Clean Ocean Action is calling for a halt to any further approvals and authorizations of offshore windmills, in light of the forthcoming Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on offshore wind in the Northeast and the investigation into the unprecedented whale deaths in the New Jersey region.
The Long Branch based organization also called for the halt until robust and critical baseline studies as well as a pilot project to determine true ecological impacts are completed.
Their statement came after Orsted’s cancellation of the Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects off the New Jersey Coast, seeing it as the latest and most dramatic evidence the offshore wind industry is in turmoil.
The announcement by the world’s leading offshore wind developer affirms Clean Ocean Action’s concerns that ocean industrialization is moving at a reckless pace, fueled by federal and state government fast-tracking.
“This is all too much and too fast given the entire industry’s large scale technological failures, supply chain issues, and major financial challenges, despite government bailouts,” COA leaders said. “It is long overdue for developers and federal and state governments to take a time-out, pause the reckless exploitation and industrialization of the ocean, and implement good governance, transparency, science, due diligence, and a pilot project. “
The Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce (EMACC) has issued an invitation to a Merry & Magnificent Holiday Networking Event scheduled as the conclusion of the year-long 95th anniversary celebration.
The event is set for Tuesday, December 5 at Salt Creek Grille from 5pm to- 8pm. And includes a festive cocktail party to include a premium open bar, hors d’oeuvre, pasta, salad and carving stations.
EMACC is giving away two special door prizes at the event. Prizes are a package of two tickets plus round trip limo accommodations courtesy of Arrow Limo to EMACC’s Annual Spinnaker Awards and a second gift of a $50 Visa Gift Card for the two lucky attendees.
“EMACC is extremely proud to have served our local businesses and communities for the last 95 years,” said Jennifer Eckhoff, Executive Director of EMACC. “The year-long celebration will draw to a close at the Merry & Magnificent Annual Holiday event hosted in the beautiful Salt Creek Grille. It is a great opportunity for businesses to connect with each other and celebrate the season and we invite community members from our area to join us for an evening of holiday cheer and networking.”
In the spirit of the season, Eckhoff asked all to join the Chamber to support non-profit EMACC Member Pinwheel Place – New Jersey’s only Relief Nursery.
Pinwheel Place provides free emergency child care for children ages newborn to 6 years based on the needs of the family. Respite care is also available. EMACC is collecting diapers of any size and/or gift cards to donate to Pinwheel Place. All donations are greatly appreciated.
Tickets to the Merry & Magnificent Annual Holiday Event are $95 for EMACC members and $105 for non-members. Register by November 30 for early advanced registration pricing. Prices will increase by $10 a ticket on December 1.
For ticket purchase or to inquire about becoming an event sponsor please visit the website at EMACC.org, m call (732) 741-0055 or send an email at info@emacc.org for event or membership information.
The Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce is a membership-based organization that serves businesses of all sizes in the eastern Monmouth County area. The chamber provides a variety of services and resources to its members, including networking opportunities, business referrals, and education on topics such as human resource management, marketing, and cybersecurity. The chamber also advocates for the interests of businesses at the local, state, and federal levels.
EMACC began in 1928 when 12 businessmen banded together to form the “Red Bank Chamber of Commerce” to serve the business interests of downtown Red Bank. Over the next 28 years, the organization’s membership grew beyond the borders of Red Bank and was renamed the Greater Red Bank Chamber of Commerce and then the Red Bank Area Chamber of Commerce. In 1995, the name and service area were changed to the “Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce” to better reflect the organization’s growing membership and the rapidly expanding business interests in the neighboring communities. Th Chamber now serves Eatontown, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Middletown, Monmouth Beach, Oceanport, Red Bank, Rumson, Sea Bright, Shrewsbury and Tinton Falls.
The meeting will be held in the cafetorium of Henry Hudson Regional School and has been advertised on social media and released to newspapers.
The transitional Board of Education, comprised of three members each from each of the three Boards of Education, Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Henry Hudson, will act on a resolution to appoint a board secretary as their first order of business, an action before swearing in the board members.
Election of officers will follow, with the public then permitted to speak on items on the agenda.
While there will also be action on a resolution to approve the organization agenda items and approval of a submission of an application for a LEAP implementation grant, there is no listing of the organization agenda items under consideration listed.
The public will have a second opportunity to comment at the end of the meeting before adjournment
If you haven’t the time to read the responses to all the questions Mark Fisher put to the candidates for office in Atlantic Highlands, at least take a look at how each ranks the importance of the areas in which the questions were posed. While one candidate did not answer any of the questions, preferring to say she wants to listen to the people……hasn’t she be listening up until now?????…….and two others give reasons why the ranking isn’t accurately telling the full story, it’s interesting to see where the question of regionalization with Sea Bright stands.
In spite of the fact school regionalization has been THE topic most read and talked about for the past year, in spite of a special election that cost taxpayers money and many now are saying they didn’t even know exactly what it included, Councilwoman Lori Hohenleitner ranks it way down as her eighth priority if elected Mayor. That, in spite of the fact she lists better communication as her first priority!
Councilman Jon Crowley, seeking another term as councilman, also doesn’t think the regionalization question is of much importance to the council. He rates it #10 in priority. Alyson Forbes simply doesn’t give any opinion because she apparently is waiting until she is elected before she listens to the people.
On the other hand, James Murphy, also seeking the mayoral post, thinks regionalization is the most important issue after improving taxes. That, even though he doesn’t sit in on all those executive sessions discussing it, nor take any action on it since his wife is President of the board of education.
Nor does it look like he will be involved if elected Mayor, since his wife just filed to fill the next, last and shortest term on the Atlantic Highlands Board of Education, which will be wiped out by June at the latest. But the mayoral candidate still thinks that for the people of Atlantic Highlands, regionalization with Sea Bright should be one of the top priorities of the new administration. So it sounds like if elected, he will urge the new council to listen to the people who have been talking about it all these many months.
Ellen O’Dwyer also thinks regionalizing education with Sea Bright should be up there in interest and attention, ranking it a Number Two priority. And former teacher in the very system they’re regionalizing, Coach Whitehead, thinks it’s one of his top four priorities, ranking it after better communications, cannabis and tax stability.
It’s a simple question. If residents overwhelmingly voted for regionalization after months of talking, and either thought it included Sea Bright when they voted, or see it as the first step in including Sea Bright in another election soon, wouldn’t that make it a matter of importance to the folks running the town?
If the arguments are, and have proven to be, that bringing Sea Bright into a regionalization system for K-12 education would save bundles of money for taxpayers, wouldn’t that make it a matter of priority for the people who set the tax rates for the residents?
Everybody says the already approved regionalization is “the first step.” Wouldn’t you think a governing body interested in promoting the ideas and programs that are important to their residents would make it a priority?
Does it make you wonder whether some folks running for office are afraid of taking a second step? Or is it that they simply do not want to?
The first regular meeting of the Mayor and Council in the new Borough Hall on Navesink Avenue will be Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 7 p..m. with a lot on the agenda.
The new meeting place, which will eliminate the meetings at the Wilson Community Center, was advertised both in the newspapers and online as well as posted in Borough Hall so residents now know to go up the hill rather than to Waterwitch to attend a meeting.
As in the past, there will be no ZOOM proceedings for the public meetings.
Ptl. Ryan Schoellner will be sworn in as Police Sergeant and Stanley Wojdylak IV will be named a patrolman at the meeting, and both will take their oaths of office immediately after.
Steve Winters will also be appointed Construction Official and former Councilwoman Rebecca Wells will be named to the Housing Authority.
Council will act on a resolution to authorize the consolidation issue of bonds totaling $8,036,736 into a single issue rather than the six bond ordinances currently adopted. It will also introduce an ordinance to include privately owned salt storage facilities in outdoor storage areas and set a public hearing for the next meeting. A public hearing on amending the Snug Harbor design in the FEMA project will be held on Wednesday.
Mayor and Council will also issue a proclamation remembering Holodomor, the Great Ukrainian Famine man-made in 1932 as part of the Soviet famine of the 1930s. That famine killed millions of Ukrainians as the Soviet Union destroyed major grain-producing areas in a deliberate move designed by Josef Stalin. The action is identified by many as an attempt at genocide and the elimination of Ukrainian independence. The Ukraine was one of the largest grain producing states in the Soviet Union and millions of Ukrainians died as a result of the year long Holodomor.
Regionalization & Executive Session … Why the Secrets?
There hasn’t been any official study done, but if there were, it’s almost a sure thing that the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council holds more executive sessions without taking any action afterwards than pretty much any other governing body in Monmouth County.
It makes taxpayers wonder what exactly their reasons are for are keeping their thoughts, their ideas, and their reasoning on so many things in secret and not sharing them with the public.
Take regionalization, for instance. It is the subject that has drawn the most interest from residents of this town, Highlands and Sea Bright in ages. Sea Bright and Highlands elected officials share all their thoughts and reasons with the taxpayers.
Not so in Atlantic Highlands. They even tell the people they’re going into executive session to discuss, they’re going to come out and NOT take any action, and furthermore, according to the borough administrator, they can’t even talk about what they discussed, because, of course, it was done in executive session which means it must be kept secret from the public until they decide it’s okay for the public to know.
The borough’s attorney is sharp, pleasant, quick thinking and definitely an asset for this particular council. But she clearly says she is not up on all the information on regionalization. She knows, just as every taxpayer who is footing the $165 an hour bill for yet another attorney knows, the borough hired Matt Giacobbe, SPECIFICALLLY to handle all matters concerning regionalization.
Yet at last Thursday’s council meeting, a meeting at which the borough administrator had previously said he would see if Mr. Giacobbe could give the public an update on regionalization, the administrator said Mr. Giacobbe was not present because council decided they did not need him.
That might well be so.
But why would the borough attorney, who admits she isn’t up on everything on the subject, be the attorney council called into the executive session to give an opinion on regionalization and specifically NOT be the one the borough is paying as a SPECIAL attorney for all things regionalization?
The questions being considered for opinions during the executive session Thursday, the public was told, would include the non-specialist attorney’s recommendations on whether an update of the feasibility study Sea Bright and Highlands have agreed to pay for, is even necessary. And if it is, the discussion continues, does Atlantic Highlands, who kicked in for its share of the original study in the first place, want to help pay for the update? The borough attorney said they need to get information from the Department of Community Affairs as to whether the added information is really necessary. Does that take an executive session to discuss? Can’t the attorney, now that two of them are being paid to work on this, simply call the DCA and ask the question?
Might the reason for discussing it privately be so the taxpayers won’t know which council members, if not all, want to simply put all the load on the other two towns without any contributions of their own? Or might it be because some, or all, council members don’t really want Sea Bright in the mix at all but don’t want to let the taxpayers know about it?
The administrator said, and no council member or attorney disagreed, not taking any action at this meeting, and putting it off until next month, won’t cause any delay in any regionalization plans. Yet he also admitted, and again, without any denial from any council member, that they had no idea, because nobody told them, when a vote on Sea Bright’s inclusion could be held.
Well, if you don’t know the earliest date an election could be called by the already in existence new board of education, and if you apparently do not have enough interest to ask any further about an election or date for it, how do you know delaying your own action or lack thereof, doesn’t delay things?
In answering the public at Thursday’s meeting, residents could not even find out who among council asked for a legal discussion at all and if the borough would be involved regardless of whether they are obligated.
The answer to that question this time came from a councilwoman. It cannot be discussed publicly.
There is only one person, not an employee, elected official or other resident, who researches, questions, organizes, and always remembers just about everything about how Atlantic Highlands is run.
Mark Fisher.
You see him at every meeting, calm, cool and collected. You see his pad often another looseleaf crammed with information. You hear him at the public portion of every meeting when he hasn’t heard the answers to things he thinks are important to the town.
And every year, before election, he draws up a list of questions and presents them to each of the candidates, asking them to respond; he gives them the date to respond just to be sure he doesn’t lose anyone and everyone has the chance to have his say.
To their credit, everyone of the candidates, the two for Mayor and four for council, responded to Mark’s questions. They did not all answer every question but gave reaspons why they did not respond to some. All but one gave their priorities on what’s important.
Seeing all the individual responses to the exact same questions together gives a reader more insight into what’s important to each of those vying to run the borough for the next three or four years.
Attached are Mark’s questions and each candidate’s responses.
Do yourself, the borough and the future of the borough a favor and read them all before making your decision on who will be best to sit at the table in Borough Hall come January 1, 2024..
Travel in itself is educational, fun, and relaxing. But one of the very best things about travel is the people you meet, the rejuvenation of a belief that there are great, thoughtful, kind and interesting people everywhere, you just have to have to chat with them for a few minutes to learn.
So, in a series of articles over the next few days, I’ll tell you about the incredibly wonderful Admiral Fitzroy Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, the thrill of being behind the wheel on an 80 foot schooner, the Aquidneck, the stories behind St. Mary’s Catholic Church which is on the National Register and where the Kennedy’s were married, the great shops along the many wharves at Newport, and even the Newport Yacht Club. But first I’d like you to meet some of the great people I spent some time with over three days on being in Newport.
It actually started on Amtrak, leaving Metropark for the four hour trip to Newport through New York, some beautiful and colorful leaf peeping hours in Connecticut and detraining at Kingston, the nearest rail station to Newport, about 40 minutes away by car. Well, to back up, it really started at my door in Atlantic Highlands where Maura, a great Monmouth County driver who will take you anywhere at anytime, picked me up at precisely the right time, then filled the half hour drive to Metropark with great stories, great personality and lots of laughs. Nice to have such a dependable and inexpensive driver, and even better knowing she’d be right there at Amtrak to bring me back home three nights later.
My seatmate on Amtrak’s #172 was Heidi, a paralegal heading to Boston who had spent ten weeks in London with her boss representing a firm in an international lawsuit involving windmills. We have great conversations on the benefits of windmills…there are plenty… their benefits in the ocean… can’t think of a single one… why arbitration and mediation are necessary and helpful to all, why school districts should regionalize as soon as they can for so many reasons, and a few lighter topics.
Once in the Kingston station, just a few minutes later than scheduled, I stopped to see if I could help another passenger who looked like she was seeking someone or something. “A man named Steve,” she said, as we both walked away from the train. I spotted a tall man who also looked like he was looking for someone, got and affirmative when I asked if he was Steve and waited while the lady, Elaine, made the connection.
It seems Elaine is a corporate attorney in New York and every month or so, takes a mini vacation on her own. Brilliant, attentive to detail, and fun loving, Elaine researched her entire week away, then through her hotel in Newport, found a driver who would spend the week meeting her schedule of picking her up and transporting her to her various sites and activities she had planned for her week. When Elaine learned I was heading to Newport and did not have a driver, she invited me to go along and said Steve would drop me off at my hotel after taking her to her first event scheduled for only minutes later. Enroute for the drive, we both learned Steve was an exceptional driver, a great source of information about Newport and the surrounding area, and with an interesting life history on his own. Declining to let me split the cost of the drive with her, Elaine suggested I give Steve $12 for the extra way he was taking me to my hotel after leaving her off at The Elms, one of Newport’s mansions, for her first conference. Before I got out at the Admiral Fitzroy B&B, I made arrangements with Steve to pick me up three days later for my trip back to Kingston and my return train.
Not as organized or well planned as Elaine, I was fortunate to have encountered both Elaine and Steve.
It kept getting better when I went into the Admiral Fitzroy and met the receptionist on duty, Sharon. More friendliness, an invitation to try some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies under glass on the desk, and conversation. When I learned she was a retired Chief in the Navy, she was no longer Sharon the friendly and efficient receptionist, but Chief, the friendly and perfectly efficient Navy Chief who had been stationed at Navel Weapons Station Earle and knew its Leonardo pier. We shared stories about the Colts Neck side of the base as well as the fact the nation’s newest submarine, the New Jersey, will be commissioned at Leonardo next April.
There are so many more stories about the great people I met; the wonderful woman from Oregon who was out walking her dog later in the evening and stopped to give me directions when I looked like I was lost. She then walked me back to the Inn and even invited me to join her at a music event she was attending as soon as she brought the dog home. There was Noah, the Salve Regina College student who was on his third shift working as a waiter at Red Parrot and deftly handling seven busy tables at this great restaurant. Noah made me laugh when the steak I ordered for dinner arrived in scant minutes in spite of the crowded eatery. “Well, you ordered it very rare,” he smiled, “so it didn’t take long.” There was every employee at the Admiral Fitzroy, from the cook at the breakfast room to Jen the manager, the captain and crew of the schooner Aquidneck, the storekeepers in gift and souvenir shops that sell everything from little flower pots inscribed with “A little pot from Newport,” …cannabis is allowed in Rhode Island….. to rare paintings and magnificent glassware and so many more.
There were the great folks at Beau Tyler, a shop at 400 Thames st. that advertises “style for good-hearted people and good-hearted pets” and sells all manner of people clothing for dog lovers. Their motto is Laugh. Love. Lick. While they don’t have any dog food or dog accessories in this fashion, shop, they do have stickers and magnets for people that say “As a matter of fact, I do have to pet every dog I see”. And they have dog biscuits to give out as treats for every pet that accompanies anyone coming into the store! They even give them away so customers can pet and treat a passing dog on the sidewalk when they leave!
But the most touching, the most thoughtful, the most generous of all I met was Dawn, like Chief, another friendly receptionist at the Admiral Fitzroy, who made me realize while you know your folks at home are thoughtful, fun, and considerate, there are people like Dawn at the Admiral Fitzroy Inn in Newport who can make you love, appreciate, and remember a town and its people forever.
Public hearings on the proposed high rise apartment at East Garfield Ave. has now been delayed until a special meeting on November 21, Councilman Brian Dougherty said at Thursday’s council meeting,
Dougherty, who is the council representative to the Planning Board, said the applicant, Kalian Associates, has requested the delay from the scheduled regular meeting on November 2 for the accommodation of one or more of its experts.
The proposed high rise apartment complex, immediately adjacent to the Kalian mixed use construction nearing completion on First Avenue, also calls for dozens of variances before it can be approved. Various professionals are presenting their plans and drawings to the planning board over a series of meetings and have been making some adjustments to their original plans in response to questions and recommendations from the board’s engineer, Douglas Rohmeyer, and planning board members.
Thursday’s meeting of the Planning Board, which begins at 7 p.m. will include action to approve resolutions for properties at 64 Prospect Circle and 3 Beverout Place as well as a hearing on a new application for extensions to a house at 170 Ocean Boulevard.
Acorn Squash is that botanically classed fruit that’s more often called a vegetable, the one that started out life in Central America thousands of years ago and in this part of the world is a traditional fall vegetable loaded with vitamins, minerals, oxidants, and everything else that’s great for both eye health and heart health.
Cut, with the seeds scooped out and cut or sliced into smaller pieces, it isn’t even necessary to peel, since the cooked skin is soft, and contains even more vitamins so is best to leave on.
Acorn squash, like its cousins in the squash family and sweet potatoes, can be prepared in numerous ways, and has plenty of Vitamin A which hydrates the eyes and nourishes the cornea, in particular. It’s also one of the best vegetables of all for heart health because of all the Vitamin A it contains. And now scientists are finding that the beta carotene in acorn squash, along with some of the minerals associated with it, actually protects the skin from sun damage and cancers.
Try baking this squash, then sprinkling it with sage and feta cheese for a healthy, delicious, easy to make dinner dish.
SPICY ACORN SQUASH WITH FETA
3 Acorn Squash, halved, seeded, and sliced
3 Tsp. olive oil
1 teas. Paprika (smoked paprika is best!)
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Sage leaves,, chopped fine
4 oz feta cheese
Heat over to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, stir oil, paprika, and pepper. Drizzle over squash in bowl, and stir to be sure all is coated.
Arrange on cookie sheets in a single layer.
Bake at 425 degrees, rotating once or twice during baking. Bake until it’s tender and a golden color, about half an hour.
