T
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS, INC.
Vol. 15 - No. 27
Inside This Week’s Edition
THE BRICK
MES
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper |Serving Brick and Lakewood Townships
LATER
tine, NJ around 7:30 p.m, according to the National Weather Service. Sandy produced a record storm surge along the entire New Jersey coast -- partly due to the timing of landfall near the time of high tide - which damaged or destroyed an estimated 650,000 houses and left approxi-
mately 8.5 million people without power. New Jersey had billions of dollars in infrastructure damage afterward, with rebuilding clearly continuing in many areas to this day. Mayor John G. Ducey said he is surprised (Sandy - See Page 5)
Brick Rails Against Gas Tax
By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK – Resident Tony Matthews said that the governing body should pass a resolution demanding that the state rescind the recently-approved 23 cent a gallon gas hike. On October 7, Governor Chris Christie and Trenton lawmakers agreed to raise the state’s gas tax from 14.5 cents to 37.5 cents a gallon, which would establish a $2 billion a year Transportation Trust Fund over eight years. “They say they want to bring us up to the national average in gas, but with this tax increase we will now be number six,” he said during public comment at the October
Connect
October 29, 2016
–Photo by Judy Smestad-Nunn The Visitation Relief Center suddenly closed its doors this month. The facility opened to help victims of Superstorm Sandy in early 2013.
4 YEARS
By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK – October 29 marks the fourth anniversar y of Superstor m Sandy, which was the eighteenth named storm and the 10th hurricane of the 2012 hurricane season. The post-tropical cyclone Sandy moved from the Caribbean to the U.S. eastern seaboard, making landfall near Brigan-
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RELIEF CENTER SUDDENLY CLOSES
Sandy Anniversary Numbers Show Gains, Struggles
–Photos by Judy Smestad-Nunn Above, immediately after Sandy, boats littered Drum Point Road. At right, another home gets elevated in Brick.
Business Directory .................. 26 Classifieds ............................... 27 Community News ................ 9-16 Dear Joel ................................. 24 Dr. Izzy’s Sound News............ 20 Fun Page ................................. 28 Inside The Law ........................ 29 Letters to the Editor ................... 8 Wolfgang ................................ 35
18 council meeting (Matthews is a former Brick councilman). “I wish they would use the same logic with our property tax and our insurance being the highest in the country to bring those down in a national average,” he added. The increase would hurt Brick residents who commute long distances, and by passing a resolution, Trenton would hear the message since there are over 30,000 voters here, Matthews said. “We should say, you [pass the gas tax] and you’re all out, and I think that’s what we need to do, and encourage other communities to do the same,” he added.
With the
Matthews suggested that the Trenton lawmakers take reduced salaries and benefits because “they have failed us as elected officials in the State of New Jersey.” Councilman Jim Fozman said that “the people who voted for the gas tax failed us, not the people who voted against it.” Mayor John G. Ducey said the increase would cost the average car owner an additional $4.60 to fill their gas tank. “To me, they didn’t work hard enough in order to find a way to fund our Transportation Trust Fund. What happened to the money that was supposed to be there, what’s (Gas - See Page 5)
By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK – The Visitation Relief Center, founded in February 2013 to help victims of Superstorm Sandy, closed its doors suddenly this month without notice. In its early days, the center – which is affiliated with the nearby Visitation Roman Catholic Church on Mantoloking Road – provided services toward recovery, rebuilding and helping with everyday needs for storm victims. In 2015, the VRC expanded its assistance to the low-income and homeless from Ocean and Monmouth Counties. Representatives of the VRC had no comment on its closure, but at the October 18 council meeting, Mayor John G. Ducey said the center was closed by a construction official from the Trenton Diocese. There were rumors that the town closed it, Ducey said, but it was the diocese who closed it after its Director of Property and Construction Scott Pirozzi found out the center did not have a Certificate of Occupancy, that there were a number of violations dating back to 2013, and that no inspections had been done there, officials said. In order for the center to be in compliance with the township, an inspection was scheduled for October 26, but Pirozzi had arrived from Trenton and he called the township
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