It looks like it will be a long and exciting meeting Thursday night beginning at 7 when the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council meets in front of what is expected to be a standing room only crowd.
With a public hearing on Ordinance 09-2022, Cannabis Facilities, licensing and taxation scheduled for a public hearing, the meeting hall and ZOOM are expected to be crowded with those outspoken proponents of allowing cannabis facilities in some sections of the borough as well as the dozens of property owners who first posted lawn signs when the ordinance was first up for a public hearing, but postponed, opposing it. Those anti-cannabis residents then splashed the Sept. 8 date on their lawn signs advising passersby that the public hearing is still on.
The ordinance appears in full on the borough’s official page but residents have long since made up their minds on how they feel and plan on having their say on it during the public hearing set for the ninth item on the agenda, under “unfinished business.”
When it was introduced at the June meeting, Councilman Brian Boms recused himself because of a possible conflict, and Councilman James Murphy voted against it and has since been an outspoken opponent of cannabis businesses in the borough. Councilmembers Steve Baracchia, Lori Hohenleitner, Brian Dougherty and Jon Crowley all voted to introduce the ordinance.
Prior to that piece of business at he coming meeting, those in attendance and on ZOOM will be able to welcome Sean McDonald as the 15th member of the local police department, enabling the department to reach its full complement of officers. A Keansburg native who grew up in Middletown and graduated from Middletown High School North, McDonald, whose father was a police officer in Asbury Park, has completed training as a Class A officer, earned a degree from Jersey City University and was employed by the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. If approved as expected at the meeting, is appointment becomes effective immediately and he will start one year as a probationary officer.
Attendees will also hear the discussion by borough engineer Doug Rohmeyer on the Monmouth County Open Space application as well as the 2022 road program for the borough.
Then the scheduled hearing and vote on the cannabis ordinance.
But that will be far from the end of the meeting. Council can also anticipate a considerable number of questions from members of the public first during the public comment period which immediately follows the cannabis activity, then again at the end of the meeting before the governing body goes into executive session to discuss the Mother Theresa School property as well as a possible addition to the Bed and Breakfast ordinance. The council may or may not come back after the executive session to take action on the executive session matters.
In between council also anticipates adopting eight resolutions and introducing one ordinance , Ordinance 11-2022, the No Knock Ordinance.
Among the eight resolutions is one required by the federal government and Monmouth County before the borough can participate in the Community Development grant funds issued through the County that would assure in the contract that the local police department would not use excessive force against anyone engaged in non-violent civil rights demonstrations. The agenda gives no indication on why the federal government is requiring this from all municipalities eligible for this grant.
Following the reports of each of the council members for all of their committees, and the reports from the administrator and other professionals, the meeting is once again open to the public.
And more questions may be asked at this time in anticipation of the governing body responding.
The question of the delays in the regionalization question and another on how the borough’s regionalization attorney called into a special meeting before council took action on yet another resolution could make specific remarks are also bound to be raised questions. The attorney’s statements to Atlantic Highlands officials that both Highlands and Sea Bright were aware of the new agreement and were in agreement with it was refuted hours later by the Highlands mayor, Carolyn Broullon who expressed shock at the news and indicated not only did the Highlands council not know about the change which decreased the amount of funding Highlands would receive while increasing Atlantic Highlands portion but they certainly had not given any opinion in favor of it, statements that left both government officials and the public in surprise and with questions.
