November 16, 2015 Middletown Township Committee Meeting

I have to admit that I haven't watched all of the video from last month's meeting of the Middletown Township Committee. I hope to watch it all before the posting of the next Township meeting scheduled for tonight.

Here's a very brief rundown of what happened at the 11/16/15 meeting of the Township Committee:

A presentation was made of a 3-story housing project on the corner of Ocean Ave and Pt. Monmouth Rd. The presentation will be used to attract a developer for the property and three officers were promoted and sworn in.




As always, you can download a copy of the Meeting Agenda that contains the discussion items and the proposed resolutions and ordinances that were voted on or presented during the meeting. A box around an item is a link, bringing you further into the document to that resolution or ordinance. At the end of the resolution there will be a link bringing you back to the agenda. Attached to this agenda is also the monthly bill list, so that everyone can see how the Township is spending our tax dollars.

July 21, 2014 Middletown Township Committee Meeting: Where do you live??

There was a Township Committee meeting last week. It was standard fair as far as committee meetings go, there was the swearing in of seven new police officers, 200 Club Awards were presented to fire fighters and a life saving award was presented to a township employee a long with the standard reading of proposed resolutions and the like.

Rather uneventful and standard as I said. That was until the Public Comments portion of the meeting started and I was stunned. I thought I've heard just everything there was to hear from this group that sit on the dais. Sadly, I was mistaken. It's pretty amazing, I was astonished to learned that if you live in Middletown, there are certain members of our governing body that have no clue as to what neighborhoods are actually in Middletown!

If you just so happen to live in a section of North Middletown (formerly East Keansburg), you might want to call Town Hall and let them know because you may be living Keansburg as far as the Township Committee is concerned.

During Public Comments of the last Township Committee meeting (1:10:15 of video)  Don Watson spoke on the behalf of residents from the area concerning the clogged storm drains in the neighborhood. He was told that the neighborhood in question was NOT part of Middletown. Mr. Watson replied rather astonished that they should tell the residents that because they pay taxes to Middletown and have their garbage picked up by the township. Talk about being out of touch!!!

If you're an elected official that sits on the dais twice every month or the Township Administrator how do you not know what areas of town are what? It's embarrassing, but what more can you expect from these people.




As always, you can download a copy of the Meeting Agenda that contains the discussion items and the proposed resolutions and ordinances that were voted on or presented during the meeting. A box around an item is a link, bringing you further into the document to that resolution or ordinance. At the end of the resolution there will be a link bringing you back to the agenda. Attached to this agenda is also the monthly bill list, so that everyone can see how the Township is spending our tax dollars.

Middletown Health Department Issues Rabies Alert

From Middletown Alerts:

The Health Department has received laboratory confirmation of two raccoons testing positive for Rabies this week.

The first raccoon was found in the area of Michael Drive, located off of Nutswamp Road. There was no direct contact with anyone or any domestic animals. The second

The second raccoon was found in the area of Essex Street and Bray Avenue in the North Middletown section of the Township. The raccoon did not have any reported contact with people or other domestic animals but was exhibiting signs of severe illness.

In light of finding a rabid raccoon, we would like to remind residents about the possibility of wildlife being infected with Rabies. Please make sure all domestic animals (dogs, cats, and livestock) are currently vaccinated with a Rabies shot.

Residents should not be interacting with 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.

Pallone Announces FEMA to Study N. Middletown Levee System’s Impact on Flood Insurance Rates

Washington, DC – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will study the levee system in North Middletown, New Jersey and its impact on flood hazard maps in response to his request. Pallone has been working with local elected officials and community members in order to address increased flood insurance premiums in the area.

Residents of North Middletown are facing significantly increased National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premiums due to a combination of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 and a current depiction of risk that doesn’t recognize the existence and effectiveness of a significant flood protection system in the area. The two features of this system are a levee segment along Pews Creek and an interior drainage device, or pumping station.

North Middletown avoided flooding during Superstorm Sandy and other extreme weather events, which indicates that the existing flood control system is effective. FEMA has indicated that the study should be completed in 2015 and the results of the study should factor into new Flood Insurance Rate Maps that are currently being revised in Monmouth County.

“I’m pleased FEMA is moving forward with this critical study of the true flood risks in North Middletown,” Pallone said. “Residents in this area are facing significant increases in their flood insurance premiums but the flood control infrastructure that protects them is not being properly factored into these rates.”

Pallone is also a cosponsor of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, which has been introduced to address the increased flood insurance premiums that have resulted from the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act. The Senate voted 86-13 on Monday to move forward with the Senate version of the legislation, which has been sponsored by Senator Bob Menendez. This bill will protect millions of homeowners from facing huge flood insurance premium rate hikes and require FEMA to complete an affordability study, propose real solutions to address affordability issues, and certify that their mapping process is accurate before any flood insurance premiums can be raised in the future.

Crime Scene Middletown: THREE JUVENILES ARRESTED FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION IN PARK

PREPARED BY DETECTIVE LIEUTENANT STEPHEN DOLLINGER


On February 24, 2011 at approximately 6:45 pm Patrolman Keith Hirschbein was on patrol in the area of McMahon Park when he observed three juveniles sitting in the dugout of the hockey rink passing what appeared to be a cigar back and forth to each other.

Officer Hirschbein entered the dugout where the juveniles were sitting and immediately detected the odor of burnt marijuana coming from the area. He then observed one of the juveniles put the cigar down on the bench where they were sitting. Officer Hirschbein checked the area and retrieved the cigar which was found to contain marijuana.

All three juveniles were placed under arrest and were transported to police headquarters for processing where they were charged with Possession of under 50 grams of marijuana and were released to their parents pending a court appearance.

Alleged Sexual Assault At Middletown's Target Never Happened

Early last week, I was a recipient of an email from several individuals which claimed that on Monday or Tuesday night at approximately 7 pm, a woman entered her vehicle after shopping at the Middletown Target store and was greeted by an individual who was hiding in the backseat. The email went on to state that the the returning shopper was held at knife point and then sexually assaulted. It conclude by warning recipients to remain ever vigilant and to keep their doors locked.

One person that forwarded me this email stated that they weren't sure if it were true or not, but thought it peculiar that if it was, why hadn't the Middletown Police department made the information public or seen a report of it in the local newspapers? On Thursday of last week, I decided to forward the email myself to Detective Lieutenant Stephen Dollinger, Detective Bureau Commander to see if I could get an answer.

Detective Dollinger was prompt in his response, the response though gave me the impression that he wasn't aware of any such incident taking place. He stated that he would need to conduct a few interviews before determining whether or not this alleged assault took place and that if I called him in the afternoon of the following day (Friday), he would have an answer for me.

On Friday afternoon, before I had a chance to call the Detective , I received the following email from him which was sent to those on his media contact list:

"Good afternoon, I have been receiving requests for information about an alleged incident at the Target store that supposedly took place on February 1st. We are currently conducting an investigation into the matter. I will make sure I release something as soon as we determine whether or not the incident took place. Until then please refrain from calling the police desk."

After receiving this email, I replied back my appreciation and my intent to wait for an official announcement that would put to rest rumors that were being sent through cyberspace. Unfortunately, that follow up email was never sent out.

Yesterday, I received a new round of emails from people asking if I was aware of or knew anything about what had happened at Target.

This time however, the email that was being forwaded was slightly different and seemed a bit more authoritarian. The originator of the email left her electronic signature/contact information of her place of employment and stated that the woman attacked was her sister's sister-in-law.

I responded to those that sent me the email by stating that I thought the email was bogus and the incident never happened. I stated that I would try and contact Detective Dollinger again for a response to see if he could shed some more light the situation, but suggested that if a response from the detective was not forth coming they should call the police desk and inquire themselves. And that is exactly what some of them did.

After calling the police station for themselves, a few people were told by the officer that answered the phone that NO SUCH INCIDENT accured in the parking lot of Target and any story of this incident is false.

This information should, I hope, bring some relief to those that have been concerned about it and other alleged unreported incidents that have been reported and end all of those emails that have been floating around cyberspace.

That being said, I can empathize with those that forward these emails. For more than a year now, I have been hearing stories from people about burglaries, robberies and break-ins that haven't been listed in local newspapers (it was for this reason that I asked to be on Detective Dollinger's contact list for press releases).

As the effects of the lingering recession and bad economy continue residents are desperate to hold onto and protect what they have left. Rumors of crime are leading many to question the effectiveness of Middletown's Police to protect their neighborhoods and properties from damage or theft.

Residents want and expect to be kept informed by those, that job it is to watch over them, of things that could impact their life. If a home in Lincroft or North Middletown is broken into, residents want to know about it when it happens so that they can take precautions against further break-ins, not weeks or months later when an arrested my have been made after further robberies or burglaries.

I don't think this is too much to ask for, an informed citizentry is a happy citizentry. Give people the piece of mind of knowing that they can keep themselves and their property safe by impowering them with information needed to form neighborhood watchgroups or other types of groups within their communities, to help pick-up the slack where the police can't patrol effectively or efficiently.