There were flowers and balloons, music and poetry, laughter and tears as the King James Care Center and Ascend Hospice celebrated the lives of residents who died during the Covid pandemic at the Route 36 care center.
Family members shared hugs, tears and favorite stories with nurses, aides, kitchen help and the center’s physical therapy team at a gathering in the care center’s courtyard, decorated with flowers and balloons for the brief memorial service which preceded an outdoor luncheon served by the center’s culinary department.
Care Center Administrator welcomed family members to the memorial, and expressed his thanks to families for “allowing us to take care of your loved one.” King also thanked the entire staff for the care they give and the Ascend Hospice personnel who work with families and resident to assuage both grief and pain.
As music played in the background, family members and employees placed flowers in front of photographs or in vases as a sign of memorializing their loved ones. Guests and employees also received balloons with memorial poetry inscribed on them and watched as they wafted towards the clouds, bringing more tears and prayers from those in attendance.
Muriel Smith, a volunteer patient advocate for the state, also thanked families for having the courage to recognize when their care alone is not enough for their loved ones, and making the choice to enable them to become residents of King James at Care One is trusting them to a facility whose staff are all more like family than employees. Smith also praised Ascend Hospice for the care they give together with comfort they bring to residents and their concerned families.
Ascend personnel read poetry and spoke with the guests and Activities Director Karen Cohen welcomed all to the memorial service.
“We share the pain of loss with the families of our residents,” King said, “and we were happy to welcome back so many who could attend this memorial and renew friendship that were built up while their family members were residents here. It was humbling to see how pleased family members were to once again visit with the caretakers for their family members who have now passed.”
Even if you only look at the time they’ve spent, there is no doubt that the boards of education and the towns of Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright, are certainly all working together and working hard to ensure the people have the right to vote on regionalization in November.
This is a major issue that will impact all the towns now and in the future, and all the representatives involved have done an extraordinary amount of work and cooperative efforts to get a request to the Commissioner of Education in time to get a response so the votes can decide in November.
There is no doubt the entire state is waiting to see what’s going to happen here because it’s a first since the new law allows Sea Bright to get out of its current means of educating its kids into one that not only will take them out of the huge amount they pay for each child’s education…something over $100,000 in local taxes FOR EACH STUDENT from Sea Bright. But it will also bring a bundle of money into Highlands and Atlantic Highlands to help lower that school budget every year.
It used to be the voters voted on school budgets now they only vote on board members. But it makes sense that Sea Bright coming into the region, and only bringing a handful of kids meaning there will be no costs to the two towns for a new school building or lots of other things, means their money coming in to combine with the other two can only be a savings in taxes for all.
So for now, with the towns and the Board of Ed all having completed their jobs, it’s up to the attorneys to get it all to the Commissioner of Education. Then it’s wait time again until she decides whether what they’re all asking is a good thing.
Once she gets her response back to the towns, then it can go on the ballot in November. But that deadline is Aug. 15 so it appears we’re cutting it close now. Since this is the new law that enables these towns to do exactly what it is designed to do…it passed unanimously in the state legislature which is almost a miracle in itself…it shouldn’t take the Commissioner and all her experts long to review the work of all these attorneys and send an ok to get it on the ballot. That plus the fact the Porzio experts are the ones who have been working with the state folks not only on the new law but also its implementation, it appears fairly certain the people will have their say in November.
And there’s simply nothing better than letting the voters decide what they want for their towns. That’s what democracy is all about! God bless America!
And thanks to all those tireless council members, mayors, borough administrators, school board members and school administrators for all their time, talent, and devotion in getting all of this accomplished. They have thankless jobs but they’re doing them well!
I really think all the members of the Atlantic Highlands Council are great, nice people, friendly, devoted to their town, generous with all the time and energy they put into doing what they think is right and good. I applaud and appreciate all of that.
But when it comes to transparency at meetings, I can’t help but wonder………
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. When the Governor ordered ZOOM meetings, by god, they happened immediately, they worked fine, and people could hear, see and be heard at every council meeting.
That all stopped when the Governor said it wasn’t mandated anymore. That was well over a year ago.
Then council, saying they wanted people to know what’s going on their meetings, decided to spend a bunch of your hard earned money to get a newer, bigger, better system.
The $17,000 cost included lessons on how to operate it, so they’d be no problems. Well, none of that has happened yet. Next month hopefully.
Last night’s meeting did not start until 22 minutes after 7 because they couldn’t get ZOOM to work right. That makes me wonder about a lot of things. Don’t they check it out or test it first?
Didn’t all those lessons that are included in that $17,000 teach anybody how to make it work?… Oh, that’s right … that system has yet to be used
There was a lot of commotion, walking around, council members looking like they were all trying all kinds of different things to get it all to work. Isn’t anybody trained on that?
There was so much feedback everything was garbled, usually a sign that there’s interference from other electronic equipment. Did they check to be sure council members didn’t have their phones on? Or recording? Or other electronics that would be interfering? Again, don’t they test this before 7 p.m. just to see if it’s working right?
Then the insult of the night, in my opinion, was suggested. Not sure by whom, possibly the administrator which would surprise me since he is really doing a superb job in conducting all the business of the town, or it could have been the attorney, not sure. Sometimes it’s difficult to identify voices on ZOOM.
But someone suggested, once they put off opening the public hearing on the cannabis ordinance, that rather than talk about cannabis at the regular public portion at the end of the meeting, folks should wait until the next meeting so their comments “are fresh in the minds of Council when they vote.”
That’s rather insulting.
Don’t council members remember suggestions or comments from one meeting to another?
Don’t they take notes or listen to recordings to refresh their minds on what the people have to say?
Shouldn’t they hear comments and maybe investigate the possibility some of them may have merit they had not thought of?
From my own point of view, it would seem they should have opened that public hearing on cannabis, let the folks who were there say whatever they wanted, and continue it at the August meeting in case others wanted to be heard then.
To ask residents to come back again and again smacks of stalling. It was advertised for last night, people made plans, and it was never advertised they planned on putting it off. That would have been courteous and appreciative of people’s personal time.
Nobody explained that if the planning board makes any recommendations on the cannabis questions and council agrees to then, than the present potential ordinance gets junked, and a new one has to be introduced followed by yet, you’re right, another public hearing the next month or so.
Is anyone using this time to investigate some of the questions that have been brought up? It’s been clear the new businesses will bring a bunch of money to town. But do we know whether the town will have to hire more police officers?
Or traffic directors?
Or people to direct parking?
Or public works employees?
Are there already laws in place on whether police officers can use cannabis off duty?
Or for how many hours before going on duty?
Are they going to have to be any, or many, new ordinances introduced and passed for other things that might arise because of opening a new business we apparently don’t know enough about yet?
Do we know the costs of introducing and advertising these new ordinances?
Do we know if all the state laws protect the citizens of this borough as they want to be protected?
Aren’t these questions that could be asked and answered now in the interest of saving time and money?
Whether it is an entry drug or not, cannabis is definitely a drug and for some people, like any habit or drug or many other things, can be addictive and for some abusive. So it was rather ironic that while the borough is considering whether to let two cannabis businesses into town it is also, at the same meeting, praising and supporting International Drug Overdose Awareness Day in a proclamation.
Loved the comments from the gentleman who complained that it’s difficult to hear the right side of the council table at meetings; it’s worse on ZOOM so hopefully that can be corrected as well. Though Councilman Dougherty comes out loud and clear.
While the Mayor and Council put off the public hearing on the proposed cannabis ordinance at last night’s meeting, several local residents spoke during the routine public portion both for and against whether cannabis should be permitted in the borough.
Borough Attorney Jason Sena explained that by law the proposed ordinance, since it is a new type of business not identified in the borough in the past, had to be reviewed by the planning board to see if it in conformance with the borough’s Master Plan.
The planning board did that last week and while judging it is in conformance with the Master Plan they responded to the governing body that they would be offering recommendations to the proposed code following the next planning board meeting in August. Council had the option of either opening the public hearing at last night’s meeting as advertised or continuing it without hearing from residents until after the planning board recommendations are received.
Council chose to continue the pubic hearing without taking any comments on it last night.
However, the public is always permitted to speak during the public portion on any subject matter before the close of the meeting, and several brought up comments both in favor of and against cannabis businesses in town.
Both Zack Brown and Morgan Spicer the husband and wife team who ran unsuccessfully as independent council candidates last year, spoke in favor of permitting the businesses, citing a number of reasons why they would be beneficial. Spicer ran through a list of people she knows in various fields of work or professions who use cannabis arguing it is not a business that brings unknown persons to town.
Deborah Appello, a member of the local Board of Education and a retired teacher in New York, told council there are “too many unknowns” and cited research that shows cannabis is a gateway drug for some. She questioned the impact on property values, traffic, and an additional work load for the police department and told council she believes they are ‘rushing into” action.
The Rev. Jarlath Quinn pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help St Agnes parish, who also spoke out at the planning board meeting, cited research that shows marijuana users increase violence and crime, and twice told council “this cannot be good.” He cited his own experience dealing with families of suicide victims, or with people who contemplated suicide, because of drugs .
Referring to the financial benefits to the borough, Fr. Jarlath asked what the price of such increased financial benefit would be. He noted that cigarettes have brought considerable additional income to the nation the state, the county and businesses, but noted “ but look at what that has cost so many…”
Atlantic Highlands Herald publisher Allan Dean praised the positions of Spicer and Brown and noted he should be able to go to the corner store to purchase cannabis just as he can to purchase a bottle of liquor.
Continuing with the cooperative spirit among elected municipal officials and boards of education members that will hopefully put the question of school regionalization on the November ballot, the three boards of education approved their resolutions at a meeting last night that asks the Commissioner of Education to approve a Pre-K though 12 school district for Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, Henry Hudson Regional, and Sea Bright borough.
At a workshop meeting of the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council earlier Tuesday evening, attorney Matthew Giacobbe said he feels confident that the history making question before the Commissioner of Education should have a favorable response and be returned to the boroughs in time to meet the Aug. 15 deadline for putting the question on the ballot. Giacobbe said he felt confident the boroughs’ resolutions would be sent this week.
In the resolution adopted by the school boards last night, board members indicated that while they want to include Sea Bright in the new K-12 regional district, should anything detain that borough from being included, they nonetheless want to proceed with establishing a pre-K-12 regional school district with Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, and Henry Hudson.
Such action does not change anything other than eliminating the current boards of education and replacing them with a single board with representation from all school districts included in the new regional district. The number of board members from each town in the district is established by census figures from 2020 if approved in the November election.
Under the resolution adopted by the boards last evening, the resolution cites the many reasons why a Pre-K-12 regional district should be pursued on a referendum. It also notes the boards’ desire to proceed with the referendum regardless of any problems Sea Bright might have in its negotiations with Oceanport and West Long Branch, where Sea Bright students currently attend school. However, it includes the resolve that the members want Sea Bright to be included “at the earliest possible date,” it not at the onset of the new district.
The question on the ballot, as the resolution indicates, will provide voters “with the ability to decide how their tax dollars are best spent and how their children are educated”
The resolution also includes a caveat that approval for a vote was granted “ subject to agreement concerning apportionment of revenues and a cost-savings sharing plan. That cost savings is currently being negotiated between the two boroughs’ boards.
Concerning Sea Bright, the three boards resolved “that Sea Bright may join the expanded PK-12 Henry Hudson School District as soon as …permitted to do so,” but regardless, the plan for the three boards is still desirable with the expectation Sea Brigh would be included, if not immediately as soon as possible afterwards.
Clean Ocean Action (COA), the ocean advocacy concern non- profit organization based here, strongly objected to the Biden Administration’s “unreasonable and unjust” 45-day comment period for review of the 1400-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the region’s first massive industrial offshore wind (OSW) energy facility.
The project “Ocean Wind 1,” is proposed by Ocean Wind, LLC, a partnership between Ørsted and PSE&G, off the southern Jersey Shore.
COA called on the Administration for an additional 60 days for review and comment in a 10-point letter to Michelle Morin, Chief of the Environmental Branch for Renewable Energy at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) – the federal agency leading the review process. The letter also referenced over 1,330 citizens (at the time of the letter), who in less than one week’s time, signed a petition organized by Clean Ocean Action calling for more time, and many of whom added their own powerful statements of concern.
“This time frame for review is outrageous considering the unprecedented industrialization of both the ocean and Jersey coastline. In fact, the fast-tracking of due process as well as the speed, scope and scale of the industrial expansion in the region is reckless and suggests an unfair Administration bias toward the offshore wind industry, instead of to the natural resources and ecological assets the ocean holds and which the government is entrusted to protect. Show us where such a massive industrialization of an ecosystem has been allowed, and how it resulted in a positive outcome for people and the planet,” said Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action.
“If offshore wind is so wonderful as supporters suggest, it should stand up to careful review and scrutiny,” she added.
In a letter submitted to BOEM today, COA outlined ten reasons for the extension request, including the size of the technical document and the precedent-setting nature of the proposal. Clean Ocean Action is also urging organizations and residents to submit their own letters to BOEM requesting a 60-day extension to the public comment period.
“BOEM is not limited to this 45-day time period, which is wildly unrealistic, unjust, and poses undue challenges for all parties interested in providing thorough feedback on this unprecedented document and project, “said Zachary Klein, Esq., Policy Attorney for Clean Ocean Action. “In the name of transparency and good and fair due process, COA strongly urges BOEM to extend the comment period an additional 60 days.”
“It is essential that offshore wind energy, if done, is done right, and done right from the very beginning,” said Kari Martin, Advocacy Campaign Manager for Clean Ocean Action. “While green energy, the potential risks to the ocean and marine resources are great and grave, especially considering the cumulative impacts from 24 other offshore wind projects and sold lease areas in the region. Too many questions must be considered and answered. We encourage people to sign the petition to demand more time, attend the public hearings, and submit comments on this new, large-scale industrial use of the ocean in the region.”
A petition, launched by COA both digitally and on-paper, is collecting signatures of residents who support a 60-day extension of the existing public comment period. In one week, the petition collected over 1,330 signatures (to date). The petition will continue to gather supporters.
Clean Ocean Action is also calling upon residents, groups, businesses, and local, state, and federal officials to attend the three virtual public hearings to be hosted by BOEM on July 14, 20, and 16. Pre-registration is required; to register, go to this BOEM website. Also, people are urged to provide oral comments during the public hearings (5 minutes maximum) and submit detailed comments to BOEM by 11:59pm on August 8, 2022.
For more than 37 years, COA has defended and protected the ocean from pollution and harmful industrialization to ensure a healthy ecosystem and clean ocean economy. Clean Ocean Action (“COA”) is a regional, broad-based coalition of conservation, environmental, fishing, boating, diving, student, surfing, women’s, business, civic, and community groups with a mission to improve the water quality of the marine waters off the New Jersey/New York coast.
I knew I would be getting it, but still it’s a wonderful surprise when you get a gift certificate…for any amount…to spend as you like! That’s what happens at Bayshore Pharmacy if you belong to their Shopper Rewards Program.
You get a card to let you know you’re a member then you show it every time you buy some of those terrific gifts or other things at Bayshore. Then lo and behold! They keep all the records and all of a sudden, send you a gift card that you can spend in the store! Of course the note with it also tells you they offer shots for flu, shingles, pneumonia, whopping couch, Hepatitis, Meningitis and of course the dreaded Covid, but that isn’t as much fun as walking through the gift section and finding something you just have to buy!
It’s like going into Jaspan’s the Hardware Store! I might be off a bit, but it seems to me and everybody else who shops there, that everybody on this staff knows exactly where everything is in this store with thousands and thousands of items, and then they even suggest which of the several items that would work for you would work best. On top of that, they’re friendly, pleasant, patient and treat you like you’re the only customer in the store! What class!
Or Renaissance where no matter who is managing all those wonderful shops inside those red doors that particular day, it’s just like talking over a neighbor’s fence with an old friend. And there are so many neat things to find. There is bound to be something new every day! Once again just like at Bayshore or Jaspan’s. you always find something that you really need, even if you didn’t know you needed it. What fun!
And of course Strada is the perfect place for appetizers or pizza and a relaxing cocktail or glass of wine, either inside or just outside the door giving you a great view of First Avenue and all the folks walking, talking and shopping there!
Registrations are being taken now for the 18th annual MS Race sponsored by the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club.
Set for Aug. 20, the race is chaired by Diane Kropfl and Emily Smith.
A major event of the active Yacht Club, the MS race is an annual charity sailboat race designed to benefit and raise awareness for 180 Turning Lives Around, a Monmouth County based private, non-profit organization dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault in the community .
All proceeds from the Ms. Race as well as other related special events throughout the year are donated to this organization.
The theme of the 18th annual event is “The 2022 Eileen Campbell Memorial Race”. To honor the woman who participated in every Ms. Race since its founding in 2005. Eileen was Co-chair the past five years. She was instrumental in making the Ms. Race what it is today, surpassing more than $200,000 in donations for 180 since the race’s inception.
Participation in the race is comprised of female skippers and crew and promises to be the largest event to date with a fundraising goal of $22,000.
A multitude of racing and cruising vessels ranging from 24 to 45 feet in length are expected on the water with the support of Yacht club members and the race committee.
Race organizers plan a full schedule of events for the day, culminating in a celebration that evening and an awards reception. The Ms. Race co-chair invite all women sailors with their boats and crew, to participate in the fund raising cause.
With a goal of expanding participation for women and girls of all ages, the Ms. Race committee is partnering with AHSEP, the Atlantic Highlands Sailing Education Program to further promote participation of young women in sailing.
This year’s race will be a Pursuit Race where slow and typically smaller boats start the race first followed by fast and normally larger boats. The first boat crossing the finish line wins the race.
There will be two divisions this year with both Non-Spinnaker and Spinnaker boats invited to participate.
For more information about this year’s race as well as registration information, contact the Ms. Race planning committee at ahyc.ms.race@gmail.com.
The Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club (http://ahyc.net) was founded in 1953 and is located in the Municipal Harbor. The club holds racing events throughout the season, and inquiries about membership are welcome.
The Ms. Race (http://www.facebook.com/MsRaceAHYC) was inaugurated in 2005 by a group of female sailors who regularly participate and crew in the AHYC Wednesday night race series. The goal of the committee and the race is to support and promote the participation of women in the sailing community. The NYJRA New Jersey Yacht Racing Association recognizes the Ms. Race as the best all women’s race in New Jersey and awards their woman’s racing trophy to the winner of the Ms. Race.
“We are confident we will have the petition from all six entities to the Commissioner of Education and get her decision in time to have the regionalization question on the ballot in November,” attorney Matthew Giacobbe said at the Mayor and Council’s workshop meeting last night.
Giacobbe said all six groups working on the regionalization, the three boroughs, and three boards of education in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, are working in unison to have the final question presented to the Commissioner, because they are all in agreement they all want this to be a “Win Win Win situation” and not a win or lose vote. The boroughs must submit any question for the November ballot to the state by Aug. 15.
The attorney, who is representing Atlantic Highlands in the question of regionalization of the school boards and Sea Bright, also noted the vote and decision will make history and “towns all over the state are looking at you” to see how it will be decided.
Borough Administrator Robert Ferragina added that the borough administrators of all three towns and their financial advisors had a meeting that morning with another planned though as yet unscheduled, to work out final details on the wording of the question. This is to ensure the single question submitted to the Commissioner has the support of all entities involved. The two boroughs are working on a cost sharing formula that ensures financial benefits to both, he said.
There is no doubt approval of a regional district including Sea Bright will reap financial and educational benefits for all three municipalities and their residents, so how the additional income coming into the current three schools will be split between the two towns is an issue on which both towns have to reach an agreement.
Giacobbe said the question which will be on the ballot will be a simple yes or no question, and will include the cost sharing benefits to both towns inserted once the question is approved by the Commissioner but before it is placed on the ballot. He reiterated that with the reports he has received from the cost sharing meetings and discussion, he anticipates having the question to the Commissioner’s office no later than the end of this week.
The question, when approved by the Commissioner, will be the same for voters in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands because of the cost sharing, and somewhat different in Sea Bright, since no funds will be going to that town. All three towns must approve their individual question in order for it to become reality.
Regardless of what the local officials send to the Commissioner, she will then review it with state attorneys and regionalization professionals and review all the supporting information which accompanies the request for approval, Giacobbe said. She can either approve the question, decline to approve it, or make suggestions as to how it should be worded to get her approval for it to be on the ballot.
School Superintendent Dr. Tara Beams, well versed on the specifics of the regionalization issue and how it impacts the educational aspects, fielded several questions on those issues from the fewer than 30 persons who attended the workshop session. Both she and Mayor Loretta Gluckstein said once the question is approved for a November vote, there would be numerous meetings by the various entities in order to provide the voting public with all the information necessary to cast ballots.
The question will be worded in a way that if voters vote yes it will mean a regionalization of the elementary schools and regional high school, together with Sea Bright, as a single entity under a single Board of Education. A no vote would not allow the two elementary schools and Henry Hudson to merge into a single district without the inclusion of Sea Bright.
With approval of a new regional district, a single board of education would oversee education, with the probable breakdown giving Highlands and Atlantic Highlands each four votes, and Sea Bright having one vote on the nine member board. That figure is determined, not by the number of students in the school, both Beams and Giacobbe said, but by the number of residents in each town based on the 2020 census. Currently, Highlands has 5 votes, and Atlantic Highlands four on the Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education.
Dr. Beams also detailed some of the other areas the current districts are exploring for additional financial aid from state aid stabilization grants. There is no discussion nor would there be any changes in the make-up of the current three school buildings, and with a relatively small influx of students with the addition of Sea Bright, “we won’t be fielding a football team for next season” in the district which has never had a football team but has excelled in a number of other sports including gymnastics, track and basketball..
In response to questions, both Giacobbe and Beams explained that under current law, if regionalization is approved, it is stabilized for a minimum of ten years. Should any towns want any change after that, they would have to initiate an entirely new process similar to what is happening now under the law which the state legislature approved unanimously last year. However, the school superintendent said the board would be working throughout that ten years to ensure the educational standards as well as the financial benefits remain satisfactory to all communities.
Should any of the towns have a disaster…a devastating hurricane in Sea Bright was used as an example…the towns are still obligated to pay their share of the school budget. Giacobbe pointed out that in times of disaster, the state and federal governments come in with assistance since the school district payments must be made by each town, even in cases of tax collection delinquencies.
“I am confident we will be timely in getting the question to the Commissioner in plenty of time for her to make the decision and have it on the November ballot,” Giacobbe said one again as the close of the nearly two hour session.
If you’re into sky watching, Wednesday night should be a highlight in your night viewing fun. It’s a Super Buck Moon.
The full moon in July is called the Buck Moon, simply because that’s the time of year when the male deer have their full growth antlers, an annual event since they shed and regrow them every year and they’re generally bigger and better, I suppose.
A super moon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest to earth at the same time that the moon is full. When the pair happen simultaneously, the moon appears to be brighter and larger than at other times.
So that’s what’s happening Wednesday night and what will be visible depending on cloud cover and storms.
The brightest will happen at precisely 2:29 Wednesday afternoon, so of course not visible since the moon is still below the horizon in the afternoon. But you might be able to see it if you search the southeast sky just after sunset.
Hopefully you sky gazers can enjoy this one. And what’s more there will be another one on August 22. That moon is called the Sturgeon Moon, so named because of the great number of huge freshwater fish found in the lakes and rivers of North America. This year’s Sturgeon moon is also a Blue Moon, as in ‘once in a blue moon,’ but more about that in another story.
And there will also be lots of meteor showers going on in the sky starting this week and continuing until the beginning of August. You get to see them best the nights there are no moons.
