Thursday, January 10, 2013
FMERA has issued requests for offers to purchase for Howard Commons area of fort
Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo and other borough officials are worried that the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority's (FMERA) call to developers to purchase the Howard Commons area may bring more permanent rental units to the region. Howard Commons is an aged, dilapidated housing development off Pinebrook Road in Eatontown ready for demolition because it's homes don't meet current building safety codes. It consists of 486-townhouse style residential units in 52 buildings built in 1952 that may contain non-friable asbestos and lead-based paint. FMERA issued a request for offers to purchase (RFOTP) in December for the property, which states that the Fort Monmouth Reuse and Redevelopment Plan calls for 275 apartments and up to …
Price includes trade-in value of two older trucks
The Eatontown Council approved a resolution awarding a $834,537 bid for a new fire truck for the Eatontown Fire Department during its Tuesday night meeting. The price for the truck includes the trade-in value of two older trucks that were valued at $1,000 and $10,000. The fire department is trading in its 1989 Pierce pumper truck and its 1985 Pierce pumper truck to help offset the cost of the new truck. The council wanted to wait to award the bid until it found out what the trade-in value of the two trucks was in addition to the cost of the Quint Type Fire Truck by Pierce Manufacturing Inc. Borough Administrator George Jackson has said a requirement for Pierce is to accept two of the borough's older fire trucks as trade-ins. Jackson said …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Mayor says borough faces many challenges
Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo gave his annual address at the borough council's reorganization meeting on Tuesday morning and detailed some of the obstacles the borough overcame in 2012 and some of the projects and challenges it will face this year. "It is fitting to look back and assess the issues and accomplishments of 2012," Tarantolo said. He said balancing the 2012 municipal budget was difficult, but that it only resulted in a "slight tax increase. "The closing of our open space fund helped our surplus situation by adding $850,000 to offset our tax obligation." He said the completion of the Route 35-36 intersection is a "major improvement over what had previously existed." The completion of Husky Brook Park was another …
Eatontown Council holds annual reorganization meeting
Incumbent Councilman Anthony Talerico and newcomer Janice Kroposky were sworn in to the Eatontown Council on New Year's Day. Their friends and families sat in the audience to watch them start their 3-year terms on the council as Eatontown Clerk Karen Siano swore them in as they took their oaths of office. Talerico was also named council president for the second year. Talerico and Kroposky, both Democrats, defeated former Councilman Gonzalez this November. Democrats now hold four of the six seats on the Eatontown Council. Mayor Gerald Tarantolo is also a Democrat. Borough Attorney Gene Anthony was also sworn in on Tuesday morning to begin another term as the borough's attorney. The borough also welcomed a new engineer in David Marks from T&…
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Meeting set for 10:30 a.m.
The Eatontown Council will hold its annual reorganization meeting today at 10:30 a.m. at Eatontown Borough Hall. The agenda for the meeting has not been released, but incumbent Democratic Councilman Anthony Talerico and newcomer and fellow Democrat Janice Kroposky will be sworn in to the council. Other appointments are expected to be made, including which members of council will be appointed to be the liaisons to the borough's departments. If the agenda is posted prior to today's meeting, we will be sure to post it here. Check back later today for a full story from today's meeting.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Lone bid for fire truck came $834,537
The Eatontown Council is going to wait for more information before awarding the lone bid it received to purchase a new fire truck for the Eatontown Fire Department. The council did not pass a resolution during its meeting earlier this week that would have paid Pierce Manufacturing Inc. $834,537 for a Quint Type Fire Truck. Borough Administrator George Jackson said a requirement for Pierce is to accept two of the borough's older fire trucks as trade-ins. Jackson said that while Pierce did accept the trade-in of the two trucks, that they did not tell the borough how much money was taken off the total price of the new fire truck after the trade-ins were figured into the $834,537 the borough is paying. "The council want the cost broken down, …
Monday, December 10, 2012
Ordinance passed by Eatontown, Long Branch expected to do the same
The JCP&L resolution crafted by Monmouth County mayors asking the utility company to improve its services is quickly being adopted by local towns. The Eatontown Council adopted the resolution at its meeting last week and now the Long Branch Council is expected to do the same during its Tuesday night meeting. The resolution stems from comments and suggestions made by various Monmouth mayors and officials at a regional summit held in Tinton Falls last month to discuss how JCP&L handled Hurricane Sandy. Officials at the meeting criticized JCP&L's lack of communication and information with their towns and agreed that the utility company should make some changes. Some of the suggested changes include smaller, regional calls between mayors and …
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Borough received about $1.5 million
After last week's announcement that Eatontown will receive just more than $1.5 million from FEMA Hurricane Sandy-related cleanup costs, borough officials are now saying they received too much "FEMA says Eatontown is getting $1.5 million as a result of the storm damage that we experienced," Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said during Wednesday night's council meeting. "That's nowhere near where we had calculated it." "I don't know if we are too efficient for our own good, but our efforts are not going to cost us anywhere near $2 million," Borough Administrator George Jackson said. "Our rough estimates right now are under $1 million and that's including lots of other reimbursements for straight time, salaries of our police and public works, vehicle …
Plans will be presented at Eatontown Planning Board meeting on Jan. 21
A new developer has proposed plans to develop Old Orchard Country Club in Eatontown, Mayor Gerald Tarantolo announced during Wednesday's Eatontown Council meeting. "We've had two meeting with a major developer interested in Old Orchard Country Club," Tarantolo said. Plans to develop the Old Orchard Country Club, at 54 Monmouth Road, have been under consideration for several years. The last developer's plan to build on the property was met with backlash from residents who live near the country club and "crashed," according to Tarantolo. The country club has remained a P- 1/R-32 zone, which allows for the property to be developed for residential or public land use. The last plan involved the building of a multi-use residential and commercial…
Friday, November 9, 2012
Eatontown mayor says 400-500 families could be accommodated
Fort Monmouth could become a temporary home for families displaced by Hurricane Sandy in the near future, Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said during a council meeting on Thursday night. "A significant effort will be made to open up Fort Monmouth with a significant amount of housing that will be made available if this all comes to fruition," Mayor Tarantolo said. "Somewhere in the area of 400-500 families could be accommodated." Tarantolo said several areas in the main post section of Fort Monmouth have been identified as possible housing areas that "could probably be up to speed very shortly through the funds that will be provided by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)." The housing units would likely need several repairs in order…
Thomas A. Blasi
10:42 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
The federal government, in this case the Defense Department is an entity within itself and is not bound by any local, state regulations or codes therefore they did (and continue to do) what they want. Take for example sprinkler systems, how many buildings on Fort Monmouth have them? The answer: NONE. Few have noticed that among federal employees that worked at the fort there is a high rate of … more ›