Members of the Rev. Joseph J. Donnelly Council, the Vince Lombardi Council and the Bishop McFaul Assembly of the Knights of Columbus held a flag raising ceremony at 11 a.m. on November 11th commemorating both Veterans Day and honoring the Revolutionary War veterans or families buried in a small burial ground at Burlington and Cedar Avenues in Leonardo.
This was the first time a flagpole has been raised and dedicated at the site, which includes the burial sites of members of the Applegate and Stillwell families, among the earliest settlers of the area.
The two councils of Third-Degree Knights, together with the Bishop McFaul Assembly, have restored the property which was overgrown and had become a dumping ground for trash and dog waste, volunteering at the site many hours during the past year and a half.
Members of the Knights cleaned the tombstones, cleared the area, cut the grass and made the site presentable before purchasing and installing a lighted flagpole in order to continue to honor the American flag past dark. Future work on the site includes landscaping and planting shrubs and flowers.
Sir Knight Ian McGinniss, Faithful Captain of the Assembly, introduced the program and Atlantic Highlands Councilman James Murphy was a guests speaker at the event. The councilman, who is also a member of the Rev. Joseph Donnelly Council, said the gathering was “to dedicate this site and flagpole, remembering the sacrifices earlier generations have made to establish our country and leave it for future generations. We owe them nothing less. “
The Rev. Sir Knight Cosmas Maduekwe, a priest visiting Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes parish from his native Nigeria, g offered the prayer to open the ceremony, noting that as Knights of Columbus “it is our duty, and we are honored to help maintain their eternal resting place and preserve it for future generations.” Fr. Cosmas also included in his prayer a request “to provide us with the resources to perform this honored duty” and to encourage by example, continuance of such work.
In his address to the crowd gathered at the small burial site, Murphy also reminded attendees that the peace and future of our nation has depended on the strength and bravery of its armed forces in every branch, and the nation should continue to show their honor and respect for both the living and deceased men and women who have preserved and continue to protect the nation.
The Knights Color Guard presented the American flag and formed a background around the newly installed flagpole before the recitation of the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem. Sir Knight John Brandon, the Master of the McFaul Assembly also spoke on the importance of honoring all veterans before Fr. Cosmas blessed the flagpole “and the country whose flag flies on it.” He also prayed “to inspire our citizens to understand you are the foundation on which our country was founded” and that it is from God that the cherished rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness come.
Lots of things about Sandy Hook made me happy this week, even though it was terribly disappointing to hear it is going to take a joint effort of federal, public and private funds to come up with another $50 million so the Stillman Company can continue with its plans to renovate the Officers Row homes on Fort Hancock.
What made me happy, besides the fact Mr. Stillman wants to still continue with his plan, is that the 21st Century Fort Hancock Advisory Committee didn’t simply throw up their collective hands and say it’s all over! Instead, they immediately began to pool ideas, set up a committee to seek out sources, and decide they have to help get this accomplished.
County Commissioner Lillian Burry reminded the rest of the Committee she was successful in having that $15 million apartment complex for homeless veterans built in Tinton Falls. Even with a separate Women’s Wing to boot!
Now if folks would just remind Congressman Pallone, another good guy who really wants to do the best for the people, that Sandy Hook is a National Recreation Area, not a National Wildlife Refuge and American history is important enough to be remembered and shared out there, that might help. The congressman is concerned that apartments while retaining a historic appearance will bring too many folks out there year round, but doesn’t think the hundreds of thousands of folks who crowd the beaches during the summer aren’t disturbing wildlife.
What also made me happy was hearing both the Senior Naval Advisor and the Superintendent of the County Vocational Tech Schools Dr. Charles Ford, say that bids will be going out within two months to finish that sad looking former barracks that will one day be an indoor drill hall, classrooms and bathrooms for those MAST cadets!
Dr. Ford conceded raising costs are making a difference, but saying the bids are going out soon is an indication he really wants MAST to continue and grow makes it sound like a certainty the County Commissioners will somehow find the necessary funds should the bids come in higher than they hope for.
None was there, but it‘s a certainty Dr. Ford will tell them about the 700 or so folks who sat in the cold just to watch those cadets in formation at their very important annual inspection by the Navy, because they’re so proud of everything they achieve out there.
Their applause resounded in the winds when the Commander said Dr. Ford had told them about the bids being prepared. Then there was that other announcement that one cadet has already been notified he has already received a full four-year ARMY ROTC scholarship at graduation. But he hasn’t even accepted it yet because he’s waiting to hear how the Navy will respond to his application for one of their scholarships! And if the pattern that’s been set for years continues, there will be many scholarships announced at graduation because of the high standard of education that is presented at MAST and the opportunities offered by all branches of the military for higher education. What County Commissioner would deny funding to make a great program even more accommodating for its young voters?
Dr. Ford even brought in his business administrator from her Florida vacation in case the Fort Hancock Advisory Committee had any questions on the progress of the two buildings the County school system is currently working on. So she, too, via ZOOM, was able to hear all the praise and congratulations for the smaller building now being in use and looking great from the outside. Both must feel pretty great, and rightfully so, that they are advising the County…as if these Commissioners don’t already know it….how important is continuing the work in helping MAST cadets AND restoring a piece of dilapidated and sad looking historic building at one of the nation’s most visited recreation areas.
Also making me happy this week was hearing that young Troop 22 Boy Scout from the Bayshore, Grady, stand up before the crowd at the Atlantic Highlands remembrance of Veterans Day and speak his own pride in being an American and knowing it is veterans he has to thank for freedom. Who knows? In a few years, he might be one of those cadets at MAST learning to drill and know more about how veterans have been the heart of the country since the days of the Revolution.
Councilman Jim Murphy came in late for that annual observance, but with good reason that also made me happy. As a Knight of Columbus, he had been asked to participate in honoring Revolutionary War veterans who fought at the Battle of Monmouth. Applegate and Stillwell are historic names in Monmouth County and it was an honor to have an Atlantic Highlands native and official be part of the ceremony of raising not just a flag, but an American flag AND flagpole on the site of the small and previously untended burial ground in Leonardo The Knights of Columbus took the care of the site under their wing and the men have worked long and hard in restoring it to give some dignity to the deceased remembered there..
The Atlantic Highlands Borough Council unanimously approved financing one-third of the updated regionalization study requested by the Commissioner of Education, but only if they could have the final say on what professionals are doing the update.
Councilman Vito Colasurdo, who indicated several times he was not on council when the initial feasibility study was completed, made the motion, seconded by Councilman Jon Crowley that an update of the study be financed in part by council, but only if Atlantic Highlands has the “final say” on the firm doing the update.
Further, Colasurdo made it clear he would not approve of the Porzio group who did the initial study to do the update because “I don’t agree with the feasibility study” that it had completed.
The Porzio firm was unanimously hired last year by this borough council together with Sea Bright and Highlands, all of whom paid for it, to undergo a feasibility study on whether Sea Bright should be included in a school regional plan with Highlands and Atlantic Highlands.
The firm, the only one in the state that has successfully completed a regionalization program under current regulations, is widely respected as an expert in the field and contributed information and experience towards the current regionalization regulations across the state.
But at Thursday’s meeting, Colasurdo said because of his and others in disagreement with the Porzio report, “that’s why we got Kean to do a rebuttal.” That was a confusing statement in that if Colasurdo was using “we” as a member of the governing body, council did not authorize the Kean Report. That was a second feasibility study requested by the school boards of education. not this or any borough council and financed through a state grant. It was never indicated or identified as a “rebuttal” to any other study.
Both reports, regardless, came to a final assessment that Sea Bright should be included in a regionalization with Highlands and Atlantic Highlands and should be done as soon as possible in order to reap the financial benefits of adding a third community to pay educational costs with little impact on increasing school attendance into the district.
When Sea Bright and the boards of education in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands began negotiations for a tri-community K-12 regionalization, Oceanport and Shore Regional school districts, where Sea Bright students currently are educated, filed suit against the borough, charging it had no right to leave their districts. That lawsuit was dismissed and is currently under appeal in the court, in spite of the Commissioner of Education opinion she feels the new law is specific in giving Sea Bright the right, an opinion she supports, to seek a regionalized plan for its students.
Although this Council has retained a special attorney, Matthew Giacobbe, to represent it on the question of school regionalization, that attorney was not requested to attend or apparently have any input into the two executive sessions Council has held before making the determination to underwrite one-third of the update, providing it can approve the firm doing the Porzio firm’s original study.
He was not from New Jersey, but in honor of the 248th anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps on November 10, John Freeman Mackie of New York should be recognized as the first US Marine to receive the Medal of Honor.
Mackie, who was a silversmith before he enlisted in the Marine Corps on April 24, 1861, took his oath of office at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and was assigned to the USS Savannah. It was only weeks after the firing on Fort Sumpter that officially started the Civil War.
Mackie was transferred to the USS Galena one year later on April 1, 1862. The ship, an ironclad with three-inch-thick heavy iron plating protecting her sides, was one of five ships, including ironclads Monitor and Naugatuck, and wooden gunboats Aroostook and Port Royal, that sailed up the James River under the Command of Commander John Rodgers, Jr.
The plan was to disable the Southern forces at Fort Darling and proceed to Richmond, in the hopes that capturing the city would put an end to the war.
According to the Medal of Honor Society history, the northern Marines and sailors were surprised by an unexpected strong force of Confederate Marines and artillery at Fort Darling along with a fortress of three heavy guns.
The southern fighters could see the Galena coming up the channel, took the offensive and fired before the ship could start shelling the fort. It began a battle that lasted several hours.
. While the Galena was facing fire, the Naugatuck, came in to assist until its gun malfunctioned; the Southerners struck the two gunboats, forcing them to retreat, and the Monitor tried to get alongside the Galena to continue the battle. However, the guns on that ship could not be raised enough to hit the bluff at Fort Darling, and the ship withdrew., leaving the Galena, once again, to be fighting the battle along.
The Marine contingent, Mackie included, focused their efforts on the Confederates manning the guns, and continuing to be struck by other shots from the fort, wounding or killing many of the Marines and Galena crew.
Marines from both sides of the battle continued to barrage each other, until the ship’s guns were disabled by the stronger land artillery.
Mackie, seeing the devastation around him, took charge, moved the wounded aside and spread sand on the deck made slippery by the blood of the fallen fighters. Under his direction, the twelve Marines under his command followed suit and were able to re-enable the guns and send a volley to the fort’s casemates, knocking one gun out of service.
Mackie survived the battle, Richmond remained under Southern control for three more years and the war continued. The Marine was reassigned to the USS Seminole where he received the Medal of Honor, off Sabine Pass, Texas.
Corporal John Freeman Mackie survived the war and died June 18, 1910. He is buried at Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill, Pa.
Citation
While board the U.S.S. Galena in the attack on Fort Darling, at Drewry’s Bluff, James River, on 15 May 1862. As enemy shellfire raked the deck of his ship, Cpl. Mackie fearlessly maintained his musket fire against the rifle pits along the shore and, when ordered to fill vacancies at guns caused by men wounded and killed in action, manned the weapon with skill and courage.
Bids for rebuilding the historic barracks at Fort Hancock for an NJROTC classroom and indoor unit formation hall will go out within two months, Dr. Charles Ford told the 21st Century Fort Hancock Advisory Commission at its meeting Thursday.
Dr. Ford is the superintendent of the Monmouth Ocean Vocational Technical School District, of which MAST, the Marine Academy of Science and Technology which is located on Sandy Hook is one of the five high schools in the program. Every student at MAST is also a member of the NJROTC as a requirement for graduation from MAST, one of few schools in the nation devoted to a Navy Junior ROTC program.
Dr. Clark’s announcement to the advisory commission of the National Park Service came a day after Commander Tracie Smith-Yeoman United States Navy (ret), Senior Naval officer at MAST, announced the news of seeking bids at the annual Naval Inspection of the NJROTC cadets who attend MAST, the largest and most important military inspection the young cadets face during the year.
The commander’s announcement, part of her welcome address when she told the crowd of more than 700 visitors reasons why she was so happy that day, was met with great applause from the audience, huddled under blankets on lawn chairs and bleachers for the early morning Pass in Review part of the annual inspection.
Dr. Ford was first on the agenda of the five-hour Advisory Committee meeting, preset at the virtual session to give an update on the construction and rehabilitation of two buildings leased to Monmouth County for the school, recognized as one of the top ten in the state for academic excellence.
Appearing at the virtual meeting with the board’s business administrator Kelly Brazelton, who appeared from Florida where she is vacationing, Dr. Ford said Covid’s impact on slowing down supply delivery and the increase in costs in all areas which is said are now “pricey” has required revisions for architectural work which now has to be updated and reviewed. Once that review is completed, the superintendent said, he is hopeful the board can then go out for the bids. “It all depends on the process,” he said.
Dr. Ford was praised by the Committee for the completion and ribbon cutting ceremony for the first of two new buildings MAST is leasing at Fort Hancock. The school has been operating in 11 other leased buildings since it first opened and leased the two additional buildings a few years ago and appropriated $15 million in funds for the needed extensive rehabilitation before they could be operational.
The first building, Building 56, a former mess hall and a considerably smaller two-story building was completed earlier this year and is currently in use by MAST while still undergoing contractual work in the cellar. It houses the estimated $1 million in Naval equipment, supplies and uniforms for the cadets.
Building 23, the larger of the two buildings and a former barracks, is currently in shambles, with few walls standing. Work on it, scheduled to begin more than a year ago, was halted at its onset since work was going to disturb the nesting migratory birds on a high point on the roof of the building, in violation of environmental policies. Since then, with the birds gone but the nest still intact, there have been a couple of announcements that bids were going to be advertised, though were both apparently called back before advertised.
Advisory Committee Vice Chairman Shawn Welch, in praising Dr. Ford for his explanations and attention to the details of the update of progress, said he is looking forward to the bids being advertised by February.
However, during the public portion of the meeting, while Welsh said he understood Dr. Ford’s explanation of the reasons for delaying the bids until next year, neither Parks Superintendent Jan Nercessian nor other commission members said if they knew why the delays have taken place in advertising for bids, or what plans the district has should the bids come in considerably higher than budgeted. Ford had said bids could be awarded “hopefully,” so the district can “continue to do what we do.”
It’s not only adults, but youngsters as well who find the Monmouth County Library at Atlantic Highlands a fun place to spend a morning, afternoon or creative event.
Branch Library managed Lauren Garcia, who also doubles as the children’s librarian, wearing two very active and energetic hats, has created a children’s program that includes everything from making crafts and reading to therapy dogs to Storytime for infants and preschool programs for ages 3 to 5.
The November schedule at the Library continues Baby Storytime, every Wednesday except the day before Thanksgiving at 9:30 a.m. when parents or caregivers are invited to bring youngsters as young as 10 months to hear classic stories, rhymes and songs, with Garcia offering fingerplays and music and dance for entertainment. That program is followed by Toddler Storytime for ages two to three years beginning at 10 a.m. and many parents stay for both events with their youngsters.
Thursday afternoons are also devoted to young readers, with after school Storytime for grades Kindergarten and up every Thursday in November except the day before Thanksgiving for a half hour beginning at 3:15. Often time special guests are included to read to the youngsters.
A preschool program for ages 3 to 5 is also offered Thursdays except Nov. 23 for youngsters and caregivers at 4 p… for a half hour of activities, crafts and Storytime.
Thursday, November 9 at 3:15, trained therapy dogs will be at the library hear youngsters read them stories or show them pictures in books. Youngsters are invited to bring their favorite book to share with a therapy dog at 3:15. P.m.
On Wednesday, Nov. 15, tweens can gather at 3:15 for an afternoon of creating unique beaded jewelry with the Bayshore Family Success Center. Because of its popularity, registration in advance is recommended by calling the Library at 732-291-1956.
The Lizard Guys will present a fun-filled show with unique animal facts for all to enjoy and learn on Thursday. Nov. 15 at 3:15 p.m.
Advance registration required for a Special Virtual event live from Jenkinson’s Aquarium on Monday, Nov. 13 at 6:30. Visitors to the virtual program will see live specimens and artifacts of sea stars, urchins, snails and horseshoe crabs along with information from a naturalist. Registration is available on the Monmouth County Library’s Kids Page at www.monmouthcountylib.org or at the First Avenue library in Borough Hall.
“We always encourage youngsters to express themselves and share their stories,” said Librarian Garcia. For that reason, the Library invites children of all ages to write “the book you’re always wanted to see on our shelves.” Garcia invites library users, and their friends to share their ideas in the library or write it at home and bring their finished book to the library.
Families are also invited to pick up a craft kit at the library to make at home. Featured at the beginning of the month is Moo! Cows, and after November 15, Rainbow Turkey as the giveaway crafts.
For much information on the unique programs and events at the Atlantic Highlands branch of the county library, call 732-291-1956
Want to Read About Past Library Events? Click HERE
The first meeting of the newly formed transitional Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education scheduled for 6 P.M. this evening was suddenly cancelled, so suddenly that even at least one of a new board member didn’t even know about it.
Nor did the public, as least two of them, seeing the notice of the meeting still posted on the Henry Hudson website, showed up to attend only to find all the doors at Henry Hudson Regional School closed, locked, and no one responding to any efforts to enter. The meeting cancelled.
The one board member who showed up for the meeting, an Atlantic Highlands member of the outgoing Henry Hudson Board, was as questioning as the residents when he, too, arrived, tried to enter and was curious as to why he could not.
Contacting another Atlantic Highlands member of the newly formed board, he learned the meeting was cancelled because of some legal or technical reasons, which was why the new board could not organize until at least something else was completed first. He had not been notified, he said. Nor did he see any e-mail notification when he made a last-minute check in the school parking lot.
No date has been set for the organizational meeting, and the Henry Hudson Regional School page still indicates, at the time I wrote this article, that the meeting was scheduled for November 8 at 6 p.m. in the Hudson school cafetorium. The Henry Hudson Tri District page does show the meeting cancelled but does not indicate any reason why.
Members of the transitional board of education, which will serve until the November 2024 election determines the first elected board for the newly formed k-12 school district are Rebecca Kane-Wells, Irene Campbell, Diane Knox, Richard Doust, Donald Krueger, Ulrike Stock Allyson Jacobs, Karin Masina and Cory Wingerter.
While every election is important, and every registered citizen should vote, this year’s election in Atlantic Highlands could well change the direction the borough is going.
Not immediately. But should all three Republicans win on Tuesday, that would mean the Mayor would continue to be a Republican and the Republicans would gain one more than the single seat they now hold on the six-member council come January 1.
The Election Brings Interesting Scenarios
But if that happens, since it’s Councilman James Murphy who would be successful in his bid for the mayoral post, his seat on Council will be vacant as of reorganization day January 1. His three-year term on Council just began in 2022. So the Republicans would then nominate three names for the newly elected Council to vote on a replacement for him on Council until the next election a year away.
That would mean the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council for 2024 would be a Republican Mayor, three Republican Council members and three Democrat Council members. The Mayor only votes in tie matters.
The Election Brings Interesting Scenarios
Such a makeup would undoubtedly change all the borough officials from attorneys for all the boards, including the governing body, as well as other professionals named for the coming year. Would the new mayor hold off the appointments until after a special meeting to name his council successor? Would the soon-to-be minority Democrats hold out for their own choices? It will make for interesting meetings.
If voters split their votes, and vote for some Republicans and some Democrats, the situation gets even more interesting.
The Election Brings Interesting Scenarios
If Councilwoman Lori Hohenleitner wins for Mayor, but the two Democrat council candidates, Jon Crowley and Alyson Forbes do not, that would create a three Democrat and three Republican council with a Democrat mayor. Murphy, even though he was on the ballot for mayor, still retains his council seat and would serve with the two successful Republicans for Council.
The Election Brings Interesting Scenarios
It Coach Vinnie Whitehead and Ellen O’Dwyer win for Council and Murphy does not take the mayoral post, that gives the governing body three Democrats and three Republicans on Council, and a Democrat mayor, since Murphy would still be on Council. But he would then have two others of his party to support him after a year in which he has had little voice and no support.
The Election Brings Interesting Scenarios
If Crowley and Forbes win but not Ms Hohenleitner, the council makeup would remain the same as it is now, five Democrats, one Republican. But that would mean Murphy would be mayor, and his Republican seat on Council he currently holds would be decided after reorganization by the Republicans to fill his unexpired term as Councilman.
The Election Brings Interesting Scenarios
If Crowley and Hohenleitner lose, they would both be off the governing body since their terms expire this year without being re-elected.
The Election Brings Interesting Scenarios
If one Democrat and one Republican win for council, that would give the Republicans one more seat than they have now, since once again, Murphy is still a sitting councilman.
Sounds confusing but every angle is possible. It makes it even more necessary than ever to go to that series of questions town-watcher Mark Fisher posed to each of the candidates. Look at their answers. Look at their priorities. Look at how each feels about something.
Then cast your vote intelligently as to who you think will be the best leadership to take the town towards completing the several major events still on the table, the future building of apartments in town, whether cannabis will get a foothold and the impact delays of decision making have had on the borough, taxes, and retaining a homey, small town community atmosphere.
Maybe things are looking up in Atlantic Highlands. Another young family, who really discovered Atlantic Highlands a few years ago, moved here and took an immediate interest in everything going on. They want to get involved, and that’s a great thing.
He attends meetings, asks questions, noted at one point he was concerned because he felt crime was increasing in the borough, and was disappointed when a councilman told him words to the effect it’s increasing all over.
For this young family, the dad was talking about the first heroin bust in a residential neighborhood he had ever heard of, and while he praised the town’s terrific police department, it jolted him to realize these things were happening.
He’s concerned the town is changing, he’s afraid town leaders are still talking about a cannabis business in town and he wants to get involved and do what he can to keep Atlantic Highlands the charming town that prompted him to settle his family here.
But he wants to know how others think as well. This is the code to a survey he’s designed and would like folks to answer.
Not a bad idea. It’s always great to involve as many people as you can when you want to do the right thing. It’s worth taking a look.
“Is this the type of environment we want our young people growing up in?
Is our town changing so quickly?
These were the questions asked not once, but twice, by Edward Kenney, a comparatively new resident of Atlantic Highlands who moved here with his wife and young children two years ago because he felt it was a beautiful, safe town in which to bring up his children.
So when there was a heroin drug bust not far from his home, he told the elected officials “it was damn scary,” and expressed his appreciation of the local police department for being so vigilant in making arrests.
But it was still scary, he told the elected officials.
That incident, together with hearing of recent car thefts, prompted the new resident to ask council what they’re doing about it. What’s going on here?
One Councilman, James Murphy, acknowledged his letter and wrote back and told him that. But he did not answer his questions.
The rest of council did not even bother to let this new family in town know they received a letter expressing some concern.
“What is going on here?”
So Mr. Kenney appeared at the meeting,well dressed, well spoken, and still concerned. He even read his letter to Council at the meeting. That prompted some explanations, even an acknowledgement from Councilman Jon Crowley that he did get the letter. But he did not see any questions.
So Mr. Kenney told him what his questions were.
Mr. Kenney is correct in asking “What is going on here?” His concern is over increased crime, no matter where and what kind. His concern is that the town is too small and should not be the site for a cannabis business. That, he believes, is too much of a change for a town so lovely.
But many others are asking the same questions.
“What is going on here?”
What exactly is going on in Atlantic Highlands?
Residents were told for weeks they could not ask questions at meetings. Now they can, but it took a lot of talking to get that to happen. One resident was chided publicly for turning around to see if a particular person was present, an issue so important and so apparently disruptive to the meeting that not only the mayor, but also the borough attorney, chided her for such a terrible action.
“What is going on here?”
Minutes later, when that same resident was still speaking and wondered whether someone else was in the audience, a councilwoman told her to “turn around and ask him yourself.”
“What is going on here?”
The question of school regionalization is still not being presented to the public so they can vote on it.. It seemed to be all agreed many months ago, with only the duration of years that the percentage of those millions of dollars coming in from Sea Bright’s joining would be split. Highlands did not like that Atlantic Highlands wanted it to be “in perpetuity” rather than reviewed every five or ten years. But now, it’s taking more meetings, more lawyers, more discussions, a mediator, a lot of mistakes by professionals and time delays and it seems that now it isn’t even the question they are talking about settling. Nor does it seem they even have matching figures on both sides over which they will be mediating. Or if they will ever get to it.
“What is going on here?”
Teachers in years past have taught in the local schools for decades, but now it seems many of them, a large percentage, are retiring early or simply getting out and looking someplace else .
“What is going on here?”
Parents are afraid to go public with their fears and complaints against the school administration, afraid if they complain publicly something even worse than their children’s education will suffer.
“What is going on here?”
A school administrator tells a state official she represents three entirely different boroughs, yet all three boroughs said it was not so.
“What is going on here?”
A million dollar building is built at the harbor, leased to tenants, the contractor paid, and still there does not seem to be any certificate of occupancy or any verification from inspectors that everything is up to snuff. So the borough is now suing the builder, but not saying anything about the fact that they paid for the work, in full for the work, they’ve been collecting full rent from these tenants in spite of the dangerous condition that has existed for more than two years.
“What is going on here?”
Council is great on promoting Black History or Gay Pride, or Irish American or Native American heritage but they do not change the night of a planning board meeting when it falls on the one night of the most solemn time of the year for many Christians who are drawn to church services at the same time as the meeting.
“What is going on here?”
Mr. Kenney’s questions are well founded.
Is this the type of environment we want our young people growing up in? Is our town changing so quickly?
This is what Mr. Kenney wrote, and read, to the governing body.,
Dear Mayor and the Council of Atlantic Highlands,
I moved with my wife and family to Atlantic Highlands a little over two years ago and we have always said how glad we are that we made the move. However, recently we have become concerned with the increasing crime in Atlantic Highlands. We don’t want to see it escalate or it won’t feel like the same safe town we love.
About two weeks ago we heard of a heroin bust on 4th Ave, just four blocks from where we live, part of a stakeout that caught out-of-town drug dealers in Atlantic Highlands. Thank God our police are so vigilant and caught these miserable individuals with their drugs. But the fact that it happened in Atlantic Highlands is damn scary.
There have also been increasing car thefts in the area too. It’s a topic that my neighbors and I talk about often. My wife and I have been much more careful about locking our cars at night. That’s something we didn’t worry about when we first moved here. Is our town changing that quickly?
We have also heard about the possibility of a marijuana shop opening in Atlantic Highlands. What is going on here? My wife and I have two young sons. Is this the environment that we want our young people growing up in? We feel like the face of Atlantic Highlands is changing, and not for the better. We’d like to know how the town council is supporting our police to make sure that the town remains safe and protects its citizens. We believe the council is a key influencing body for the town and that the direction the town goes is a responsibility that the council needs to be able to steer so that Atlantic Highlands remains the lovely town it has always been known as.
