With the variety of activities, fun, creativity and so much more for kids today … This is not your Father’s library. Take Valentines. This week the kids celebrate Valentine’s Day in a big fashion.
In addition to all their drawings and creative works all around the library, the bookmarks they created and which are available at no charge at the front desk, and the number of kids that always seem to be in there doing something or other, the kids wrote why they love this library for Valentine’s Day. Stop in and look at the arrangements of love notes about the library and its employees that tell why kids in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands are frequently sitting in this very comfortable and very homey atmosphere.
A few kids, like Roman, Loren and Gwen signed their love notes, but all of them say just about the same thing: they love the library because of “the great projects,” or the Elmo books,” or the fact there are “so many books.” Of course some like it as one youngster said simply because “I learn stuff!” or story time, or the computer access, or, like Howard, simply wrote because “I like it.”
Many like the library especially for Ms. Lauren, the children’s librarian who sings, jumps, exercises and dances with them both before and after story time. And some like it for other reasons, as Gwen said. Why does she like the library in Borough Hall? Because, as she wrote, “it makes me connect!” Be that connecting with people, other friends, knowledge, or something else, Gwen’s statement certainly sums it all up.
The newest book club taking advantage of all that’s offered right here on First Avenue is the recently formed OLPH St Agnes Book Club. Retired educator Joe Bullwinkle was the driving force behind this club, and all are invited to join and gather on the first Monday of every month to talk about the latest selections.
As Joe said, even if you haven’t read the book, stop in for some light refreshments, great friendship, and hear some discussion of the book; who knows, it might entice you to pick it up and read it sometime yourself. Their selections are certainly varied, so far they’ve run the gamut from the autobiography of former tv star Bishop Fulton J. Sheehan to Chika, the story of a youngster brought to the United States from her orphanage in her own country for necessary surgery. It did not save her life, as you learn in the very beginning, but she certainly captured hearts in the process.
This month’s selection is Faith Still Moves Mountains, Harris Faulkner’s series of short true stories about how faith of all kinds has made the difference in life and death situations. Even if you’re not a Fox News follower, Harris is a great story teller and a woman of great faith.
Next on tap after Faulkner’s book is another great one, Rome Sweet Home, with the Hahns, husband and wife, telling their story about how they changed their lives.
The club meets next on March 6 at 7 p.m. in the basement of St Agnes Church. Stop in, meet some new folks and bring your own ideas for books to read in the future.
Private Thomas T. Fallon, a native of County Galway, Ireland was born Aug. 12, 1837, and emigrated to the United States when he was 22 years old. Two years later, in 1861, at the start of the Civil War, he enlisted in Company K of the 37th New York “Irish Rifles”.
His war time service spanned more than 20 different engagements in at least three different units of the military.
Medal of Honor
His first encounter was during the campaign that led to the first Battle of Bull Run. But it was the following year, at the Battle of Williamsburg, when fighting on the skirmish line, he showed the mettle that led to his receiving the Medal of Honor.
Records show that Fallon was one of ten men who advanced on the enemy; six of them lost their lives. He was cited sometime later at another battle at Fair Oaks, where he reportedly had left hospitalization to rejoin the fighting.
Then again later, at Richmond, Fallon was dispatched as a spy to report on the movement of the Confederate artillery at Charles City Crossroads. At Big Shanty, Georgia he once again was leading a company against a Confederate earthworks that had taken 29 prisoners. It was here that Fallon captured an enemy officer, hitting him with his rifle and dragging him away. He declined the 30-day furlough he was offered as a reward for that deed.
But it was at that first battle at Williamsburg for which Fallon was cited for the Medal though other battles are also mentioned. Major-General Philip Kearney, also a New Jerseyan, witnessed that event and made it his mission to ensure each of the ten men involved, Fallon included, be honored for their actions.
General Kearney
Because of General Kearney’s apparent high regard for the Irishman, Fallon also served in Battery K of the 4th US Artillery, serving as the Second Battle of Bull Run as well as Fredericksburg. He was discharged May 1, 1863, the end of his enlistment. However, a few months later, Fallon, discontent with sitting at home while the war waged on, re-enlisted, and was a Sergeant in the 35th NJ Infantry in 1863. During that service, his regiment joined the Army of the Tennessee when he led the charges against the Confederate works and captured the officer, along with taking 28 Rebels prisoner.
Although honored immediately by General Kearney, Fallon did not receive his Medal of Honor until 1891 when he was among the approximate 500 other Civil War veterans honored for their bravery during the Civil War. He received the Medal without ceremony or pomp… it was sent to him by the War Department through the mail to home at 16 Mechanic Street, Freehold, NJ.
Freehold
Sgt. Fallon has a long history in Freehold and generations of his family still reside there and honor him on a regular basis. The Medal recipient is buried in St. Rose of Lima Cemetery in Freehold, and his Medal of Honor remains with his descendants and has been on display at the Monmouth County Historical Association. Fallon was married to Catharine Fallon and had two children, Mary and Florence.
Major-General Kearney’s stature represents New Jersey in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol, one of the two statues representing New Jersey at the Capitol.
Sgt. Fallon’s Medal of Honor, for heroic service June 14-15, 1864,notes it is for his action at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Big Shanty, Virginia and Georgia, USA. It reads:
At Williamsburg, Va., assisted in driving rebel skirmishers to their main line. Participated in action, at Fair Oaks, Va., though excused from duty because of disability. In a charge with his company at Big Shanty, Ga., was the first man on the enemy’s works.
“The superintendent is the sole EMPLOYEE of the Board of Education … I feel all three Boards of Education are totally forgetting who is really in charge when it comes to overseeing the superintendent’s position.”
Those words came from Sue Thomas, a Highlands resident. A smart lady. A woman who has made an investment in the town she obviously loves.
I couldn’t agree with her more.
The superintendent is the sole EMPLOYEE of the Board of Education. Well, she said SOLE employee, and I don’t really agree with that. Aren’t all the teachers, administrators, employees in the schools the employees of their Boards of Education? I realize most answer to the Superintendent, but ultimately, isn’t it the board office that signs their checks?
But I agree with everything else Sue Thomas has said….”She answers to them in her oversight of the operations of all three schools. “
…The Board of Education should not feel that they answer to the superintendent.
… They must be held accountable to the citizens of the communities from which they were elected!
Sue then used a lot of other adjectives and phrases to talk about the impact the superintendent has had on the boards…..”overpower, over assert, personal benefits, loss of staff, required to be faithful to the voters, faithful to the students educationally and financially….
Then the all important one… “I would expect any employee to RECUSE oneself when advising …when personal property taxes are involved.”
And that, Sue Thomas, is where the three boards of education have failed most miserably. And, as I have pointed out, so also have the borough councils of both towns.
Frightening as that is, even more worrisome to me than all of this, is the number of phone calls and messages I have been receiving in recent weeks. Communications from people I do not know, some of whom don’t even like my VeniVidiScripto. But they read it, they tell me, “because that’s the only place we can get any news on what’s going on with the regionalization thing.”
Some of these calls and messages are telling me some terrible things about the Superintendent. She screams and yells, a few said. She doesn’t even know the kids, others have said. She doesn’t listen to anybody’s ideas. She’s just after power. She loves to show who’s boss. She belittles teachers, she corrects people in public. You don’t know her but she’s mean. Plain mean.
The readers and callers are right. I don’t know the Superintendent. I’ve met her a couple of times, I have seen her at meetings, I’ve e-mailed her. In all instances, she has been courteous, polite, and always quickly answered my e-mails fully and completely.
But I’m not involved in the school at all. In recent years, I’ve only been at Henry Hudson for meetings. Even more rarely, have I been in either of the elementary schools, though I’m not sure Dr. Beams is at the Highlands elementary as much as she is in Atlantic Highlands.
So, before I take on the boards of education and ask them their opinion of their own duties, if they have ever questioned whether the superintendent is in conflict and if they have, shouldn’t they tell the public, I want to ask you, the public a question. I’d like to see your response before I pursue whether any of the other stories I’m hearing on a regular basis are true.
Write e-mail, let me know on Facebook, write a letter to me to my home in Atlantic Highlands, or e-mail me at murieljs1@aol.com. and answer my question:
If you know the superintendent of schools for the Tri-District, or if you have had any affiliation with her in the schools, would you please describe her work ethic or actions in one adjective?
Some of the stories I have heard are so frightening I do see the need to investigate further. Board members know about that, they just don’t do anything.
So I am offering the opportunity for anyone, everyone, to tell me everything I have heard is simply not true. I ask for an adjective, however, feel free to go into detail. I can assure you of anonymity if that’s your wish. My reputation for that is decades long.
With your responses, I might have some new and more probing questions to ask the members of the boards of education. With the hope they will answer.
“I would expect the elected members of these Boards to take these factors into serious consideration when evaluating and rehiring any employee.” That quote is another from Sue Thomas, not I.
Coming up this week is another one of several great programs locally for everyone interested in local history and wanting to know more about names and legends that are very special to the area … Julia Norton Hartshorne
On Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. Monmouth County Historical Association’s Director of Collections Bernadette Rogoff will present a virtual program displaying the actual wardrobe of Julia Norton Hartshorne, of the Monmouth County building Hartshorne family
In 1868, Julia Norton Hartshorne ordered a brand new wardrobe to take advantage of the latest style trends. Her husband, Benjamin Minturn Hartshorne, was born and raised in Monmouth County and ran a successful steamboat company along the West Coast. The couple and their three children traveled from their home in San Francisco for an extended summer visit with Benjamin’s family in Middletown. Upon returning, Julia fell ill and died in February 1869. Benjamin packed away all of Julia’s things and returned with his children to Monmouth County.
Through the generosity of Hartshorne family descendants, Julia’s wardrobe is now part of the Association’s historic textile collection. Rogoff will introduce the public to Julia and explore her style and personality with this virtual fashion show of the 19th century.
For more information and to register for this virtual event, visit MonmouthHistory.org.
Sad news VeniVidiScripto.com reports today is the death the other evening of Barbara White, former Highlands dynamo who loves her hometown and always worked hard for it and its people. She and her late husband, former Mayor Jimmy White, always kept Highlands and its needs and wants uppermost in their minds and did all they could to preserve all that is so good about the town and its people. Our prayers and sympathy to Barbara’s family and may they be surrounded with the love of all those who so dearly loved, respected and were so grateful to both their parents. Barbara’s funeral will be in Florida where she lived in recent years, but a memorial service will be held in her beloved Highlands later in the year.
And while we are reporting sad news, it is a year today since Bernie Sweeney, the ultimate restaurateur, died. Though his spirit has not died with him, and the Shore Casino, under the watchful eye of his wife, Kathleen and her son and general manager, Jay Strebb, still continues to provide the best setting for every get together be it a shower, a birthday party, baptism, wedding celebration of a gala event for the PBA, and every other organization that appreciates the elegance, beauty and comforts of the Casino, to say nothing of its outstanding menus, Bernie would be proud!.
At Thursday’s meeting, the Atlantic Highlands Borough Council read and unanimously passed their resolution authorizing borough officials to meet with representatives of Highlands and a Mediator to work on the formula to be used between the two boroughs for sharing annual tax savings generated by the regionalization of the school districts. Tracey Abby White, present at the meeting along with dozens of residents from the three boroughs affected, issued the following statement . Abby-White was formally appointed by Mayor Loretta Gluckstein to head the committee to study regionalization of the schools last year and has been an outspoken spokesman in favor of regionalizing with Sea Bright
Last night’s vote was taken with Councilman James Murphy recusing himself because of any possible conflict inasmuch as his wife, Molly is a member and current president of the Atlantic Highlands Board of Education. Mayor Gluckstein under this form of government, only votes in case of tie votes.
The resolution, while excluding Sea Bright in the present mediation, indicates they might want to consider expanding a two town regionalization to three and include Sea Bright some time in the future.
During the public portion that followed the vote, Abby-White, noting frustration over the issue at previous meetings was her reason for reading her statement rather than presenting it without notes, cited past history of council resolutions.
Studies
On Dec 19, 2018, she said, Council passed resolution 184-2018 authorizing a shared feasibility study for educational shared services between Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright for $20,000.
She pointed out that the study cited reasons that including Sea Bright made sense. The study was revised three years later and came back with the same conclusions, she said.
Four months after that, on April 21, 2021, the Board of Education got a $65,000 grant to do its own study of the same question. Last summer, during a public meeting, that study, the Kean study validated and endorsed the multiple benefits of including Sea Bright. The quote in that study was, “The sooner you do this, the more benefits you will receive.”
“The experts, hired by the Bord of Education and Council and paid for by our tax dollars, have been consistent in their findings. “ Abby-White said last night, “Why are we hiring professionals if we are not going to listen to them?”
Benefits
Abby-White, a former councilwoman as well as on the Board at Brookdale Community College, also told the governing body “The letter on the Tri-District website penned by the current superintendent agrees that including Sea Bright makes sense.” She quoted from that letter, ” eventually if ..Sea Bright joins the new regional district we reap the potential tax savings and educational benefits that their membership may bring”.
Yet More Lawyers
Abby-White continued “The Commissioner of Education can only respond to our proposal with the cost-sharing information, so we hired a professional, an attorney, to help. That did not work. So tonight, we are hiring another professional to mediate a mutually acceptable cost-sharing agreement. I hope this works.
Abby-White told the Mayor and Council and the crowded borough hall meeting room “Without Sea Bright, we are doing our students and community members a huge disservice. President Biden quoted his wife, Jill, during the State of the Union. She has an expression: “Any nation that out-educates us will out-compete us.” The studies we paid for stated that the best decision to improve our educational offerings was to include Sea Bright. The professionals we hired said it is best to include Sea Bright.
She concluded by pleading with the elected officials to “follow the advice of the professionals you hired, and we are paying for. Include Sea Bright and get it on the ballot during the regular election. “
Look for the news story on tonight’s Atlantic Highlands Council meeting which will be on VeniVidiScripto tomorrow once I get the resolution that was unanimously adopted tonight. But suffice it to say actions at the meeting certainly raised a lot of things that make me wonder.. like Ghosts, Labor Attorneys, Mediation, Sea Bright (in or out), and who’s running this … circus show
Mediation
In essence, the Mayor and Council agreed to do the mediation with Highlands, maybe Sea Bright, they said they were going to do a couple of months ago and for which they long since retained a mediator about regionalization of the schools. They said it again at this meeting in a formally adopted resolution that was not available for the public to read, though it was read to them. Under terms of the resolution, the borough will enter into mediation with Highlands, maybe Sea Bright it seemed to me, and first of all approve regionalization of the three schools in the town towns already under one superintendent. Then, if Sea Bright doesn’t have any legal problems with Oakhurst, they’ll also include regionalization with them.
Last week, the three boards of education voted to put the question of making the present 7-12 district into a pre-K-12 district for the two towns first, and if everything works out ok, then let Sea Bright come in at some unknown time in the future. They want to put the question on the ballot in a special election two months before the regular November election.
Last night, the Atlantic Highlands Council said they’d like to get the question on the ballot in the November election if all is settled.
Does that mean two elections in two months by two different groups on the same subject? Nobody could answer that last night.
So now it’s all clear. You shoulda been there!
Giacobbe the Ghost
The council had announced an executive session at the very beginning of the meeting to get advice from their special attorney, the missing Matthew Giacobbe. Purpose of that executive session was to get an update from Mr. Giacobbe.
If he were there at all…how would the public know, it was executive session and to their credit, Council moved to a different room rather than make the public stand out in the hall like Henry Hudson does…..but they apparently heard advice from him. A zoom meeting? Maybe? A telephone call? Perhaps. In person? A possibility, but if that was the case, he scooted in and out of the building sight unseen by the people paying his fee.
Giacobbe the Labor Attorney
All that was made clear is that this LABOR attorney, who is being paid by the taxpayers of Atlantic Highlands, had something more important than these taxpayers and the decision they have been trying to make for several years now.
So once again, the paid attorney did not have the time or apparent interest to talk with the taxpayers or listen to their questions. Everything he had to say was said in secret to the officials who hired them … with the money from the people he did not have the time to talk to or listen to.
Doesn’t this council even care Mr. Giacobbe can’t face the people of their town? It makes me wonder whether he made the plans which were more important than Atlantic Highlands after being advised there was a meeting when they needed his advice? Or did he have his plans first and Council still decided to have the meeting, the public be damned? Couldn’t they have set a more convenient time so he really could be here?
Mr. Giacobbe said in the past he’s a labor attorney, and that was the first thing that made me wonder when he was hired by the governing body to work out the financial aspect. Even this year, when they hired a new finance attorney, they kept the labor attorney on the regionalization financial issue…even though he is so busy he even had to rush away from a previous ZOOM meeting…he didn’t have the time to be there in person for that one either……
The problem now seems to be whether Sea Bright has any encumbrances and might have to spend money to defend themselves that has to be resolved.
Dueling Attorneys
Highlands and Atlantic Highlands boroughs and the three school boards in the two towns keep saying yes, yes, yes, we want Sea Bright. But we don’t want them if they’re going to have problems that Oceanport has raised. So one attorney says this is litigation brought by Oceanport, another attorney says it isn’t that at all. So the savings to the taxpayers not only get put off once again, but these same taxpayers are paying the bill for attorneys to resolve the difference of opinion.
Sea Bright in the House
Councilman Erwin Bieber from Sea Bright made it clear tonight….the Commissioner of Education has not yet made a decision on what everybody agreed to last year, namely, yes, we want to let the people in the three towns decide whether they want to regionalize. She hasn’t made the decision because she’s waiting for the formula on how the two towns are going to split the money they’re going to be getting from Sea Bright. But the towns haven’t settled on that yet…that’s what this mediator was supposed to be doing. She can’t make any decision on whatever it is Oceanport is bringing against Sea Bright since the tri-town request to her is not yet complete. So why not simply complete that, he said, and let the Commissioner make a decision?
What was really scary was when Councilman Bieber talked about the money issue…the real issue in this whole thing. Quite simply, are Highlands and Atlantic Highlands going to be satisfied with a $440,000 savings? OR do they think it will benefit the taxpayers in both towns more, to say nothing of the educational system, if Sea Bright came in and poured in another $2.5 million?
Is that such a difficult question to answer?
Greedy Oceanport
On the Oceanport issue, let’s remember a couple of things. Of course Oceanport doesn’t want Sea Bright to leave…they’re getting bundles of money from that town that certainly offsets their taxes for education. So it’s kind of understandable why an Oceanport resident paying taxes there would want to do everything possible to put off Sea Bright leaving. That’s the situation the Hudson district superintendent Tara Beams is in. She lives in Oceanport, she’s the primary…make that only…spokesperson for the three boards of education gathering and reporting most of the information and answering the questions on regionalization even when posed to board of education members.
But tonight, when the Atlantic Highlands Council was asked if they ever even questioned whether this cozy arrangement between Tara Beams, Oceanport, and the Hudson district represents a conflict, the first response was it’s a question that should be asked of the school boards. When pressed, with a reminder it was a question to this council on whether any of them has even questioned it, the response was…yep, secrecy…it was a matter of executive session so of course couldn’t be shared.
When the Garden State Arts Center first opened in 1968, artists and entertainers frequently booked for a week’s evenings of entertainments before moving on.
Included in that week was always a luncheon with reporters on the first day to ensure tickets would be sold throughout the week. As a writer for The Courier, one of my assignments was to always attend the lunch, write that story, then attend the performance and write another review of the show.
Liberace was always a favorite when he came each year, always in good humor, always with plenty of time to spend with reporters, always laughing at himself and telling stories about his expansive wardrobe. He always posed for photos and always brought new talent with him, so we reporters were also sure of getting albums or gifts of some kind at the luncheon.
Here’s a story I wrote in 1979 after Liberace’s performance. He was great.
Liberace is fantastic. It makes no difference that he has been at the Garden State Arts Center every year for the past ten years. It makes no difference his show varies little from year to year, except in the splendor of his costumes. What matters is that Liberace loves to perform, loves to play the piano and loves to sop up the adulation of the audience. It all makes for a most enjoyable evening.
At the Arts Center every night now through Saturday, Liberace comes on stage at the very beginning of the show, resplendent in a Norwegian blue fox cape with a 16 foot long train that coordinates with his silver and white sparkly studded tuxedo. He doffs the cape almost immediately and makes six other changes through the course of the evening, each of them more spectacular and more sparkling than the one before. His candelabra is alive and well and still ensconced on his Steinway’ his jokes are the same as previous years and his repertoire of tunes is basically a repeat.
But that’s the stuff the Liberace fans love. He’s found himself a tidy little niche and he’s not about to rock the boat. You know the joke about how he laughs all the way to the bank? Well, this week he said he’s bought the bank. And, he joked, he’s looking into the Art Center because he likes that, too.
For the serious music lover, Liberace is a talented enthusiastic musician. You could tell without his mentioning it that Chopin is his favorite composer; his rendition of a Polonaise is unforgettable. And he really doesn’t need the colorful and electronic-inspired Dancing Waters to enhance his renditions of the Waltz King, Straus. But it is an attractive addition. His Gershwin is flawless.
Yet even with his bent for the classical, and his obvious enjoyment of it, Liberace can swing into Eddy Duchin or modern day tunes with aplomb and talent. And that’s where his show differs; as talented and polished as he is at the piano he really does seem to improve every year. His show is a study in musical excellence with a variety that’s unbeatable and matchless.
As always, Liberace brings new talent with him, and he’s excelled in that this year, too. Young Marco Valenti is an Italian tenor with a personality to match his talent. He’s sensational .And it doesn’t make any difference whether you like opera or not. When you hear his arias from Rigoletto and Pagliacci, you might become a devotee. Light and moving, no heavy opera, but definitely outstanding. He’s exciting, dynamic and the possessor of a gorgeous resonant voice.
The real excitement however comes in the form of the Chinese acrobats of Taiwan, a talented bunch of youngsters and not-so youngsters who put on a mini-circus right before your eyes, complete with a lady magician who makes a gorgeous young lady disappear under silk scarves. The young man who climbs atop four empty bottles on top of a little stand takes top prize for putting electricity into the air and exudes a personality even more charming than his graceful balancing talent. There’s a beautiful colorful dance with scarves and a glittering dragon, some highly talented unicycle rides and an awful lot of enthusiasm in the Taiwanese performances.
There’s no doubt about it’ Liberace knows the audience comes to the Art Center to see a show; he guarantees they get it.
Medal of Honor recipient, Lt. William Brant, a native of Elizabeth, enlisted in the Army in in Trenton at the onset of the Civil War, serving at first as a corporal in Company I of the 1St. New Jersey Volunteer Infantry., He was promoted to sergeant eight months later and to lieutenant in September, 1862.
When the enlistment times of the company expired in 1864, Brant and the other surviving members of the Company re-listed and were mustered into the NJ Veterans Battalion; he was then promoted to 1St lieutenant of Company B.
Medal of Honor
It was as such on April 3, 1865, that Lt. Brant participated in the final assaults on Confederate positions at Petersburg, Va., and he successfully captured the battle flag of the 46th North Carolina Infantry, the incident that was cited in his receipt of the Medal of Honor on May 10, 1865. The citation merely describes the reason as “Capture of battle flag of 46th North Carolina (CSA).
Lt. Brant was promoted to Brevet Captain and mustered out of service at the end of the Civil War, having served the entire length of the war. He had served in the second Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, amongst others.
The officer’s life remained active after his discharge. Returning to his native Elizabeth in Union County, he joined the Elizabeth Police Department, rising to the rank of police captain there in 1888.
The Elizabeth Police Department has a detailed history of the department from its start earlier in the century, including a story about Capt. Branch’s actions while a captain.
According to the department’s records, “Police Chief Austin and Brant, both Civil War Vets immediately introduced features of the military model policing. Rigid discipline along with an authoritarian and hierarchical organization became the benchmark of the Elizabeth Police Department.”
The history continues that “ One of Captain Brant’s first duties was on March 19, 1888, when Captain McLain of the schooner “Harvester” reported a “Turk by the name of Nick” stabbed the first mate in a mutiny. Captain Brant “revolver in hand” and officers Jones and O’Shea rowed out to the boat and arrested the man.”
Capt. Brant died in Elizabeth on March 2, 1898 and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside.
The location of his Congressional Medal of Honor is unknown.
Lots of big important things happening at Thursday night’s meeting of the Highlands Land Use Board, and Highlands residents better attend ask questions and know what’s going on.
Reorganization
The meeting begins at 7 at the Community Center, and is the board’s reorganization meeting. Which means the first order of business will be the election of its chairperson, vice chair, secretary, meeting dates and professionals for the upcoming year. It’s a hard working board, and an even harder working secretary, and hopefully there will be no changes or surprises here.
But it’s after the new board is settled, that so much is on the agenda and so many questions need to be asked.
The Honorable Plant
First of all there’s the memorialization of the conditional use granted to The Honorable Plant at the December meeting. That’s the application for a cannabis retail shop at 123 Bay Avenue, the former Food Basket adjacent to the former Episcopal, now active Church of another denomination. That hearing was at the last meeting and also requires a variance/
Beth Stavola is the applicant with Dr. Bernadette Dunphy the manager and they certainly presented loads of evidence and information at their last meeting. Kudos to Ms. Stavola for her extensive background and success in the business. Perhaps it was already covered, but I have not seen where it’s ok to have a cannabis shop right next to a church regardless of whether the Sunday School classes are held via ZOOM during Covid restrictions. So perhaps that question could be answered before the approval is memorialized.
Sea Grass
Then there’s a hearing on the second cannabis retail business that wants conditional approval. That one is for Sea Grass located at 272 Bay Avenue, and that one certainly raises a lot of questions.
Council-Member Cervantes
That property is owned by Lionel Cervantes, which appears to be the same Lionel Cervantes who is a Borough Councilman. If that is so, how and why did Mr. Cervantes vote to allow cannabis shops in town in the first place? It appears that he either makes major decisions very quickly or he had the intention to sell his property to a company that wanted to apply for a cannabis license once his vote helped to get them approved?
Conflict of Interest?
Isn’t there a bit of a conflict there? It was back on October that Mr. Cervantes voted to support and approve the siting of an adult use cannabis dispensary within the Central Business District zone of the Borough of Sea Grass NJ LLC to the extent consistent with statutes, rules…etc.….
Only Councilman Donald Melnyk opposed that resolution last year.
Where do you live my friend?
Another question that should be answered are Lionel Cervantes and the Councilman one and the same? Is it is really the councilman? Where Lionel Cervantes is listed as the owner of the premises where the business would be located, most of his home address is redacted. The only part that is not redacted that it says he lives in Asbury Park. If that is so, how can he be on the borough council in Highlands? For that matter, why is the street address redacted in the first place? The public doesn’t have the right to know???? It is the only address that is redacted in the approximate 139 pages of documents for this one meeting. Must be a reason.
As the owner of the property Leonel Cervantes gave his personal permission, and, if he is a councilman, his public entity permission, giving the right to all members of all boards and the Police Department, as well as other agencies, to enter the property for whatever purposes are necessary for the contract purchasers’ James Whelan of Red Bank and Nicholas Frangipane III of Rumson, the two gentlemen who are also the principals of Sea Grass.
Bridge City Collective
The third license which has been acted on is for Bridge City Collective Highlands LLC and that’s for property at 132 Bay Ave owned by one of the Bayshore Recycling companies owned Valerie Montecalvo of Portland rd. Frank Montecalvo is a member of the Land Use Board.
While each of the proposed businesses is seeking conditional approval which is necessary to secure, only one of them can be permitted in the borough, according to the state. It will be up to the governing body, sans Mr. Cervantes, I would presume, to select which one would be able to open the business in Highlands. All are located within the borough’s central business area along Bay ave.
Highlands in the Re-Development Business
As if reorganization and cannabis licenses aren’t enough, there’s yet another important item on Thursday’s agenda. In spite of considerable objections in the past, it appears the Mayor and Council continues to plan to subdivided that huge piece of waterfront land in the Waterwitch section at Locust St. near Matthews St., selling some property to adjacent property owners if they want it and saving the biggest chunk themselves to probably sell at some future date for some other purpose we don’t know about.
The Land Use Board notes in its messages that no new hearings will be started after 10:15 p.m. unless the Chairman rules otherwise. And all meetings shall adjourn not later than 11 p.m. unless a majority of the quorum present at that time votes to continue it later.
Looks like that could happen Thursday night. Better bring a snack. Meetings are not offered via ZOOM.
