Planning Board Votes 6-3 To Turn Down Trinity Hall Application

I spent several long hours last night at the Middletown Planning Board meeting listen to public comments made by both Trinity Hall supporters and residents from the Chapel Hill area who opposed the construction of the all-girls high school in their neighborhood off of Chapel Hill Rd. and Kings Highway East.

I didn't get home until nearly 1:30 am and was too tired to write anything about it until now. Seeing how both the Middletown Patch and The Asbury Park Press reporters were both in attendance I won't get into a lot of details, you can read about the proceedings in greater detail from them.

At times, those that commented were passionate in their opposition or support of the proposal but in the end the Middletown Planning Board turned down Trinity Hall's application by a vote of 6-3 in favor of the residents concerns over safety and traffic issues. Needless to say, members of the Chapel Hill Neighborhood Group, many of which were in attendance and spoke during the public comments before the Planning Board voted, were ecstatic over the outcome. Trinity Hall supporters... not so much.

As a matter of fact, after the proceedings, a rather heated argument erupted outside the court room, in the lobby of Town Hall were the meeting took place. It was broken up quickly however before anything serious happened between the two parties.

As I said, I would recap further but after 7 hours of testimony the Middletown-Patch and reporter Christina Johnson has a good summary of the nights proceedings. Also the Asbury Park Press's reporter Larry Higgs was there for the whole 7 hour proceeding and I'm sure that he will have a much more to say about meeting in his article. I'm interested in hearing what the people he interviewed afterwards had to say about the evening.

The past 6 months have been a long and grueling process on both the residents of Chapel Hill and the proponents of Trinity Hall school but it showed what can happen when residents ban together and speak with one, united voice against well funded special interests. David can overcome Goliath.    

This past 6 months also shows you how not to present your case in front of the Planning Board. Trinity Hall did a terrible job justifying the need for the school to be located in Middletown and presented flawed site drawings and relied on various reports that were several years old and turned  not to reflect the current conditions of the proposed site today.

Trinity Hall was lazy and evidently felt that this application was a slam dunk. They didn't do the proper homework needed to ensure that their proposal would succeed. They wasted a lot of time, money and effort and if that is the way that they would run their school, I think it's best that their application was turned down. They can go build their school elsewhere.

Middletown Rabies Alert #6

From Middletown Alerts:


The Middletown Township Health Department has received confirmation of a sixth raccoon testing positive for Rabies. The raccoon was captured and tested after a resident noticed the animal was acting sickly. The raccoon was found on Highway 35 between Kanes Lane and Kings Hwy East.



Previous cases were found over the last 2 months at the following locations:

• Red Hill Road between Dwight Road and Deepdale Drive,
• Michael Drive off of Nutswamp Road,
• Ueland Road off Nutswamp Road,
• Essex Street off of Bray Avenue,
• Clay Court off of Hartshorne Road,

The Middletown Township Health Department would like to remind residents to be aware of your pets when they are outside. Wildlife will be attracted to areas where residents put food out for their animals. Any dog or cat found to be in direct contact with a known rabid animal that is not properly immunized could be at risk. The domestic animal would be placed under either a strict 6 month confinement in a cage with no human contact or would be humanely euthanized to protect the family and the public from the Rabies virus.

It is imperative that all dogs and cats are licensed in the Township. A valid rabies shot is required for licensing and ensures that all of our domestic pets (dogs and cats) are protected and do not end up as noted above when found to be in contact with a rabid animal.

Residents should not be interacting with any wildlife. If you come across a sick or injured animal, keep your distance and please contact Animal Control at 732-615-2097 immediately or contact the Police Department after hours and on weekends. Remember, Rabies is a fatal disease. The best course of defense is the vaccination of your pets and not handling or interacting with wildlife.