Vol. 22 - No. 33
I N T HIS W EEK ’ S E DITION
THE BERKELEY
TIMES
MICROMEDIAPUBS.COM
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper For Bayville, Berkeley, Beachwood, Pine Beach, Ocean Gate and South Toms River
St. Joseph’s Breaks Ground On Food Pantry
Page 4.
Community News! Don’t miss what’s happening in your town. Pages 8-11.
Letters To The Editor Page 6.
From Your Government Officials Page 7.
Doctor Izzy “Sound Objections” Page 14.
Dear Pharmacist “Three Tips To Help You Stay Sober”
Page 15.
Inside The Law “Delay, Deny And Defend” Page 17.
Dear Joel “Cash Rules Everything Around Me”
Page 16.
Fun Page Page 21.
Classified Ads Page 20.
| January 21, 2017
Council Drops County’s Land Buy Kills Berkeley Family Apartments Plan Meetings For Monthly Sked By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – The Township Council will meet only once a month for most of the year, according to a new schedule change. Council President Sophia Gingrich explained that the fewer meetings will not result in less accessibility for the residents. Council members frequently appear at homeowners association meetings, senior community meetings, civic events, sporting events, board of education meetings, and veterans events. In the summer, they are also at the concert series. “The amount of meetings we go to a month is unreal,” she said. Add it ionally, when members of the public call, they try to get back to them that day. There are still many
opportunities to get in touch with members of the governing body, she said. However, the council members felt that they could go down to once a month and still deliver the same amount of services. “If we need more, we’ll schedule more,” she said. In fact, a meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m. on January 17 in order to make one change order. There will likely be additional meetings when the town’s budget is being worked on, and an additional one in December to clean up financial issues before the new year. The Berkeley Township Council meetings all follow the same format, where there is a caucus meeting followed by a regular meeting on the same
By Catherine Galioto BERKELEY – After contentious local government meetings, litigation and other opposition, a project that would have built multi-family housing on Route 9 was killed by a land purchase with open space funds. The 13 acres that would have been cleared to become Berkeley Family Apartments will instead be absorbed into the county’s Florence T. Allen conservation area as open space, officials said. Of the $865,000 price, half of that will be paid by the county and the remaining
(Meetings - See Page 5)
through the National Trust for Public Land. The county held a public hearing on the purchase in December, and will proceed with title searches, a process that takes about a year before the final ink is dry, said Ocean County Freeholder John Bartlett. An affordable housing project, Berkeley Family Apartments was proposed as an 88-unit, 11-building apartment complex on 13 acres on the northbound side of Route 9 near John F. Kennedy Boulevard. BFA, an LLC under the Walters Group, was planning to build the 11 build-
–Photos by The Berkeley Times With the county using its open space funds to buy the property, a plan that would have built affordable-housing apartments on Route 9 was blocked. The 13 acres will instead be preserved as an extension of the Florence T. Allen conservation area. ings, a tot lot, clubhouse and outdoor recreation. But the proposal garnered opposition from residents throughout Berkeley and neighboring towns such as Ocean Gate and Pine Beach, who said they fe a r e d t he a l r e a dy choked Route 9 corridor would see more traffic and unsafe conditions, and felt it an
inappropriate use of Sandy funds and payment-in-lieu-of-taxes that the developer had proposed applying for. A petition against the plan earned thousands of signatures. The township took the developer to court in 2015, after plans were twice heard before its planning board. The (Plan - See Page 5)
A New Home Through Habitat For Humanity
By Chris Lundy TOMS RIVER – Seven years ago, Katiria Rodriguez didn’t have many options. She was navigating a web of social programs trying to find something that would give much-needed stability and security for her and her daughters. “I was young when I had my kids, and went on welfare when I was 19,” she said. “I went to school to better my education, and get a better paying job.” She and her family are currently living in an apartment in Brick. She works as an executive assistant at Summit Home Health Care and also works per diem as a nurse. After seven years of working her way through any social programs she qualified for, things are turning around for her this year. A large group of volunteers, civic organizations, government entities and businesses came together. By the end of the year, she’ll be living in her own house. The Northern Ocean Habitat for Humanity will be building a new home (Home - See Page 18)
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–Photo by Chris Lundy The Rodriguez family, from left: Kamiah, Izabella, and their mother Katiria, at the groundbreaking of their new house, by Northern Ocean Habitat for Humanity and several civic, municipal and business interests. Michael T. Sutton, Manager • N.J. Lic. No. 4128 Benjamin “Matt” Wade, Advance Planning Director • N.J. Lic. No. 5028 David Kalinowski, Director • N.J. Lic. No. 3925 Steven J. Andrews, Director • N.J. Lic. No. 4435 “We are dedicated to exceeding expectations and delivering a standard of service that is 100% guaranteed.”