Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: COUNCIL BUSILY CLOSES OUT YEAR

jane-eigenrauch-121714-500x375-6474013Retired librarian Jane Eigenrauch gets a goodbye hug, above, and Councilwoman Juanita Lewis reacts to a tribute at her final meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

juanita-lewis-121714-220x165-6388101At its final scheduled meeting of 2014, the Red Bank council killed a $2.2 million bond ordinance to pay for new water meters amid warnings that a shortage of existing devices could delay new construction in 2015.

The council also:

• approved a new labor agreement covering nearly half the municipal workforce

• extended a moratorium on fees some developers have to pay for parking deficiencies.

• bid adieu to one of its own members

• and honored a newly-retired librarian who had been the borough government’s longest-serving employee.

• A race to get the water meter bond approved by the end of the year had been met with complaints that it was being rushed through without adequate study or explanation. Tacitly acknowledging the haste, Councilman Mike DuPont, who had initiated the measure, also moved to table it, which effectively killed it, for this year at least. But it’s likely to return in 2015.

“I still firmly believe we need to entertain the idea of replacing our water meters,” DuPont said.

Officials have said the meters used by the borough for the past 25 years are no longer manufactured, and that newer devices are more accurate and cost-effective. There’s also a ticking clock of sorts, according to Councilman Ed Zipprich.

“We have a limited number of meters left,” he said. “If we don’t have new meters to go into new construction, those folks won’t get their C of Os,” or certificates of occupancy.

• The council approved a new contract with Communications Workers of America Local 1075. The pact, already approved by the union, is retroactive to January 1, 2014, runs through 2016, and includes pay raises of two percent per year, said Administrator Stanley Sickels.

The contract covers about 50 blue-collar and non-administrative white collar workers, including police dispatchers, trash collectors and office clerks.

For the first time, however, it also creates a new sub-unit for “supervisors and professional employees,” a separation necessary to avoid the conflict of having one bargaining unit member in a position to discipline another, Sickels said. All library employees are now included in the sub-unit because of their advanced-degree requirements and salary levels, he said.

The contract also includes enhanced incentives for workers to decline borough health insurance in favor of a spouse’s plan. The maximum salary boost for taking that route jumps to $5,000, from $1,500, Sickels said.

• A moratorium on payments developers must make when new projects include parking deficiencies was extended yet again, though this time with indications that it may have fulfilled its purpose of reviving the town’s economy and should be lifted.

The moratorium, in place since August, 201o, was unanimously extended through June 30, 2015. But “we did this when we had 40 percent vacancies. I think we have five or seven percent now,” said Councilwoman Kathleen Horgan.

Councilwoman Cindy Burnham, the lone Republican, suggested that the parking ordinance be revised so that any new restaurant of up to 25 seats get a pass on the one-time charges, which can run to more than $1,000 per space of shortfall, while larger new eateries would pay the fees. Her suggestion won guarded support from Democrats Ed Zipprich and Juanita Lewis.

Council President Art Murphy, though, cautioned that reinstating the fee could backfire.

“There are plenty of landlords in this borough who could give two hoots about leaving their buildings vacant,” he said. “I would encourage the council to pass this. We’re not in the business of hurting business, big or small.”

• Lewis, attending her final meeting after six years on the governing body, won praise from her colleagues for her “graceful and gracious” leadership of parks and recreation.

“Her commitment to the young people of Red Bank has been outstanding,” said Zipprich, her running mate in last month’s election, in which Lewis was unseated by Republican Linda Schwabenbauer. He called her a “quiet storm for change” who left the town better off than when she joined the council after five years on the board of education.

Lewis said she felt “honored to have been a member of this historic council.”

• Jane Eigenrauch also got a warm send-off, and a council resolution of appreciation, for her 37 years and 8 months of service at the borough library, which ended November 30. She was the town’s most-senior employee.

Noting that “you need other people to share what you have to give in life,” Eigenrauch thanked “the residents of Red Bank, the people I’ve worked for all these years, for making it possible for me to have a useful and enjoyable career.”

 

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...
WHAT? NO redbankgreen NEWSLETTER?
Apologies to redbankgreen newsletter subscribers: the daily email hasn’t gone out for two days because of technical issues.
RED BANK: TIRED OF SKEETERS?
RED BANK: Tired of mosquito bites every summer? Monmouth County has a free program to help eliminate skeeter breeding grounds.