Free Workshop – Build An Olla For Watering The Garden

BRICK – The Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (Brick Utilities) is pleased to announce a free workshop about Ollas on July 22 from 9 to 10 a.m. This workshop is being offered as part of Brick Utilities’ Weekend at the Reservoir program.

Ollas are clay pots used as an inground watering technique that slowly release water directly to plant roots. They have been used for centuries throughout the world for irrigating crops, and serve as a simple and effective water conservation method for the garden. Ollas are more effective than surface watering and promote vigorous plant growth and health. They also aid in preventing weeds without using chemicals. Learn about this ancient watering practice so your garden beds and containers become “self-watering.” Workshop attendees will build an olla for a small garden area or planter (all materials provided free). The workshop is limited to 25 people, so register early.

Contact Shari Kondrup via email at skondrup@brickmua.com or telephone at 732-7014282 to register or obtain more information.

“Weekend at the Reservoir” is a free community education program offered by Brick Utilities. Brick Utilities’ educational programs focus on the importance of the Metedeconk River and the Barnegat Bay to the region, and how to conserve and protect these important water resources.

The Metedeconk River drains into the Barnegat Bay and encompasses ninety (90) square miles in both Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Starting at its headwaters in Freehold, Jackson and Millstone, the river flows eastward through Howell, Lakewood, Wall and Brick Townships before reaching Point Pleasant Borough and the Barnegat Bay.

The Metedeconk River is a critical water resource for the region. It serves as the primary water supply source for Brick Utilities, which provides drinking water to more than 100,000 area residents in Brick Township, Howell Township, Point Pleasant Borough and Point Pleasant Beach Borough. The river is a major source of freshwater to the Barnegat Bay, one of 28 Congressionally designated estuaries of national significance in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program.

To learn more about the Metedeconk River Watershed, visit metedeconkriver.org.

Veterans:

Continued From Page 1 affordable housing in Brick.

Homes Now will manage the rental property, proposed as one- and two-bedroom apartments for income-qualified veterans. The property will remain subject to a deed restriction limiting the use of the units for low- or moderate-income individuals as affordable housing for 50 years.

Homes Now has built more than 200 deed-restricted affordable housing units in town, including 20 single family homes,

Leaders:

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Billhimer as the sole county prosecutor to undertake such an endeavor.

“I know Brad has the support of local legislators, and we want to get the Governor to fast-track this,” said Commissioner Gary Quinn. “We don’t want to drag out his life or ours.”

Quinn acknowledged Billhimer’s presence in the rear of the meeting room, while offering further commentary on what he called the “phenomenal job” the prosecutor has done since his appointment in 2018.

Commissioner Jack Kelly said that he’d received a number of calls asking why a Republican board would support a Democrat appointment.

“What I’ve told every one of them, I’ll say here publicly,” Kelly shared. “Because Brad Billhimer has been a nonpartisan – not a three group homes for developmentally disabled residents, a 17-apartment building for women and children survivors of domestic violence, and 184-unit low-income senior apartment complex that includes eight set aside for developmentally disabled adults.

This is Round 3 for affordable housing obligations, and Brick - along with 300plus other NJ municipalities - is under the jurisdiction of a settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center and has until 2025 to provide units in compliance with that agreement, says township planner (and Affordable Housing Administrator) Tara bipartisan, but nonpartisan prosecutor who has done an outstanding job for the people of Ocean County. I support anybody who supports the people of Ocean County.”

The other three commissioners echoed similar sentiments regarding Billhimer’s service to the county.

Billhimer’s ties to the community run deep as an Ocean County native who graduated from the Toms River school system. His commitment to the local area continued throughout his educational journey, as he pursued his undergraduate studies first at Ocean County College before transferring to Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

In 1994, he was selected to work in Washington, D.C. as an intern for former United States Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ).

After earning his JD from Widener University, Billhimer returned to his hometown to establish his legal career.

Paxton.

According to the NJ Department of Community Affairs, affordable housing obligations are based on population changes and growth over time in a region.

Round 3 obligations go through 2025 at which point another round of obligations will begin.

“Part of our Round 3 plan included a Veterans Housing Project, for which we’ve been working on for years to try to get accomplished, and we are excited it is moving forward,” Paxton wrote in an email.

“We were hoping to build a larger veterans

He began by serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Barbara Ann Villano, J.S.C., in Ocean County, gaining valuable insights into the judicial system. He then went on to work in the private sector, ultimately establishing his own criminal defense law practice.

In addition to his law career, Billhimer has actively contributed to the bar activities and community organizations. He has served as an adjunct professor, sharing his professional expertise with students.

In 2018, Governor Murphy appointed Billhimer as the Ocean County Prosecutor, a position he assumed after being sworn in by the Honorable Marlene Lynch Ford, A.J.S.C.

New Jersey’s State Constitution intentionally designates a five-year term for county prosecutors, who are selected by the governor and approved by the state senate. This deliberate provision ensures that their tenure is not synchronized with the project, but this will be smaller,” she wrote, “ so we will need to amend our plan before the end of the 2025 round.” term of the governor who appointed them. By setting a fixed term, the Constitution aims to provide continuity and independence to county prosecutors, allowing them to carry out their duties without undue influence from political changes or shifts in gubernatorial administrations.

The township administration is happy to be making progress with the veterans project, she added.

New Jersey municipalities have a constitutional obligation to provide for their fair share of regional, affordable housing needs to comply with the state’s Supreme Court “Mount Laurel” rulings, that have defined the responsibility communities have to provide a certain amount of affordable housing to people with low or moderate incomes.

Only a handful of Ocean County prosecutors have remained in the position for more than five years.

Marlene Lynch Ford, held the position from 2007 to 2013. After her tenure, she received a judicial appointment to the Superior Court and recently retired as the Ocean County Assignment Judge.

Several years prior to Ford, Edward Turnbach served as the Ocean County Prosecutor from 1976 to 1987, making him the second most recent prosecutor to hold the position for more than one term. He was appointed as a Superior Court Judge in 1987, serving until his retirement from the bench in 2006.