Boracay and Southern Ocean County News Magazine

Pat Johnson | November 3, 2021

The big news at the Tuckton Borough Council meeting on November 1 is that the town will not have to pay a 5% down payment for the $2.2 million bond and it is seeking to dredge the problematic part of the lagoon on the west side of South Green Street in Tuckton beach.

The town seeks a reduction or exemption of the down payment from the local government finance committee. Business administrator Jenny Gleghorn stated that the town is expected to introduce a joint decree during the city meeting on November 15 and to conduct public comment and second reading of the decree and approve it on December 6.

Other important news is that the district has received $286,000 in municipal assistance from the State Department of Transportation for the Third Avenue and Lake Street resurfacing project.

The district also accepted many gifts on the peninsula of the former Little Egg Harbor Avenue that spent most of the time underwater. The estimated value of the plot is $100, and the owner pays a property tax of $2 per year. If the district can obtain additional funding to continue to build a rock pier at the end of the boulevard to protect the houses now facing Little Egg Harbor, it may be necessary to do so.

Gleghorn said that BRS Inc., the grant writer for the borough, is seeking to obtain building resilient infrastructure and community (BRIC) grants for shoreline restoration.

"We have to prove that our infrastructure is responsible for the damage (caused by the storm). This is easy. Since 2000, we have invested US$11 million in water supply and sewer projects (at Tuckton Beach) and US$50,000 in Storm drains and pumping stations, and (since Superstorm Sandy) has invested $50 million in rebuilding houses."

Residents on the roads of Kingfisher and Curlew were present. After four days of flooding in Tucton Beach, they are looking for a solution to this long-standing problem in the floodplain. Carolyn Keen distributed photos of playing in the water on Curlew Road. She said that these photos existed on a "good" day.

Gleghorn said that the entire road and the crown of the road will be raised. Engineer Greg Coric has been surveying, leading the road to the storm drain. As someone built a partition on one of the drainage outlets, the rain drain on Kingfisher Road will be moved.

Since the project started on September 15, Kingfisher has had another problem. P&A Construction, a Rahway-based contractor, discovered that the water pipe was on top of the sewer main, causing complications, Gleghorn said. However, the project should be completed this winter, and pavement paving will have to wait until spring when the asphalt plant restarts.

Resident Peter Gioiello asked again about the installation of check valves at rainwater discharge outlets. Gleghorn said that since the lagoon runs from east to west, they will not work on the problematic streets. According to Gleghorn, as she learned from the Director of Public Works, during the winter, water accumulates on the road, and when the wind turns to the west, when there is no check valve, the water leaves the road more quickly. Where there is a check valve, the water will stay because there is not enough pressure to open the valve.

South Green Street resident Mary Ann Sweeney went back to the microphone and asked whether the City Council had taken any measures to investigate the "incident" within Tuckerton Volunteer Fire Co. and answered the questions she wrote to them. She received an email from City Councillor Frank D'Amore, who is the liaison of the fire department, and asked her to hold a private meeting in the borough hall to discuss her concerns. But she said her question should be on the forum. She asked the names of frontline officers, and D'Amore announced the list.

D'Amore said that the number of active members available depends on the time of the day, because many volunteers are working, but the department believes that there is sufficient staff. "If not (during the fire alarm), they would receive the SeaTacton Mutual Aid Service between 6 am and 6 pm," he said.

Sweeney asked if the volunteers must live in the town. D'Amore said the regulations say they don't. Sweeney said the bylaws have changed back and forth on this issue.

D'Amore reminded Sweeney and the public that Tuckerton Volunteer Fire Co. is its own entity and the municipal council cannot issue orders to it. "The borough cannot tell them that they cannot change their regulations," he said.

Sweeney suggested that the district could dissolve the fire department and put others in charge. She said that she had six people with her that night, and if the borough did that, they would join in and take over.

D'Amore stated that the city council will not do this unless there is a serious threat to the safety of residents.

"The City Council will not deal with this'incident'." The call is being answered, and the OSHA standard (four volunteers arriving in a truck) is only a suggestion. If they have to wait for four people (before they leave the fire station), the house will be burned down," he said. "This is accepted in New Jersey-you can't wait for four people. "

Sweeney retorted that the fire department’s annual district budget of $70,000 was “unreasonably spent”. She said that the existing firefighting companies have created a "culture of intimidation and madness."

"You should turn it off and give the money to someone else. The fire truck does not fight the fire; the fireman does. There are six firefighters in this room who will take over."

D'Amore noticed that the six men in the room were former volunteers who had left the department. "They have the ability to change things. This is their choice (to leave)."

Sweeney said two of the six men who were with her tried to rejoin the fire brigade but were refused. Later during the meeting, Matthew Burton of Clay Street said he was one of the two people turned away.

The borough attorney Christopher J. Connors said that the borough has no reason to intervene in the fire department because it is its own company. "What could be the reason? If it violates Megan's law or criminal matters."

Connors said that the borough committee may decide to let an external consulting company look at the fire company’s practices and training, just like the assessment of the police department, he is investigating whether the borough’s joint insurance fund will pay for it. . The district has identified Lexipol LLC, a private company headquartered in Frisco, Texas as a possible external company. The company provides policy manuals, training announcements and consulting services for law enforcement agencies, fire departments and other public safety agencies.

Also during the public comment period, John Zabriski of South Green Street asked why his neighbor, Sheltered Cove Marina, was allowed to collect 10 trash cans by the municipality—increasing the tip paid by taxpayers—rather than paying for commercial porters.

Gleghorn said that the district allows residents to use three trash cans, but state law requires the district to pay to collect garbage from housing developments that are considered commercial entities.

"How can we put things that violate state laws in the ordinance?" she said.

In other news, the Environment Committee will meet in the Borough Hall on November 4th at 7pm.

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