BY JESSICA FASANO THE OCEAN STAR POINT PLEASANT — At its meeting last Thursday, the Point Pleasant Council passed two resolutions terminating the employ- ment of former borough administrator David Maffei, and removing him from the position. Mr. Maffei will remain in his role as bor- ough clerk. According to Mayor Robert Sabosik, the borough and Mr. Maffei have decided to part ways in regard to the administrator position, and the town wishes him all the best. “I personally have the utmost respect for Dave Maffei. He is a wonderful individual,” SPRING INTO YOUR HOME PROJECTS Special supplement inside this issue BAY HEAD ❙ LAVALLETTE ❙ MANTOLOKING ❙ POINT PLEASANT ❙ POINT PLEASANT BEACH 75 CENTS FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 Budget feeling Sandy’s wrath Maffei ousted as admin, is still clerk Another $100K for boro hall Boro teachers under contract “Our expenditures are well under control. Unfortunately, our revenues are a problem because of the lack of new homes.” WALTER LACICERO Mayor, Borough of Lavallette BY PAIGE TAYLOR THE OCEAN STAR POINT PLEASANT BEACH — The lawsuit Jenkinson’s Pavilion filed against the Army Corps of Engineers, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the borough, here, is scheduled to be heard in United States District Court on April 22. The lawsuit is in relation to the planned federal beach replenishment project that will construct a continu- ous dune system along the Ocean County coastline. Jenkinson’s Pavilion owns the majority of the beach in town. For the full story, see page 16. JESSICA FASANO THE OCEAN STAR Frank Pannucci Jr. was joined by his mother, Donna Pannucci [left], and sister, Nicole Cogill, after the Point Pleasant Council appointed him as acting bor- ough administrator at last week’s meeting. MORGAN CAMPBELL THE OCEAN STAR ‘CURTAINS!’ COMES TO POINT PLEASANT Point Pleasant High School senior Nicole Toms and junior Kevin Jasaitis performed in the school’s musical, “Curtains!,” on Saturday night. For the full story on the performance, see page 9. BY PAIGE TAYLOR THE OCEAN STAR LAVALLETTE — At the Laval- lette Council meeting on Mon- day, the governing body intro- duced the preliminary municipal budget for 2015 — a spending plan that officials said was impacted by Hurri- cane Sandy-related expenses. Borough administrator Christopher Parlow provided some information on the budget. The total 2015 prelimi- nary budget is $9,154,165, which is a $194,842 — or 2.17- percent — increase over the 2014 budget, which totaled SEE BUDGET PAGE 3 Frank Pannucci Jr. named acting administrator “I personally have the utmost respect for Dave Maffei. He is a wonderful individual.” BOB SABOSIK Mayor, Borough of Point Pleasant “To be part of this team is an amazing opportunity.” FRANK PANNUCCI JR. Acting Administrator Borough of Point Pleasant SEE ADMINISTRATOR PAGE 6 BY JESSICA FASANO THE OCEAN STAR POINT PLEASANT — On Mon- day, March 23, the Point Pleas- ant Board of Education [BOE] approved a memorandum of agreement between the BOE and the Point Pleasant Educa- tion Association [PPEA] re- garding the contracts of dis- trict employees. The PPEA is a group that represents the district’s teach- ers, bus drivers, paraprofes- sionals, secretaries, coaches and advisors. The approved resolution states that “upon the recom- mendation of the negotiations committee for the Point Pleas- ant BOE, the BOE approves After mediation, 2.8 percent raises OK’d across the board SEE CONTRACT PAGE 6 Completion date pushed back until this August BY PAIGE TAYLOR THE OCEAN STAR LAVALLETTE — The govern- ing body, here, unanimously approved a $100,000 change order for the construction of the new borough hall on Monday, the third change or- der the project has seen. Mayor Walter LaCicero opened Monday’s meeting with an update on the new borough hall. The project in its entirety was originally RYAN MAYER THE OCEAN STAR Though the completion of borough hall has been pushed back to August, the Post Office’s sec- tion of the building is still expected to be ready by April 1. SEE BORO HALL PAGE 2 Jenk’s lawsuit to be heard next month COURTESY OF LINDA BLUMENSTOCK HONORING OUTSTANDING EDUCATORS Point Pleasant Beach Public Education Foundation members Jody Sowell [from left], Sherrie Chando and president Scott Kuzmic [right] presented Donna Anderson-Landers, fourth-grade teacher, with a grant from the foun- dation for poetry books. For the full story on that grant, and others award- ed this year, see page 17. Tax increase due to storm repayments
Transcript
BY JESSICA FASANOTHE OCEAN STAR
POINT PLEASANT — At its meeting lastThursday, the Point Pleasant Council passedtwo resolutions terminating the employ-ment of former borough administratorDavid Maffei, and removing him from theposition.Mr. Maffei will remain in his role as bor-
ough clerk.According to Mayor Robert Sabosik, the
borough and Mr. Maffei have decided to partways in regard to the administrator position,and the town wishes him all the best.“I personally have the utmost respect for
Dave Maffei. He is a wonderful individual,”
SPRING INTO YOUR HOME PROJECTSSpecial supplement inside this issue
BAY HEAD � LAVALLETTE � MANTOLOKING � POINT PLEASANT � POINT PLEASANT BEACH
75 CENTSFRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015
Budget feelingSandy’s wrath
Maffei oustedas admin, isstill clerk
Another $100K for boro hall
Boro teachersunder contract
“Our expenditures are well under control.Unfortunately, our revenues are a problem
because of the lack of new homes.”
WALTER LACICERO Mayor, Borough of Lavallette
BY PAIGE TAYLORTHE OCEAN STAR
POINT PLEASANT BEACH — The lawsuitJenkinson’s Pavilion filed against theArmy Corps of Engineers, the NewJersey Department of EnvironmentalProtection, and the borough, here, isscheduled to be heard in UnitedStates District Court on April 22.The lawsuit is in relation to the
planned federal beach replenishmentproject that will construct a continu-ous dune system along the OceanCounty coastline.Jenkinson’s Pavilion owns the
majority of the beach in town.For the full story, see page 16.
JESSICA FASANO THE OCEAN STAR
Frank Pannucci Jr. was joined by his mother, Donna Pannucci [left], and sister,Nicole Cogill, after the Point Pleasant Council appointed him as acting bor-ough administrator at last week’s meeting.
MORGAN CAMPBELL THE OCEAN STAR
‘CURTAINS!’ COMES TO POINT PLEASANTPoint Pleasant High School senior Nicole Toms and junior Kevin Jasaitisperformed in the school’s musical, “Curtains!,” on Saturday night. Forthe full story on the performance, see page 9.
BY PAIGE TAYLORTHE OCEAN STAR
LAVALLETTE — At the Laval-lette Council meeting on Mon-day, the governing body intro-duced the preliminarymunicipal budget for 2015 — a
spending plan that officialssaid was impacted by Hurri-cane Sandy-related expenses.Borough administrator
Christopher Parlow providedsome information on thebudget. The total 2015 prelimi-nary budget is $9,154,165,which is a $194,842 — or 2.17-percent — increase over the2014 budget, which totaled
SEE BUDGET PAGE 3
Frank Pannucci Jr. namedacting administrator
“I personally have theutmost respect for DaveMaffei. He is a wonderful
individual.”
BOB SABOSIKMayor, Borough of Point Pleasant
“To be part of thisteam is an amazing
opportunity.”
FRANK PANNUCCI JR.Acting Administrator
Borough of Point PleasantSEE ADMINISTRATOR PAGE 6
BY JESSICA FASANOTHE OCEAN STAR
POINT PLEASANT — On Mon-day, March 23, the Point Pleas-ant Board of Education [BOE]approved a memorandum ofagreement between the BOEand the Point Pleasant Educa-
tion Association [PPEA] re-garding the contracts of dis-trict employees.The PPEA is a group that
represents the district’s teach-ers, bus drivers, paraprofes-sionals, secretaries, coachesand advisors.The approved resolution
states that “upon the recom-mendation of the negotiationscommittee for the Point Pleas-ant BOE, the BOE approves
After mediation, 2.8percent raises OK’d
across the board
SEE CONTRACT PAGE 6
Completion datepushed back until
this August
BY PAIGE TAYLORTHE OCEAN STAR
LAVALLETTE — The govern-ing body, here, unanimouslyapproved a $100,000 changeorder for the construction ofthe new borough hall onMonday, the third change or-der the project has seen.Mayor Walter LaCicero
opened Monday’s meetingwith an update on the newborough hall. The project inits entirety was originally RYAN MAYER THE OCEAN STAR
Though the completion of borough hall has been pushed back to August, the Post Office’s sec-tion of the building is still expected to be ready by April 1.SEE BORO HALL PAGE 2
Jenk’s lawsuitto be heardnext month
COURTESY OF LINDA BLUMENSTOCK
HONORING OUTSTANDING EDUCATORSPoint Pleasant Beach Public Education Foundation members Jody Sowell[from left], Sherrie Chando and president Scott Kuzmic [right] presentedDonna Anderson-Landers, fourth-grade teacher, with a grant from the foun-dation for poetry books. For the full story on that grant, and others award-ed this year, see page 17.
Tax increase due tostorm repayments
PIRATES YOUTH FOOTBALL AND
PAINT PARTY Date: Tuesday, March 31Time: 6:30 p.m.Location: River Rock Restaurant,1600 Route 70, BrickCost: $45 per personContact: Joanne at 732-793-2557or [email protected] of Love will receive $15 fromeach ticket purchased. The canvas,paints & brushes are all provided to youfor the price of admission. Attendeesmust be 18 or older. There will be a50/50 raffle. River Rock has 1/2 priceburgers on Tuesdays. Drinks and foodwill be available for purchase duringpaint party.
DONATIONS OF LOVE SUPER 50/50RAFFLEDate: Drawing on Friday, May 22 Time: 12 p.m.Location: 1606 Grand Central Ave.Cost: $100 per ticket donationContact: 732-793-2557 or [email protected] tickets are on sale now. There are200 tickets being sold with a potentialgrand prize of $10,000. Make checkspayable to Donations of Love, 1606Grand Central Ave. #4, Lavallette, NJ08735. Include a self addressedstamped envelope for your ticket to bereturned to you.
COURT ST. BONAVENTURE MEET-INGSDate: third Wednesday eachmonthTime: 1 p.m.Location: St. Pio Parish Center,Lavallette
TAI-CHIDate: Tuesdays Time: 10 a.m.Location: Lavallette First AidBuilding, 1207 Bay Blvd.Cost: $3
ZUMBADate: Mondays & ThursdaysTime: 6 p.m.Location: Monday at LavalletteSchool, 105 Brooklyn Ave.;Thursday at Union Church, 25Philadelphia Ave.Cost: $3
YOGADate: Tuesdays & ThursdaysTime: 7:30 p.m.Location: Union Church, 25
Philadelphia Ave.Cost: $3
POINT PLEASANT YOUTHBASEBALL, SOFTBALL REGISTRATION OPENContact: Register onlinewww.pointbaseball.comBaseball is open to player from PointPleasant Borough, Point Pleasant Beach,Bay Head and Mantoloking. Softball isopen to Point Pleasant Borough, PointPleasant Beach, Bay Head, Mantoloking,Brielle, Manasquan and Brick Township.Buddy Ball offered for players with spe-cial needs ages 5 to 21.
TOP SOCCER PROGRAMCost: $10Contact: Point Pleasant SoccerClub, www.pointpleasantsc.orgTOPSoccer is run through the PointPleasant Soccer Club [PPSC]. The pro-gram provides an opportunity for play-ers with special needs ages five through25 to experience the game of soccerthrough motor skills, soccer drills andscrimmages. Registration for theTOPSoccer program is still open atwww.pointpleasantsoccer.org. All play-ers will need to register either via thePPSC website or by mailing in a form.Registration for this program will notclose out. The $10 player fee is to coverNew Jersey Youth Soccer insurance andprogram expenses.
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CORRECTIONS POLICYThe Ocean Star is committed to fairness and accuracy in its reporting, but in the event thata factual error does occur, it will be corrected quickly and ungrudgingly. To request a correction, contact Editor Kimberly Mollo at 732-899-7606, ext. 12 or [email protected].
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PAGE 2 THE OCEAN STAR FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 LAVALLETTE
slated for completion inthe spring, but has beenpushed back to August.The original borough
hall was damaged beyondrepair during HurricaneSandy in 2012.The mayor said the con-
struction work is, however,on track for the U.S. PostOffice to move in to itsleased space in the munici-pal complex next month. Inorder to get the Post Officeinto the new municipalbuilding, 1,000 square feetof the space must be avail-able for them to rent byApril.“We had a meeting today
with the contractor and wewill be delivering the PostOffice portion [of thebuilding] to the UnitedStates Post Office on April1,” the mayor said.The borough is expect-
ing revenue from construc-tion permits and rentingspace in the new municipalcomplex to the Lavallettebranch of the U.S. PostOffice [USPS] to helpcover the cost of theundertaking.The balance of the build-
ing is expected to be com-pleted in August.The construction is
about four months behind,the mayor said, but “twomonths of that probablycan be attributed to theweather.”“Nonetheless, things are
progressing,” MayorLaCicero said.The council also dis-
cussed an additional, thirdchange order for the proj-ect, which was on the agen-da at Monday’s meeting.The mayor said it was dis-cussed with the contractoron Monday, as well.The original contract
amount totaled $4,646,960,which increased to$4,730,895 due to $83,935 ininitial change orders addedto the project. InDecember, Mayor LaCicerosaid the most recentrequest was for a $40,000change order due to speci-fications to the dome-likestructure on the building.On Monday, the mayor
said, “Typically on a proj-ect this size you see about5-percent change orders[increase in the contractprice] and we’re at 5.7 rightnow … but we do expectsome change orders in ourfavor through the end ofthe project.”He said he was shocked
that 5 percent is typical,and he wished he hadknown that before goinginto the project.
“People in the field said,‘5 percent, that’s nothing’— well, it’s something tous,” he said, adding that thechange orders needed forthe project have amountedto around $200,000 thusfar.The adjusted contract
price, with the addition ofthe third change order, is$4,914,925.The change order was
passed via resolution at themeeting and read, “autho-rizing the execution of achange order to the con-tract with WallaceBrothers, Inc. increasingthe adjusted contract priceby $106,550.”It was passed unani-
mously by those in atten-dance. CouncilwomanJoanne Filippone was notin attendance.The mayor said this
change order has to dowith electrical items aswell as “conduits for thecamera system we’re goingto install outside, conduitsto install the computerinterface [and] firealarms.”Borough administrator
Christopher Parlow said,“The subcode official sug-gested there be some addi-tional fire alarms beinstalled.”Also on the change
order, officials said, was
exterior lighting for thebuilding.Councilman James
Borowski said he had anissue with the changeorders, even though theywill be performed regard-less.“You’re paying these pro-
fessionals top dollar, whoknow these jobs, whoshould know what thesecontingencies are going tobe — and they don’t buildthem into the plan, andwe’re left holding the bag,”he said. “It’s the most frus-trating thing I face as a tax-payer and a member of thisgoverning body.”Mayor LaCicero said he
asked the architect on theproject to bring any furtherchanges to his attentionmoving forward, so themayor may present them tothe council.The new building, once
completed, will house thetown’s administrativeoffices, council chambers,municipal court, construc-tion and zoning depart-ment and beach badgeoffice, as well as the policedepartment headquarters,which was also displacedduring Hurricane Sandy.
Paige Taylor covers Lavallette forThe Ocean Star. She can be reachedat [email protected] or732-899-7606 Ext 14.
LAVALLETTE
EVENTSTo submit a calendar listingor Lavallette story, [email protected]
RYAN MAYER THE OCEAN STAR
A SPECIAL GUEST FROM THE PASTRenee Goodwin, a friend of the First Lady of the World, Eleanor Roosevelt, gave an educationalperformance on Mrs. Roosevelt’s life to guests at Upper Shores Library on Wednesday, March 18.
BORO HALLFROM PAGE 1
Change order for boro hall OK’d at meeting
WWW.STARNEWSGROUP.COM FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 THE OCEAN STAR PAGE 3LAVALLETTE
THE OCEAN STAR
Free tree seedlings will beavailable to Lavallette resi-dents starting April 3, as partof the New Jersey Tree Re-covery Campaign. This program helps com-
munities replace trees dam-aged or destroyed by Super-storm Sandy.From 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
starting on April 3 and untilsupplies last, residents willbe able to pick up treeseedlings at the Lavallette Re-cycling Center, located at 125Washington Ave. Seedlings, available on a
first come, first served basis,also come with instructionson how to store, care for, andplant them.The guides help residents
choose the right place on aproperty to plant a tree whilekeeping in mind the tree’sfull-grown size in the future. Residents should plant the
seedlings within two days af-
ter pick-up in order to pre-vent the roots from dryingout.The goal of the Tree Re-
covery Campaign is to dis-tribute over 500,000 treeseedlings to New Jersey resi-dents over the course of thenext five yearsIt is a joint effort between
the Borough of Lavallette,New Jersey State ForestryServices, New Jersey SoilConservation Districts, Sus-tainable Jersey, Arbor DayFoundation, Brothers Inter-national, BJ’s WholesaleClub, Wyndham Vacation Re-sorts and FedEx.When properly planted
and maintained, trees can beassets to a community. Theyimprove the visual appeal ofa neighborhood or businessdistrict, increase propertyvalues, reduce home coolingcosts, remove air pollutantsand provide wildlife habitat,among many other benefits.
Tree campaign toprovide seedlings
$8,959,323. The council discussed a
few appropriation increasesin the spending plan.Beach and boardwalk
salaries went up 8.74 percentas there will be an additionalweek added to the 2015 sum-mer season. General liabilityinsurance is up 18.47 percentbecause the borough isadding flood insurance to itsfacilities. Zoning and codeenforcement salaries are up126 percent because grantmoney had been fundingthem for the past severalyears. The mayor said theborough has applied forgrants that could fund thezoning and code salaries,however.“It’s not a pretty picture,”
Mayor Walter LaCicero saidof the budget, as the time hascome to “pay back fundsfrom Hurricane Sandy.”“We got notice from the
department of communityaffairs [DCA] that we need-ed to start paying back our10-percent share of theSandy emergency bonds thisyear and have them paid offwithin the next three years,”he said.Included in the 2015 budg-
et is not only the normal per-centage increase but also thefunding of the borough’s 10-percent share of moniesfrom the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency[FEMA].According to Mr. Parlow,
the FEMA reimbursement isnormally 75 percent, but inthe case of Hurricane Sandyit was upped to 90 percent.
“At some point we weregoing to need to pay our 10-percent share,” the mayorsaid. “We were hoping tolong-term bond the remain-der of the costs versus raisetaxes,” however such maynot be the case this year.Mr. Parlow said the time
has come to respond to thecost of Hurricane Sandy.“New boardwalk, new
roads, $9 million in Ash Brittdebris removal … it’d be animpossibility for me to saythat Sandy was not going tocost anything,” he said.Mr. Parlow added
Lavallette is hoping to stayahead of this by getting thetown restored and have theassessed values increaseover time.Mayor LaCicero said the
budget is up $194,842, ofwhich $156,000 is FEMA“payback.” “Without that we would
have been up $38,000, whichis virtually a flat budget,” hesaid.“Our expenditures are
well under control,” themayor also said.“Unfortunately, our revenuesare a problem because of thelack of new homes. They’recoming, but they’re not hereyet; beach revenue is stilldown a little bit, [and] policerevenue.”The mayor said there is a
“2.9-percent increase for theFEMA reimbursement ontop of our 2.7, [totaling a]5.15-percentage increase.”Mayor LaCicero said, “I’m
fairly optimistic for what ourlong-term financial positionlooks like. Once everything’sbuilt out again, we’re goingto have an abundance ofrateables.”Following the meeting, Mr.
Parlow provided the follow-
ing figures for the 2015 pre-liminary budget.In total, $5,299,142 of the
proposed budget will beraised through local taxation,in comparison to the$5,013,800 raised through tax-es in 2014.The proposed municipal
tax rate for 2015 per $100 ofassessed valuation is 28.6cents, whereas last year itwas 27.2 cents. The proposed 2015 budget
would create a 1.4-cent in-crease in the municipal taxrate per $100 of assessed val-uation.The average assessed val-
ue of a home in the borough,according to Mr. Parlow, is$679,000. If the budget isadopted as-is that homeown-er would see a $95 municipaltax increase.In sum, that average
homeowner would pay $1,941in taxes for municipal pur-
poses if the proposed 2015municipal budget is adoptedas-is.These figures are for mu-
nicipal taxes only, and do notinclude school or county tax-es.A total of $645,000 from
surplus is being applied tothe proposed 2015 budget,which would leave $707,154in the total surplus balanceand $414 in the cash surplusbalance.The borough was awarded
$168,609 in state aid for both2014 and 2015.The public hearing and
vote for the adoption of thebudget is scheduled for May4.
Paige Taylor covers Lavallette for TheOcean Star. She can be reached [email protected] or 732-
Council discusses increase in taxes to pay Sandy shareBUDGETFROM PAGE 1
WWW.STARNEWSGROUP.COMPAGE 16 THE OCEAN STAR FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 POINT PLEASANT BEACH
“Young Frankenstein.”The high school principal
said she loves to send lettersout to the students regardingtheir activities and added thatshe always says it was the bestshow ever.“I thought it was truly, truly
the best show ever,” Ms. Kingsaid. “I got lost in the show andit was over too soon for me. Iloved it from start to finish.”She said the night she went,
the performers received astanding ovation and said therole of Igor was perfect forChris Erbe.She also congratulated the
cast, crew and director EmmaFretz.“If you didn’t have the op-
portunity to see it, you really
missed a terrific show,” Ms.King said.Ms. King acknowledged and
thanked the education founda-tion for the grants the districtwill be receiving — ProjectGraduation, the SteeredStraight grant, Turn It In grantand the Window Farm.Ms. King also announced
the school finished their PAR-CC [Partnership for Assess-ment of Readiness for Collegeand Careers] testing andmakeups would be completedby the end of the week.She also congratulated
teacher of the year LeslieBridge.Antrim Elementary School
principal Thomas O’Hara an-nounced Michael Landers, asixth-grade science and socialstudies teacher, was theschool’s teacher of the year.
Mr. O’Hara also said theschool is completely donewith PARCC testing.He also congratulated Feli-
cia Galinas, the school’seighth-grade spelling beechampion and the seventh-graders, who received fourmedals in the scholasticolympics.“We came home with four
medals — three gold and abronze, two in science, one inmath and one in music,” Mr.O’Hara said.Additionally, Mr. O’Hara
said the school’s spring carni-val was a success and well at-tended.“The pie-throwing booth
was popular,” Mr. O’Hara said,stating he had a turn havingpies thrown at him.The school’s drama produc-
tion of “Alice in Wonderland”
began yesterday and will haveanother performance tonight.According to Mr. O’Hara,
over 75 students are involvedin the production and therewere two separate casts for theperformances.He also congratulated the
junior and senior chorus, whoperformed the National An-them at a Philadelphia 76ersgame last week.He joked that the 76ers may
ask them back because theywon, which they have notbeen doing lately.Lisa Taylor, the Lavallette
representative on the board,noted the neighboring dis-trict’s calendar will not matchup with Point Pleasant Beach’snext school year. Ms. Taylorsaid Lavallette will start schoolon Sept. 2, while Point PleasantBeach will start on Sept. 9..
BOEFROM PAGE 15
BY PAIGE TAYLORTHE OCEAN STAR
POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Thelawsuit Jenkinson’s Pavilionfiled against the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers [ACE], theNew Jersey Department ofEnvironmental Protection[DEP] and the Borough ofPoint Pleasant Beach is sched-uled to be heard on April 22,according to the attorney rep-resenting the boardwalk busi-ness in the matter.The lawsuit, filed in United
States District Court in De-cember, is in relation to theplanned federal beach replen-ishment project that will con-struct a continuous dune sys-tem along the Ocean Countycoastline.John H. Buonocore, Jr., of
McKirdy & Riskin, P.A., ofMorristown, is representingJenkinson’s in the lawsuit.Mr. Buonocore said the
lawsuit seeks two basic formsof relief, including“Declaratory judgment that
the USACOE has not mandat-ed NJDEP to take privateproperty to create publicbeaches beyond the area thepublic already owns; and toprevent the NJDEP and PointPleasant Beach from takingprivate property withoutcomplying with the require-ments of the New JerseyEminent Domain Act.”The federal beach replen-
ishment project, led by theACE, is planned to encompassthe area from the ManasquanInlet down to the Barnegat In-let — running from PointPleasant Beach, to the north,to Island Beach State Park, tothe south. It will provide beach re-
plenishment in the form of aberm and dune structure. Inaddition to pumping sandonto the beach to createdunes, the Army Corps plansto widen the beach, as well,creating 200 feet of flat beach,plus the slope between thelow- and high-tide marks.
The complaint was filed byJenkinson’s on Dec. 16 on thepremise that the ACE shouldnot require the acquisition ofrights to oceanfront landown-ers’ property in order to com-plete the project.Jenkinson’s owns the major-
ity of the beach in Point Pleas-ant Beach.“NJDEP has told the public
that it was Army Corps of En-gineers — not NJDEP — thatrequired the taking of private-ly owned beachfronts alongthe entire coast for ‘perpetualpublic beach use’ in order forthe Corps to construct andmaintain the dune system,”Mr. Buonocore said. “Jenkin-son’s has requested a determi-nation from the court thatNJDEP’s claims are inaccu-rate.“In fact, the dune system
can be constructed withouttaking private property forperpetual beach use in addi-tion to the limited rights nec-
essary to build the dunes,” headded.Mr. Buonocore said
Jenkinson’s is already open tothe public.“In fact, the entire New
Jersey shoreline is alreadyopen to the public,” he said.According to Mr.
Buonocore, the matter isscheduled for a hearing onApril 22.Bob Considine, a
spokesperson for the DEP,said he could not comment onthe litigation as of press time.A spokesperson from the
ACE’s Philadelphia District,Steve Rochette, said, “We can-not comment on the ongoinglitigation, but we are commit-ted to providing the citizensof Northern Ocean Countythe authorized storm damagereduction project that willhelp protect life and propertyagainst future storms onceconstruction is completed.”“We will continue to coor-
dinate with the state of NewJersey as they work throughthe real estate acquisitionprocess,” Mr. Rochette added.
Hearing over replenishment slated
BY PAIGE TAYLORTHE OCEAN STAR
POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Atthis week’s council meeting,here, the preliminary munici-pal budget for 2015 was intro-duced.Borough administrator and
chief financial officerChristine Riehl provided thegoverning body with prelimi-nary figures during the admin-istrator’s report at the meet-ing.The 2015 proposed budget
is at $14,274,711, versus$15,087,404 from last year.In total, $7,791,939 of the
proposed budget will beraised through local taxation ifit is approved, whereas lastyear, $7,605,259 was raisedthrough local taxation.At the meeting, Ms. Riehl
said there is an overallincrease in the amount to beraised by taxation totalling$186,679.60, “which is lessthan a penny on the tax rate,right around .7.” She state further that “one
tax point [equates to] $195,000in change,” adding that on anaverage house assessed at$455,000, the increase in taxa-tion this year would be $19.27.The proposed municipal tax
rate for 2015 per $100 ofassessed valuation is 40 centswhereas the 2014 municipaltax rate per $100 of assessedvaluation was 39.4 cents.A homeowner with a home
assessed at the borough’s aver-age would pay a total of $1,818in municipal taxes if the pro-posed 2015 municipal budget isadopted as-is.These figures are for
municipal taxes only, and donot include county or school
taxes.In total, $1,200,000 of the
surplus is being applied to the2015 proposed budget, whichwould leave $2,239,754 in thesurplus account.Additionally, the borough
was awarded $571,362 in stateaid for 2015, which is the sameas 2014.At the meeting, Mayor
Vincent Barrella said henoticed water and sewerexpenses were about the sameas last year, and as of last yearthere “were still things thatone could argue didn’t belongin water and sewer.”The water sewer budget for
2015, which is not included inthe $14,274,711 total municipalbudget, is $3,480,977. It was$3,432,000 last year.“Last year, certain items
were moved over and thenthere was an appropriationout of water and sewer surplusto cover those expenses in thebudget,” he said.Last year, there were long-
standing issues with thewater/sewer utility budget as acombination of percentages ofsalaries and wages, healthinsurance and pension werebeing charged to the utilitybudget, that should be chargedto the current fund.By law, some salaries and
wages, as well as benefits suchas health insurance and pen-sions, can be placed into thewater/sewer utility budgetinstead of the current fund.Water/sewer is a self-liquidat-ing utility, which means therevenue it generates coversthe expenses it incurs. It is notpart of the current fund budg-et that equates to tax increasesevery year.
The employees who workin the water/sewer depart-ment, and their benefits andpension, get charged to theutility, as well as operatingexpenses, payment for waterto Brick Township MunicipalUtilities Authority, OceanCounty Utilities Authoritycharges, and debt service.At this week’s meeting, the
mayor asked Ms. Riehl if therewas any correction of theexpenditures, “or are youcomfortable that the waterand sewer budget containsonly those expenses that areapplicable to the water andsewer utility,” he asked Ms.Riehl.She said, “I don’t feel what’s
in the water and sewer budgetby way of expenditures isexcessive or obscene in anyway. We had went under thepremise of moving some ofthe expenses along with thesurplus; this year the expensesdo remain the same, we dohave anticipated water andsewer surplus [$75,000] in thecurrent budget.”Last year, that number was
$100,000.“The budget covers hun-
dreds, thousands of decisions,and it was a good budget yearbecause we had a good rev-enue year last year,”Councilman William Mayersaid.He said both parking and
tax collection rates were high.He also said the borough’s
budget was “helped” by someretirements and transfers,including that of a PointPleasant Beach police officerto the State Police BenevolentAssociation.Ms. Riehl said the borough
is also subject to the 2-percenttax levy cap.“This year we are coming in
under that by $238,000,” shesaid, which can be used innext year’s budget.Councilman Tom Vogel
clarified that although thebudget was “procedurally”introduced on Tuesday night,it can be tweaked.“There is wiggle room
here,” he said. “I think thereneeds to be some continueddialogue and feedback [amongcouncil members and depart-ments].”Councilman Vogel also
asked that the budget be post-ed on the borough’s website.“The budget committee and
the administrator are doing agreat job,” he said, adding thathe would hope that communi-cation on such matters contin-ue among other council mem-bers who are not members ofthe committee.“My belief is you’re doing
the hard work and makingdecisions in the best interestof the community,”Councilman Vogel said,adding that communicationhelps the council to makemore informed decisions asthey are required to vote onthe budget.Councilman Mayer agreed
that posting the budget isimportant to coincide with themotion to introduce.During the next meeting,
April 21, the budget will be onthe agenda for public hearingand adoption.Mayor Barrella confirmed,
however, that public hearingcould take place without finalapproval “if there’s an amend-ment to what’s introduced.”
