It’s a good thing Mark Fisher attends Atlantic Highlands Council meetings every month.Job
And it’s a good thing the governing body listens to him during the meeting’s two public comment sections, an action which saves taxpayers both time and money.
There is no doubt Fisher does his homework, keeps records, and reminds the governing body of promises made in the past.
The local resident is calm, clear, occasionally comical and totally impartial when asking his questions during both sections of the meeting. At the December meeting, it could well mean an increase in contribution for LOSAP (Length of Service Award Program) personnel.
In authorizing increases for LOSAP contributions for volunteers, Fisher questioned why the action was being taken by resolution, rather than by the ordinance which established LOSAP in the first place. In discussing the question with borough attorney Peg Schaefer, he pointed out, and she agreed, that a resolution cannot supersede an ordinance.
Fisher also pointed out the ordinance in place, which he had reviewed prior to the meeting, also placed a maximum on the amount that could be allocated to LOSAP and questioned whether the approved increases would be above that maximum.
The mayor and council agreed they did not know the answer to that, but tabled the resolution until further study and investigation could be done. The attorney agreed.
Fisher also questioned why there was a difference in the amount of funds and the years they are allocated between EMS volunteers and the fire department volunteers and opined they should at least be the same. When he asked why the fire department gets the maximum amount the first year, but EMS volunteers only receive $600 the first year and not the maximum for three years, Hohenleitner said “because they have asked.”
In a second appearance at the meeting, both Joshua Leinsdorf and Fisher assailed the conditions on Bayside drive during a recent fire which highlighted one more time the lack of communications between Monmouth County and emergency services.
Leinsdorf also complained about the dead-end road that caused danger to all the emergency vehicles responding, to say nothing of emergency transfer of residents should any be injured. He urged the governing body to have the road re-opened to connect to Highlands and an alternate means of leaving that portion of the borough. He called for a letter from the governing body to Monmouth County saying, “this needs to be fixed.” The borough has been talking about it for ten years, he said, but nothing has happened. “Got it!” Mayor Hohenleitner told him.
Fisher noted that four different fire departments responded to the fire, which fortunately, he said, was comparatively small. There was zero communication, he said, and the Sea Bright fire chief had to go to Sandy Hook to relay communications to the county.
The tower which was proposed as a possibility on property in Highlands on Henry Hudson Regional school property would have helped, he said, but without it, or some communication better than what the Sea Bright volunteer had to do to get communications through Sandy Hook, must be done. He strongly suggested a letter to the Sheriff to ask for immediate action and a solution for county communications with all parts of the borough.
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