Property near Chapin Avenue is among several segments of the waterfront that could have trails, according to the Waterfront Plan.
Putting the recently released Waterfront Plan into effect won’t happen without the state ponying up some big open-space bucks, says Mayor Pasquale Menna.
But he’s moving ahead and putting together a citizen’s committee to “undertake the public hearing process” that would lead to necessary changes in the borough’s master plan, today’s Asbury Park Press reports.
“We’ll probably announce, in the next three weeks or less, a citizens committee to undertake the public hearing process,” Menna’s quoted as saying.
As redbankgreen reported in July, when iit was issued, the plan is a series of blue-sky concepts to improve public access and use of the Navesink an Swimming river banks.
Prepared by a Philadelphia urban planning firm, the document envisions access trails to various waterfront locations, trails that loop back on themselves along the riverbank, a walkway between Marine Park and Oyster Point, and significant upgrades to Marine Park itself. An ambitious new park near the Galleria is also proposed.
The report’s suggestion that the borough-owned clay tennis courts in Marine Park be moved gets a good deal of attention in the Press story, none of it favorable.
From the story:
Of particular concern to [Williams Street resident Chuck] Watson and other residents interviewed is the report’s recommendation to eliminate and move the four Marine Park clay tennis courts. Some are skeptical that the courts will be rebuilt elsewhere if they are moved from Marine Park and contend that they add as much to the park as the river view.
“I’d hate to see it done. It would take away from the beauty of the park,” said Rich Nicoletti, tennis pro at the borough courts. “I can’t see that coming to an end. It (the report) didn’t say where they relocate (the courts to).”
Nicoletti said there are 103 tennis court members, but that more people who pay as they go use the courts. Clay courts are preferable to play on because they are easier on the body, he said.
“I oppose moving them unless I can be convinced it is doable and viable,” said Watson, who’s played on the courts for about 10 years. “Is there even a space in Red Bank to even move them to?”
The Press adds that the citizens committee will review the report, hold a public hearing and make its own recommendations to the Planning Board for possible inclusion in the open space portion of the master plan. Ultimately, the mayor and council will decide how that plan is amended, Menna said.
Menna has hopes that if voters pass a statewide $200 million open-space referendum on the ballot on Nov. 6, the borough can tap into some of that funding to start to make the plan reality.
“I’ve invited the state to continue to focus on providing funding and to consider regional solutions,” Menna said. “We are a hub, and we recognize the responsibility to Red Bank residents and the area in general to provide recreational activities and open space, but we can’t do it alone.”
Hopefully this park talk will bring attention to the tons of illegally dumped trash, tires, old appliances, house parts, oil and other debris on the primary school property. This was done by current and former residents of locust, leighton and catherine streets. It needs to be cleaned for public safety as well as to reduce mosquito breeding grounds.
Do we really need yet another committee to study this?
I think the entire area should be cleaned, The "new jersey state department of corrections' has a great program that sandyhook uses to clean water fronts and beaches.. Just buy them lunch and they will clean the entire area up.
You will have to get a dumpster.. but thats about it.
This program works, because the guys cleaning the grounds want to do a good job so they are asked to be on the crew again. It beats the other alternative for spending time in a cell.
Greg,
Good idea!
it would be nice if the committee was made up of residents who live by these areas rather than political cronies of the current administration
Greg,
Actually, Red Bank has been using this Dept of Corrections program for several years. It was started by Councilman Bifani, I think. I agree it would be good to include the Swimming River banks.
Also, the banks have been cleaned up just this year by at least a couple of volunteer organizations - Navesink Swimming River Group (nsrwatershed at yahoo.com) and Brookdale and Monmouth Univerisity's Water Watch groups (http://njwaterwatch.org). It would be nice if more residents helped with these efforts. That is not to say that the banks are clean now. After decades of dumping (which is apparently continuing), it will take a few years to clean them up.
Ok..do we need a walk area along the Shrewsbury River? I also think just to redo the old dump an have a nice park would be great..it is something that is really needed; BUT we also know that if it was built in a few years time it would look like Count Basie park!
To have a walkway along the water..YEH so they can dump more trash into it!
Oh, will anyone want to walk around there at night? Ahhh..I see we will have Police on patrol 24/7, just like we do now!
But look property value will go up on the Westside…I can see the for sale signs going up now!
How about we just finally take the effort that has been needed for so long and just clean up the habitat and leave it alone the way nature intended it to be!
Yes, James G, "leave it alone the way nature intended it to be". A thought wonderful enough to warm the heart. I wish it were possible. Maybe "God" is listening and will give us some guidance and help on this one too.
CJ,
Thank you for thinking of me. I love a nice clean waterview. That is why I created so many nice rivers such as the Navesink. It is a sin to dump garbage in such areas. Promoting a nice waterfront area has helped places like Long Branch turn their towns around and invited the public to gather. I like public gatherings especially on Sundays in my Churches with generous donations. I am still counting all the money from yesterday. It was a very good week. Thank you.
God,
I'm glad you had a good week!
A walkway on the swimming river is a great place for illegals to mount sex assaults and muggings. Just look at how many hang out drinking in and near the one on locust. We should at least have sonny set up a waterfront stand to sell modelo and blunts.
CJ,
Thank you for your good wishes! I am sure you will eventually go to Heaven and not the other place. No time soon, so do not worry. Thank you.
I didn't realize God approved of pushing people out of their homes for waterfront condos.
I guess his domain is eminent after all.
Greg Brady's idea of using incarcerated people to clean the shore is just wrong. How about residents volunteering for a shore sweep?
No Name,
I know who you are so you are not fooling me by not putting your name to your quote. I never mentioned eminent domain. Please do not interpret me again. I am not for the displacement of people but I am in favor of having nice places for people to live in. You need to go to church this week and make a very large donation. Thank you.
God,
We would all love to make donations at your church, but we are already committed to very large donations are other houses of worship. One of them is in Red Bank. Another is in Trenton. Your wish that we have nice places to live in is magnanomous, but we wonder if it will not increase our donations at those other houses of worship. I know you will invite me to visit your church and make a donation, but I must ask for a raincheck. Perhaps you will allow me to visit another day.
Observer,
I understand more than you could ever imagine. Thank you.
Use the non-violent criminals to clean? They live pretty good in the county jail. It would do them good to clean up what they probably helped mess up. Two thumbs up! Be sure that the school is not in session please. Over the summer when the bugs are biting would be a good time. Do you know it's a law that we provide cable TV in the jail?
God,
You will then, in your great wisdom, know that certain worshippers believe that part of those donations are crucial to their health and well being. Without our donations necessary dental work might not be performed. Perhaps Gary will be kind enough to contribute to these conversations.
I don't think inmates' living and working conditions can be compared to slaves'. I don't see anything wrong with requiring convicted criminals to pay back some of the $34,000 they cost us a year, as long as they work under humane conditions.
On the other hand, it's shameful that the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world, but that's a separate issue.
God,
It has been an evening of unexpected and unique entertainment. We will hope that Gary will be able to join in tomorrow.
Hey Red Bank Green - Please post when the "Waterfront Committee Planning" will take place at which council meeting.
Regardless of how much money the state gives for the Waterfront project, does anyone have any idea how much our taxes will increase for this park project, security, parking lots, etc? There are quite a few marinas, historical landmark Monmouth Boat Club and Ice Boat Club, and the tennis courts that I would not like to see carved up for this project.
Hey Mayor Menna - I'm interested in becoming a member of the "citizens committee". Why don't you invite me? You can reach me at info@multimediadarling.com
Slavery,
Why should I spend my weekend cleaning up the mess they made, to assist them in increasing their property values, so they can continue to complain about their tax increase?
Let the inmates do it. I'm already paying for it.
Great move by the mayor - the waterfront blueprint is great, as are the plans to form a committee before the money is in place.
I don't play tennis, but those clay courts are a rare treasure. I've thought about taking up tennis just to play on them. That said, tennis courts can be anywhere and riverfront space is a commodity. I support moving them - but only if it's guaranteed, absolutely guaranteed, that they will be MOVED, not eliminated. I don't blame the tennis players of being wary of this.
Boris and CJ,
Lets get all those guys that just got jail time to clean the shore areas…
Wait a minute, They are gonna bribe their way onto the chain gang, just to get out of the cell for a while, so they wont learn a lesson at all.
Oh well I thought i had a good idea, maybe next time.
Tater,
I agree, but I'm a little worried about the Cable TV comment you wrote.
You dont think they get Re-Runs of my show do u? I would hate to have them guys looking at me in a weird way.
GOD, please stop my show from syndication? thanks.
Ill throw an extra 5 in the plate this week.
Dear
slavery was abolished,
I only suggest that these fine inmates could lend a hand doing this work.
Its perfectly ok if anyone wants to help out as a volunteer while they are doing it.
Except the boy scouts, or girl scouts. I dont think they would be the right ones for this job.
But Bobby, Peter, Jan and cindy would help out. Ill even throw in alice and sam if you want. Marcia wont be good shes too pretty.
What about Mom and Dad Brady? Can they help?
Dear Greg Brady,
I thought I already cancelled the show a while ago. I will look into it and if some station is still running it, I will have it replaced with Seinfeld, Family Guy or maybe for people like you who are stuck in the 70's, the Partridge Family.
Greg, kind of you to offer Alice up, but in case you hadn't noticed - she recently joined God. Unless he's sending her back, she isn't going to be much help on the chain gang.
#1, I would use Mom and Dad, but dad died and mom joined a convent recently havent heard from her.
#2, Thanks GOD
#3, Sorry Rob I forgot, You see alice was fired in 1981 because she was stealing from the family. Thought I would sneek this past you, but you have shown you are to smart.
Dear Rob and Greg,
Alice is up here in Heaven. She is very happy and misses the Brady Family very much. She hopes to see you again some day and says hello.
Thanks GOD that makes me feel better.
Greg,
No problem. Have a blessed day!
Dear God,
out of anger for the my property taxes increase, the lack of support from Sharon Lee and the rest of them to follow up with the request for more Police after the increase in gun violence, sexual assaults and the over crowding and prostitution etcetera etcetera etcetera I brought my own street signs, and I am wondering if you could keep an eye on them. I only had enough money left over after paying my taxes to buy 300, and they keep disappearing. Go figure, as they only state the truth
So Please, would you be as so kind to watch over them, then if no more disappear I promise that I wont start taking all of their signs in a tit for tat game.
You cant say tit to GOD.
Dear Citizen,
I will do my best to make sure nothing happens to your signs. If someone does take your signs I will make sure they go straight to hell. Thank you.
Ok..to get back on track.
Today I took the time to go and sit in the primary school parking lot, thinking about this plan the Mayor and Miss. Lee has. I tell you..it STINKS!
First off..the dump was going to be a Green Acres project…no developement, then the question..Why can't we have a nice soccer field, baseball field, a small picnic area a place where a family can go an enjoy themselves…(yeh right)..Oh wait Riverfront forgot to tell you about that in the beginning!
Ok..back to the story..I think we should leave it along..keep it as natural as possible. The reason why is because today I saw not 1 but 3 osprey (one had a fish); plenty of seagulls…some deer!
Wanna do something?; lets clean the place up..add some nesting poles for the Osprey. build some bird houses, maybe even some Bat houses to help fight the bugs…lets keep it natural and a place where our kids who may never get to see how beautiful nature can be have something to look forward to!
I would like RedBankGreen to set up a pole to find out how many people want this Riverfront and how many would like to keep it the way it is with the addittions I mentioned or to add some of their own!
Thanks everyone!
good plan,
you can contact the audubon society for help.
http://www.audubon.org/
Let's hope there are some endangered species, then they won't be able to touch it!
Mr. Tyler,
I hate to be picking on you, but as a candidate you should expect to get special attention. One may argue that spelling and grammatical mistakes are not a big deal, as long as the meaning is understood. In my opinion, it's just like a neat personal appearance. It's harder for me to take in the substance when I'm distracted by the form. Others may have the same problem, so your message gets lost.
I won't list the problems with punctuation and sentence structure because that will take too long, but here are some spelling errors.
"and" not "an"
"leave alone" not "leave along"
"poll" not "pole"
"let's" not "lets"
"additions" not "addittions"
Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood grammarian
P.S. I'll be disappointed if I don't get back a lot of nasty responses.
Grammarian;
Ok..foiled again! I know…but my typing is not up to par!
I promise to proof read my work a little more not rush to get it on line.
I noticed my mistakes after I posted the letter, BUT you can not go back and correct them!
Next time I will ask God for some help with this!
Dear John Tyler,
Spelling is not one of my specialty's either. They say genius's cannot spell and I have proven that this is true since I created everything and no one else has been able to even come close to my accomplishments. Therefore, I believe that this qualifies you to run this town as their new Councilman. I will do my best to see that you win. As for Grammarian, you need to hang out with Greg Brady for a little while.
As nice as this sounds,I have a few questions. Before we spend our tax money on trails and so on, first lets fix our existing parks. The soccer and baseball fields need some serious attention. Our playgrounds are in the process of bieing replaced. After and only after these issues are addressed, then lets talk about walkways and trails. Is there room for a new park? Lets clear our plates before moving on to somthing else.
amen sean
Why isn't the town council moving forward with a proposal for a community center for our kids?
John Tyler, you seem to be environment concience. I like that. Keep nature the way it is. I also agree with Sean. Lets take care of our existing parks and field.
Rich.
P.S. Grammarian, can you give me the correct spelling of concience.
Thank you
John Tyler,
You confused me. Do you want to leave it as is or turn it into ball fields?
Grammarian, thanks for your remarks above. While our opinions on writing may be in the minority here (where reverse snobbery sometimes rears its ugly head), strong writing matters — even in the world of email and blogging. Political candidates who will have somewhat of a say in local educational matters, if elected, should show a relatively strong grasp of the written language and respect for it, no?
That's why weeks ago I was upset by Mr. Tyler's running mate's sloppy postings on Red Bank Green. Mr. Coolahan's writing was similar to that of an average 8th grade student, and I said as much. A couple RBG readers blasted my ideas when they did not mirror their own. My comments were so similar to yours here that some might think "grammarian" is another alias of mine. Alas, it is not. However, a funny aside is that I have a hunch that you, Grammarian, might have been my middle school English teacher who inspired me to become an English teacher myself!