site, was to be called Southwinds. “It’s high and dry, and its value is in the fact that it has all the approvals for development,” said Freeholder John C. Bartlett. The count y will pu rchase the plot through its Natural Lands Trust for $5,450,000, a far cry from the original asking price of about $12 million, said David J. McKeon, the county planning director. “The county has looked at this over the years, but the asking price was far more than we had any interest
–Photos courtesy County Planning and State Parks Departments An 83-acre tract in Little Egg Harbor, outlined in yellow above, was to be the Southwinds development but will instead be preserved as open space. The acreage borders Bass River and Edwin Forsythe preserves. in,” said Bartlett. The price on the tract has dropped because of a
Housing Recovery Centers Consolidate To Freehold
NEW JERSEY – With 99 percent of all Sandy-impacted homeowners in the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation, and Mitigation (RREM) Program now with signed grant agreements and more than 2,650
homes rebuilt through the program, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs announced that it is consolidating its existing Housing Recovery Centers (HRCs) into two regional (Housing - See Page 4)
number of factors, officials said, including the national real estate downturn, the
difficulty for prospective homeowners to obtain a (Preservation - See Page 5)
February 20, 2016
Capital Budget Includes Police Tasers, New Water Line Work By Daniel Nee STAFFORD – Township council members introduced the 2016 capital budget last week, a series of bonding measures that will fund the purchase of new equipment, buildings and infrastructure upgrades. Through four individual ordinances, the township has appropriated $5,780,509 for capital projects, supported by $5,425,600 in bonds. The items included in the budget are numerous, and include standard items such as the repaving of various roads in the township – to be determined and bid at a later date – plus equipment upgrades, building maintenance and purchases. The budget this year includes funding to purchase tasers – nonlethal electroshock weapons – for the township’s police department, a measure that Councilman Stephen Fessler said could one day save a life, pointing to a recent incident
in which an intoxicated woman confronted officers with a knife. “Fortunately, they were able to have the woman put the knife down instead of her launching at the police officers,” said Fessler. “If that was the case, she could’ve been killed.” “In a case like this, it takes that out of the whole game,” Fessler continued. “You taze them, they hit the ground and that’s the end of it.” A $1,135,600 of the capital program will go toward various water-sewer improvements, including the engineering and design of a second water pipeline through the township. Mayor John Spodofora said an additional water line is something the township should have built “a long time ago.” “If the [current] water line were to ever be compromised, we would have a big (Budget - See Page 5)
County Buys Land Neighboring Cloverdale
By Daniel Nee OCEAN COUNTY – A county park in Barnegat will have a buffer to better protect it, under a land buy approved by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The freeholders voted to purchase a 2-acre parcel of land in Barnegat Township which abuts Cloverdale County Park. “It’s a very beautiful setting – it’s a small purchase that goes along with lands we’ve already purchased in the area,” said Freeholder John Bartlett. “ The site has not been approved for development, but in theory, streets could be constructed and homes could have been built there, Bartlett said.
The two acres will be purchased for $55,000, funded through the open space fund. A larger parcel bought by the county was also on the agenda, to protect the Joint Base’s presence in Ocean County. Ocean County officials say the other new land purchase is the latest example of a long-term effort to lobby in favor of keeping Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and maintaining its mission. The county freeholder board approved the purchase of a 25 acre site in Jackson Township that backs up to Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station at its February 3 meeting, (Cloverdale - See Page 5)