The Atlantic Highlands Chamber of Commerce is inviting increased membership in the busy and active chamber and offering a $10 discount for all new members who sign into the Chamber as members by the end of the year.

The Chamber offers a variety of benefits for the growing business community and encourages more members to share in the work of strengthening the community and its residents by working together as its business community.

The chamber is designed to help local businesses get increased visibility and make additional connections in business circles as well as stay informed on a variety of areas of interest both in the community and in the business world.

The Chamber promotes all its members through their website and on line member directory as well as through social media channels and this blog, VeniVidiScripto. The Chamber also spotlights  members in high visibility local groups to help drive awareness and food traffic.

Members are also invited to include materials in the Chamber’s “Welcome to Atlantic Highlands” tote bags and receive coverage for ribbon cuttings and grand openings. The Chamber also promotes members’  special events through Chamber channels and its in town kiosk. There are also opportunities to meet fellow business owners at quarterly networking events and informal get-togethers that help build relationships, and give an opportunity to exchange ideas, and grow together.

This year, for the first time, the Chamber  will distribute thousands of glossy, full-color rack cards throughout the Bayshore area. Each card includes a QR code linking its exclusive 2026 Online Member Directory—a go-to resource for visitors and residents searching for merchants, restaurants, and places to go in the Atlantic Highlands area.

Chamber administrator Heidi Hacket invites interested business owners  who want to become chamber members to drop off a check to the Atlantic Highlands Chamber of Commerce at 68 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716 or stop between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at their secure mail box.   Please note ‘One -yr Membership’ in the memo area of your check. If paying on or before December 31, you qualify for a $10 discount  so the  check should be for  $165!

For further information, call 762-872-8711 or  visit info@AHchamber.org

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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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It took an ill Councilman Jon Crowley to be on line at the December meeting of the Atlantic Highlands Council in order to have a quorum, in spite of it being one of the five months during the year Council had scheduled only one monthly meeting.

Mayor Lori Hohenleitner and Council members Eileen Cusick and Vito Colosurdo, both of whom did not seek re-election and whose terms end this month, were the only elected officials present for the meeting at borough hall, with Crowley creating the four-member quorum appearing for a portion of the meeting on line. The recording does not indicate when Crowley left the meeting after giving his monthly report.

Adding to the problem was the, once again, inconsistency of the audio system for the ZOOM input from both Crowley and borough attorney Peg Schaefer, also appearing virtually for the regularly scheduled meeting.

Members present in the council chamber took several minutes at the beginning of the meeting trying to make the audio effective; however, it was still difficult to hear Schaefer’s report completely, and Hohenleitner stopped Crowley’s report at one point explaining he was ‘frozen’ or cutting out.

The council’s adoption of meeting dates at the reorganization meeting 12 months ago set five months when meetings would be the first and third Mondays of the month, two when they would be Wednesdays, and five when there would only be one meeting.

Hohenleitner expressed thanks to all borough employees, especially the Police Chief, Borough Clerk and Public Works Director for their unanticipated extremely heavy workload in the sudden departure of borough administrator Robert Ferragina. She noted that in addition to all the professionals making up for the absence of an administrator without sufficient planning, she, too, spent more time at borough hall assisting.

Ferragina, who had been appointed to the position four years ago when Loretta Gluckstein was mayor, gave two weeks’ notice he was leaving Atlantic Highlands effective the end of the year, and was not present at the meeting.

The mayor said his resignation comes at a good time of the year since the borough had received many applications for the position. She explained the series of meetings and discussions both by committees , other officials and the entire council are having before a new administrator is named to the post, hopefully by the end of January. The mayor said communications between the administrator and members of the public, council, and all employees and committees are of utmost importance in making a new selection.

In response to a question from a resident, the mayor said legal advertising would continue in local newspapers until March at the least. Borough Clerk Michelle Clark noted the borough, in keeping with the new state law that ends legal advertising in newspapers by March, said the borough will most likely begin advertising all their legals on the borough website next month in addition to continuing in the newspapers until that time.

The mayor, in response to another question, said she has not been able to learn where or how the non-profit organization formed by one newspaper in which the borough places legals uses its funds, since its status has not been in effect a full year and the firm has not filed the paperwork to see the information.

In other business, council approved resolutions renewing membership in Monmouth Municipal JIF, adjusting water and sewer utility bills, renewed the agreement with Highlands for a part time ambulance service, renewed its agreement for Public Health Services, appointed Michael Cassidy to the sanitation department, authorized $40,000 for a Professional Service Contract with Colliers for the water system, and approved payment of more than $2.1 million in bills for the month

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Outgoing Atlantic Highlands Councilwoman Cusack was the Mayor’s Senior Citizen of the Month at the last regular 2025 meeting of the Mayor and Council for the year, with Cusack expressing her thanks and appreciation for the award.

Mayor Lori Hohenleitner, Cusack and Councilman Vito Colosurdo, whose term also ends this month, were the only council members present at Borough Hall for the scheduled meeting. It took Councilman Jon Crowley, ill at home, to appear at the meeting virtually to constitute a quorum.

Colasurdo, in making remarks at his final meeting as a councilman, noted “we are not perfect, but we’re perfect for us,” referring to how the borough residents and officials always work together in helping each other, in spite of national politics driving us further apart. He said Atlantic Highlands is a borough with “love in our hearts” which I what is needed for peace everywhere.

Mayor Hohenleitner presented framed photographs to both outgoing council members in expressing her thanks, and the thanks of the residents for their service for the past three years.

Neither of the newly elected officials was present at the meeting.

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Education blended with kindness, thoughtfulness and holiday activities at the Atlantic Highlands Elementary School during the past month, with students and faculty alike joining in a variety of community activities.

Henry Hudson Regional Senior Cole Harbison presents monthly reports on activities on each of the three schools to the Board of Education at their regular meetings. His reports are included in the minutes of board meetings, along with the reports of the school administrator, aboard attorney and superintendent. Harbison volunteered for the position, which includes his attendance monthly at board meetings, and compiles his reports under the guidance of Student Council Advisors Dawn DeSanto and Miranda Saryian.

Second grade classes under Ms. Thompson and Mrs. DePinto concentrated efforts on remembering military troops during the holiday season . Working with Holiday Cards for our Military, a non-profit organization based in New Hampshire, students made holiday greetings for military members to be distributed to United States troops around the world.

The Atlantic Highlands teachers hosted their annual Parents Night Out at the school to raise funds for the Families in Need fund. Five National Honor Society Students from Henry Hudson Regional High School joined the elementary school students in raising $1,000 in two hours of babysitting! Harbison reported the night was “filled with crafts, games, and holiday memories.”

In honor of Thanksgiving and the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, third grader students engaged in a cross-curricular project that blended literacy, research, creativity, and community. Students read “Balloons over Broadway”, explored the history of the parade, and designed their own balloon concepts. They brought their ideas to life by creating balloons and organizing a festive parade through the school. Classes lined the hallways to cheer them on, making the event a joyful celebration of learning, imagination, and school spirit.

The school’s chorus, led by Jennifer Wolff, sang at the Atlantic Highlands Tree Lighting Ceremony. Students came to sing selections from their winter concert as the town gathered to light the tree and meet Santa!

At the winter concert before Christmas, the chorus sang songs including Santa Claus is Coming to Town and a medley from The Grinch. The event also featured a surprise visit from The Grinch! The band, led by Denise Furda, played a collection of holiday tunes such as Canon Noel and Believe from the Polar Express.

Second grade students from both the Highlands and Atlantic Highlands schools also attended the Count Basie Theater presentation of The Nutcracker as part of their study of music under Mrs. Wolff .

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