Proposed

For Busy Intersection

By Judy Smestad-Nunn

BRICK - Plans to build a car wash on a busy section of Route 88 has met with resistance from residents of Laurelton Heights, when about two dozen of them came out to a recent Board of Adjustment meeting to make their feelings known.

JAC Operating LLC has submitted an application for an automated 2,800 square-foot car wash with 12 outdoor vacuuming stations at 1905 Route 88.

The site is currently wooded and located next to the Camp Mall shopping center. Attorney for the applicant, Jason R. Tuvel, said there would be no new “curb cuts” on Route 88 since the plan calls for access to the car wash from the existing strip mall.

The site design presents some challenges,

New Homeless Camp: Behind Every Face Is A Story

By Stephanie Faughnan

TOMS RIVER – A clandestine homeless encampment has managed to defy discovery since last October, catching local authorities completely off guard.

The revelation came to light during a recent weekend summer sunset patrol by diligent members of the Ocean County

Air Support Squadron (OASS). From the vantage point of their small aircraft, volunteers took a double take as they gazed down upon the landscape below.

Amidst an area nestled near high tension wires, rows of tents and people moving about revealed a hidden world that had successfully eluded scru- tiny for eight months.

Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy oversees OASS, which serves as the county law enforcement agency’s air wing. Utilizing their own aircraft, skilled pilots conduct surveillance over waterways, roads, and wooded regions. Through the submission of photographs, any unusual discoveries are diligently documented.

Mastronardy credited the sharp-eyed team with discovering the hidden encampment, which had been alluded to in a social media post that same day. Upon identifying the setup, Toms River Police were notified of the situation.

Local authorities dis-

(Car Wash - See Page 5) (Homeless - See Page 5) patched a targeted group to the camp to engage with them and evaluate their situations. While some expressed resistance to what they perceived as outsider intervention, others hoped to find alternatives to their current living conditions. In the wake of county officials taking proactive