HIGHLANDS –
With former Mayor, former Freeholder, and current Immigration Judge Anna Little swearing her in, Mayor Carolyn Broullon started her second term as the borough’s Mayor with an outline of recent accomplishments in her regular monthly report.
Just as efficiently she reminded the residents “there are a lot of good things we can do when we work together and there is “more that unites us than divides us.” To be sure they understood, she stressed that teams working together could do “amazing things.”
New Borough Hall
With the multi-million dollar borough hall going up on Route 36, Broullon pointed out that construction dates are all weather and supply-chain ;dependent, work is proceeding as scheduled, the exterior stone veneer is ongoing, and windows are being installed. She estimates that before the end of the month, enclosing the building should be complete and the contractor can continue work inside unaffected by winter weather conditions.
Infrastructure Update
In other construction ongoing in the borough, the mayor said the North St pump upgrades were completed the beginning of December, and updates at Snug Harbor Park should be completed this month. Work on the Marine Pl Elevated Walkway at Snug Harbor is also proceeding, and waiting for railings and trash bins. Work on the Waterwitch pump station began the end of November and work on the Ederle Park improvements at the opposite end of town began in the first week of December and should be completed within another two months.
Skate Park
With applications approved by both Cafra and Green Acres work will be starting this month on the proposed Skate Park. Also starting in January will be portions of the sanitary sewer project with phase I of the Waterwitch Area work that should be completed on the roads from Central Ave to Bay Ave. and including eight others should be completed by June.
Charging Stations
The new charging station for the former Borough Hall site on Bay Avenue has been ordered and installation is planned for completion by April. The mayor also cited several other projects in the process or soon to be started, with grants already received, while and at the same time seeking more grant funds to keep local taxes down.
Lions Club
She praised the Lions Club for their efforts in raising approximately $4,000 for specific projects, and noted the borough is still working with Open Space and the Lions Club for more funding for Frank Hall Park.
Regionalization
Citing still more grants and more projects underway, Broullon conceded she had nothing new to report on regionalization of the school districts other than the attorneys and towns have agreed on the mediator to proceed, but everything must now wait for the school boards to agree. She did not elaborate why school boards have any impact on borough decisions for funding which comes out of tax dollars.
Grants
The Mayor did point out the borough received $808,518 in grants in 2022 and has submitted the FEMA BRIC [Building Resilient Infrastructure & Communities] grant funding for the Snug Harbor Pump station and mitigation of the runoff from Monmouth Hills in Middletown. Several other grants have also been submitted she said, and discussions are continuing with Middletown, county and state officials on the Monmouth Hills situation
