By JOHN T. WARD

After 15 years as a vacant eyesore, a property at a gateway to Red Bank has been transformed into a spiffy new… parking lot.

Serving the Atrium at Navesink Harbor senior citizens’ luxury high-rise on Riverside Avenue, and accessible only to its valet drivers, the parking lot is the first of a long line of development ideas for the site to be completed.

The sorta-triangular one-acre lot at West Front Street and Riverside Avenue was home to a car dealership for half a century, beginning in the 1940s. Schwartz Mazda general manager Jon Schwartz tells redbankgreen the business later tried luring both McDonald’s and Trader Joe’s to the site, without success.

“It would’ve been a good spot for them,” he says of Trader Joe’s. “They run small stores. Perfect location for their clientele.” (Trader Joe’s opened its first store in the area in Shrewsbury last March.)

Schwartz sold the site to the PRC Group and relocated to Shrewsbury in 1997. Eight years later, PRC won approval for an office building on the site. But it never saw the light of day.

Dubbed Red Bank Corporate Plaza II, the three-story structure was to have been a companion to a complex built on the opposite side of West Front Street that now houses numerous offices as well as Pazzo MMX restaurant. But the plan lay dormant after a collapse in the real estate market.

In 2009, the borough zoning board approved Springpoint Senior Living‘s proposal for  a 98-car, secure-access lot reserved for Atrium residents and their guests. Their cars are to be parked and retrieved by valets following a specified clockwise route dictated by the board to mitigate its impact on traffic.

According to a fact sheet from Springpoint, which is also building a six-story addition to it existing 12-story structure, improvements at the parking lot include berms with decorative fencing, a small sitting area and extensive landscaping.

“The lot looks good,” said car dealer Schwartz.

Historian Randall Gabrielan has some information on the neighborhood and photos from Dorn’s Classic Images in his “Red Bank in the Twentieth Century,” which can be paged through online at Google Books.

Westside Community Group president Amy Goldsmith, right, discusses the debate format with candidates Juanita Lewis, Joe Mizzi, Grace Cangemi and Ed Zipprich. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s Republican contenders for borough council were on the defensive Wednesday night as their opponents, and some voters, pressed them on their perceived sudden re-emergence as election day looms.

Resident David Prown asked GOP candidates Grace Cangemi and Joe Mizzi how confident taxpayers should feel in their representation, given what he characterized as their low profile between last spring’s candidacy announcement and now. Several questioners pressed them on the point of view that the pair say is missing from the current all-Democrat council.

In the evening’s most heated moment, incumbent Ed Zipprich called his opponent’s criticisms of the current council “absolutely ridiculous,” and said Cangemi, a former council member, hadn’t appeared at a session of the governing body since she lost a re-election bid in 2008, though she had pledged to serve as a watchdog.

“What have you done for the town in the three years since you walked out the door?” he asked.

About 75 residents turned out for the event, held at the River Street Commons senior citizens’ complex. (Click to enlarge)

In response to Zipprich, Cangemi said she had been working, and didn’t question his dedication to the borough.

“It’s not about campaign strategy,” Cangemi replied to Prown. “Really, its a matter of your accessibility when you’re serving. That’s when it’s important.”

Mizzi, who came up short in his bid for council last year, told Prown that the local GOP doesn’t have the resources to mail campaign literature to residents and put up signs.

Cangemi and Mizzi hope to unseat Zipprich and Juanita Lewis, both first-term council members.

The clash between Zipprich and Cangemi came amid an otherwise low-key and wide-ranging event: the Westside Community Group’s 15th annual candidate’s night at the River Street Commons.

Residents asked the candidates about issues that included perceived neglect of streets and other quality of life issues on the West Side; whether the town should sell its water utility; and, in the words of Marybeth Maida, “what voices are not being heard” that Cangemi would speak for.

“Joe and I bring a little something different to the table,” Cangemi said in her closing remarks. “It’s not dedication, it’s not hard work. But I think it’s really important that we bring greater transparency to the process” of managing the town.

Cangemi frequently struck a collegial tone. She said that although taxes had gone up, she would not “lay that at [Lewis and Zipprich's] doorstep, because taxes have gone up everywhere.” In response to a question about what Red Bank RiverCenter had done for West Side businesses, Cangemi said the special improvement district agency “has done a very good job of attracting a few new businesses, but the vast majority of those businesses have gone to the East Side.”

Mizzi took issue with RiverCenter’s spending on salaries and administrative costs, and said the town’s rent control ordinance needs amending to tame rent increases that outpace income growth.

Lewis stuck to a theme of Red Bank “making progress” in terms of keeping taxes in check, developing business and upgrading parks in a tough economy. Zipprich sounded a similar note.

“I think Red Bank has prospered under Democratic leadership and will continue to prosper under Democratic leadership,” he said.

Except for Councilman Mike DuPont, none of the town’s elected officials other than Lewis and Zipprich appeared at the event.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of the low-lying Chapin Hill at Red Bank nursing home Saturday as Hurricane Irene neared, packing winds of 90 miles per hour in North Carolina yet leaving the anxious Jersey Shore eerily calm.

Also affected by an evacuation order was the 40-unit Locust Landing apartment complex on Locust Avenue, Tommy Welsh, coordinator of Red Bank’s Emergency Management Committee, tells redbankgreen.

A 1 p.m., two buses and an ambulance were on the scene of the nursing home, on Chapin Avenue near the Newman Springs Road bridge over the Swimming River, preparing to relocate 113 patients.

Affected are 77 wheelchair-reliant patients and 8 bedridden ones, Welsh said.

Many of the patients were to be relocated to a sister facility in Mercer County, Welsh said, but that home doesn’t have enough beds to accommodate all Red Bank residents, he said. “They are are still trying to secure a location for 41 beds,” he said at 1:30 p.m.

Facility managers are being “totally cooperative,” and the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management has pledged to try to help the center with transportation and placement issues later today if they are unable to resolve the shelter issue, Welsh said.

“Of course, the last thing you want to do is evacuate a convalescent center,” Welsh said.

The four-story brick nursing center and the Locust Landing apartments are the only structures affected by “code red” order issued late Friday by county OEM, which directed  towns to evacuate properties lying within designated flood zones.

No others exist in Red Bank, Welsh said, noting that the Oyster Point Hotel, while situated on the Navesink River, is not in a flood zone.

Police went to Locust Landing at about 10:30 to ask residents to move their cars, and found that about 70 percent of the residents had already vacated or were planning to do so. The order to vacate was issued about 90 minutes later, Welsh said.

“It’s right on the river. It’s about 20 yards away from the water,” he said.

[See corrections at the bottom of this article]

Construction of an addition to the upscale Atrium at Navesink Harbor senior-citizens residence in Red Bank is expected to start next week with nearly all 60 units spoken for, according to officials at Springpoint Senior Living.

Long before the build-out is complete, however, an eyesore lot at the fork of West Front Street and Riverside Avenue will be transformed into a green-trimmed parking area for use by Atrium residents – and attended by valets, says company chief financial administrative officer Chuck Mooney.

An architect’s rendering of the six-story addition, at right above, as seen from Riverside Avenue.

The triangular one-acre lot, which was once home to a car dealership and won approval in 2005 as the site of an office building that never saw the light of day, will serve as a staging area for construction of the six-story addition to the existing 12-story Atrium on Riverside Avenue. Work should be completed in December 2012, Mooney says.

But just 30 or so days after the $35 million addition starts, backhoes will also tear into the cracked asphalt lot across the street, Mooney tells redbankgreen. The resulting 98-car, secure-access lot will be reserved for Atrium residents and their guests, whose cars are to be parked and retrieved by valets following specified traffic patterns dictated by the borough zoning board to mitigate traffic impacts.

The valet service is just one of many perks at the Atrium, a  continuing care retirement community that offers gourmet meals, onsite banking, pontoon-boat river cruises and in-apartment healthcare. Residents pay entry fees of $350,000 to $1 million, plus monthly service fees of up to $4,500 to live there.

Springpoint has already spent more than $15 million renovating the formerly drab senior’s residence it acquired for $7 million from the American Baptist Estate in 2005, when it was known as Navesink House.

In spite of the tough economy, particularly for real estate, the addition is virutally sold out, Mooney says. Eleven of the planned units have been reserved by singles and couples who already live at the Atrium, he says, and all 60 units are under contract, though a contract-attrition rate of 15 to 18 percent in the industry means that a waiting list of buyers will certainly be tapped, he says.

The sellout, he says, is proof of demand for active lifestyles by today’s seniors.

“The typical model is 50 acres in a country setting,” Mooney says of retirement communities. “Now, the residents want to be more integrated into the local community, to stay with the same doctors they already see, to go to the same restaurants.”

The Atrium, which is Springpoint’s only urban facility, draws its residents from within a five-mile radius, whereas similar projects typically draw from 15 to 25 miles out, Mooney says.

[Correction and clarification: Mooney's title is "chief administrative officer," not chief financial officer. We apologize for the error.

Regarding the fees cited above, those came from information provided to redbankgreen in 2009. Mooney tells us that the entry fees have since been adjusted downward, so that they now range from $200,800 to $949,000, and that monthly service fees begin at $3,500. "The majority of the apartments have monthly service fees significantly below $4,500," Mooney says.]

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

For many retirees, the entry into the golden years is a chance to travel, spend more time on the golf course or play the spoiling grandparent.

But for retired carpenter Frank Scordo, post-employment means keeping up with a hobby that, for most, might just instantly pound the brain’s snooze button: cultivating a collection of hammers.

We’re not talking about a few dozen nail drivers on a shelf in his garage in Tinton Falls. Scordo takes pride in his “man cave,” where hundreds of hammers clutter and slice the white walls into fragments.

Each one’s got a story, too, and Scordo, 65, pulled down a couple favorites, or his “conversation starters.”

There’s the hammer with no claw, “for somebody who didn’t make any mistakes.” There’s another the size of a small child used for hammering down wine barrels. The offensive-looking symbol on the head of another is not, in fact, a swastika, but an identifying mark lumber workers used to stamp into a tree to note that it was theirs.

His collection of nearly 2,000 hammers also includes the hard-to-find and hard-to-fathom. One hammer has a magnifying glass attached to it; another, a wrench. One, called a “salesman” hammer, is partially cut open to show the hammer’s insides. Another hammer, called a “bill poster’s hammer,” looks more like golf club and was use to post a notice or wanted sign on a tree or post. Scordo also says he has a hammer that was used on the construction of the Panama Canal.

It’s a hobby Scordo stumbled upon about 20 years ago, when he was at a garage sale and bought some planes. These were like his gateway drug, and pretty soon he’d move on to the heavier stuff, the hammers.

“You just get carried away with it,” he said.

Scordo knows he’s among thin ranks of tool enthusiasts, drawing an esoteric pleasure from the simple structure of a handle and head. But he’s actually a novice, he said, who studies the history of hammers and tools with fervor.

“This is a small collection,” he said. “I thought I had a lot of hammers. There’s guys that’ve written books, who have a million hammers.”

Scordo’s collection is split between his man cave and the Shrewsbury Historical Society, to which he’s loaned some 1,200 “hammers, picks, planes, augers, mallets, axes, drills, and other collectibles [that] showcase the creative talents of wood craftsmen, cabinet makers, railroad workers, cobblers, blacksmiths, tree men, surgeons, dentists, carpenters and plumbers,” in the words of the society’s website. If it wasn’t divided up, the assemblage would surely be spread throughout his Tinton Falls two-story home, and there’s just no room for that.

His wife, Patricia, is also a collector.

Stepping into their home is almost like stepping into a museum itself. Take a seat on one of the antique couches in the living room and you’re faced with a vast collection of Santa Clause figurines, although the case won’t hold all 850 of the ones she’s amassed. Throughout the house, shelves, counters and available nooks are occupied by random figurines, old kerosene lamps, Depression glass.

Then there’s her collection of piano benches, which is scattered throughout the house, garage and attic.

“If you notice, we’re into antiques,” Scordo said.

The hammers certainly take up a lot of Scordo’s free time, although he often plays with his grandchildren, who live next door. And when he can, Scordo tries to do some carpentry work on the side, mostly to stay active, he said — although there’s an ulterior motive.

“I’ve got to keep busy,” he said. “Just to make some more money to buy more hammers.”

Sordo’s hammers are on display from 10a to 2p on Saturdays at the Shrewsbury Historical Society at the borough municipal complex, Broad Street & Sycamore Avenue. Special group arrangements may be made by calling 732-747-3635.

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

A Fair Haven senior citizen was bilked out of $14,000 recently by a person pretending to be his or her grandson, police said.

Police were alerted to the scam Thursday, when a senior said that a person identifying himself as a grandson made five phone calls over three days claiming he was in need of help.

The scammer claimed he was in Spain, got into an accident and needed money wired to him, police said. Over the course of three days the “actor” received approximately $14,000 from the senior, police said.

Police did not release the names of the victim or alleged scammer.

Any similar incidents residents may have encountered are urged to call Fair Haven police at 7232.747.0241, extension 1.

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

It’s facing kind of a conundrum, says Mayor Mike Halfacre, of the Fair Haven council’s role in weighing an informal proposal for age-restricted housing in the borough.

On the one hand, the council has been asked to create an overlay district to allow higher densities in a neighborhood just off River Road, a move that might in turn fill a longtime need in town for more housing for the borough’s senior population.

But doing so carries the potential of leaving a bad taste in the mouths of neighbors.

Even though the proposal from builder Kevin Hughes is in what Halfacre called “step A, minus one,” some neighbors are already hoping to derail it. At a Tuesday morning meeting specifically relocated to the borough’s youth and senior center in order to accommodate the older population, area residents obliged with a solid half-hour of bristling to the council.

A set of plans on file at borough hall show 10 cottage-style homes to be built on Colonial Court. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

Hughes hasn’t made a formal application build approximately 10 cottage-style homes on the dead-end Colonial Court, between Hance Avenue and Smith Street. But it’s a topic at the forefront, chiefly because it would require an amendment to the residential zone. And “this has to start somewhere,” Halfacre said.

That particular point doesn’t sit well with Pat and Ralph Finaldi, who live on Hance.

“I moved into a zone where I though there was going to be neighbors with kids and things like that,” Ralph Finaldi said, making sure to point out that he has no issue with seniors. It’s just that, “I didn’t move into a place where, gee, there’s going to be six, eight, 10 houses right next to me. ”

Brian Lonergan, who lives close to Colonial Court and once served on the borough planning board, voiced concern that the public hasn’t been kept informed on the discussions between Hughes and borough officials. Although Halfacre said notices will be sent out to nearby residents when any formal meeting takes place. Lonergan, speaking from his experience on the planning board, said the public needs to be involved from the beginning so all the facts are out in the open.

“Once these things start rolling, then they have a life of their own,” Lonergan said.

The problem, though, is that there isn’t a whole lot of information to put out there, Halfacre said.

Hughes, of Fair Haven, hasn’t done much more than feel out borough officials to determine if he should proceed. He’s submitted some sketches, which call for 10 small, cottage-style homes on Colonial Court, and would be strictly for seniors — the age threshold hasn’t yet been determined. Wetlands and traffic issues that objectors raised will be known if and when a feasibility study is conducted, Halfacre said.

He tried to make these points to the feisty crowd on Tuesday, in order to quell its initial concerns.

“This is a multi-month, multi-meeting process. Where we’re at is the concept of the plan, not the details of the plan,” Halfacre said. “It’s not fair to abort the plan just because someone doesn’t like the concept. As a concept, we owe it to all the residents of town to explore it.”

At least 20 people who signed a petition don’t even want to explore the idea. Chuck Cocuzza, of Colonial Court, flashed the petition to the council when it was his turn to air his grievance.

“I feel this is out of character for the neighborhood,” he said. “Why don’t you move on? Save the time and money. Everybody is against it.”

But Halfacre isn’t going to hit the brakes. Not yet.

In an apparent effort to lighten the vibe in the room on Tuesday, he reiterated the council’s role in matters like this.

“We’re exploring a process, and part of that exploration is to sit here and have people yell at us,” he said. “We’re used to that.”

The council’s next meeting is 7p on June 28 at borough hall.

The crime reports appearing here were provided by the Red Bank Police Department for the week of May 28 to June 4, 2010. This information appears here unedited.

Criminal Mischief occurring on 5-29-10 at Allen Place. Victim reported that unknown person(s) keyed both sides of parked vehicle, leaving long scratches. Ptl. David Smith.

Criminal Mischief occurring on Windward Way between 5-29-10 and 5-20-10. Reports of 4 mailboxes and posts being removed from ground along with two stop signs and two street signs being torn down by the front entrance to complex. Ptl. David Hicks.

Criminal Mischief occurring on 6-1-10 at Waverly Place. Victim reported that unknown person(s) let the air out of four tires on parked vehicle. Ptl. Ashon Lovick.

Criminal Mischief occurring on 6-2-10 at Newman Springs Rd.-Car Dealership. Victim reported that work was done on vehicle and after returning home, noticed several scratches on doors of vehicle. Lt. Michael Clay.

Burglary and Theft occurring at W. Bergen Place parking lot on 6-3-10. Victim reported that unknown person(s) broke the rear driver’s side window out and stole a brief case containing paperwork. Ptl. Michael Campanella.

ARRESTS 6 Contempt of Court

OTHER ARRESTS:
Luis Perez, age 22 male of Oceanport was arrested on 6-3-10 in the area of Hudson Ave. for Simple Assault by Lt. Michael Clay.

Mark Vanderver, age 25 male of Ocean Grove was arrested on 6-1-10 in the area of Catherine St. for Harassment by Ptl. Robert Campanella.

Javier Perez-Rosas, age 24 male of Red Bank and Javier Tlalpachito-Hernandez, age 22 male of Red Bank were arrested on 5-31-10 in the area of W. Front St. for Disorderly Conduct by Ptl. Paul Perez, Ptl. Michael Campanella.

Ruperto Vicens-Marques, age 23 male of Red Bank was arrested on 5-31-10 in the area of W. Front St. for Disorderly Conduct and Resisting Arrest by Ptl. John Camarca and Ptl. Michael Campanella.

Julian Ocotoxtle-Varela, age 32 male of Red Bank was arrested on 5-30-10 in the area of Bridge Ave. for DWI by Sgt. Michael Furlong.

Steven Murphy, age 20 male of Shrewsbury was arrested on 5-29-10 in the area of N. Bridge Ave. for Poss. of CDS, Marijuana Under 50 grams by Sgt. Michael Furlong and Ptl. Michael Campanella.

Joseph Tripodi, age 18 male of Middletown was arrested on 5-29-10 in the area of N. Bridge Ave. for Poss. of CDS, Marijuana Under 50 grams, Resisting Arrest and Aggravated Assault on Police Officer by Ptl. Michael Campanella.

Robert Frost, age 39 male of Red Bank was arrested on 5-28-10 in the area of West St. for Purchasing Alcohol for Subject Underage by Capt. Thomas McDonouogh.

A male juvenile age 17 of Middletown was arrested on 5-28-10 in the area of N. Bridge Ave. for Attempting to Purchase Alcohol Underage by Sgt. Robert Gannon.

Cooper Ross, age 21 male of Shrewsbury was arrested on 5-28-10 in the area of W. Front St. for Disorderly Conduct by Ptl. Deron Ilarraza.

Red Bank’s Riverview Medical Center has begun restricting patient visits to visitors 18 years and older as part of a dialed-up effort to block the spread of H1N1 swine flu virus, the center says in a press release.

Here’s the announcement:

Meridian Health Issues Visitor Guidelines to Prevent H1N1 Flu Spread
New guidelines for visitors to all of Meridian Health’s hospitals effective Friday, November 13

Neptune, NJ ─  Meridian Health, comprised of Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center, and K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, is temporarily modifying its hospital visitation policy to include recommendations to restrict visitors under the age of 18.

Since the beginning of the H1N1 influenza pandemic, our hospitals have been encouraging preventative measures such as frequent hand washing, and asking visitors to refrain hospital visitation if they are experiencing any illness.

These additional age-specific guidelines are based on recommendations recently issued by the New Jersey Hospital Association, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, and the Centers for Disease Control, and follow similar approaches taken by hospitals across the nation. Starting Friday, November 13 and continuing for the duration of the flu season, families and visitors are asked to observe the following:

• Please do not bring children under the age of 18 to visit friends and loved ones in the hospital. No individuals under the age of 18 are recommended to visit the hospital unless they are a patient or in special circumstances that have been identified and approved by the hospital.

• Please do not visit friends or loved ones in the hospital if you are feeling ill. As we ask during regular flu season, please do not visit friends and loved ones the hospital if you are experiencing respiratory illness or any flu-like symptoms such as a fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

“Meridian highly values the importance of family and friends for a patient’s successful recovery, and therefore carefully considered the impact of any visitation restriction,” says Richard Hader, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Meridian Health. “However, the extraordinary nature of the current flu pandemic requires us to follow the latest public health recommendations and adjust our traditional family and patient-centered approach accordingly as part of our comprehensive flu response efforts. We appreciate our visitor’s cooperation and understanding as we work to best protect our patient’s safety during this challenging flu season.”

We are also asking visitors to please:
·       Limit their movement within the hospital
·       Use waterless soap/hand sanitizer provided throughout the hospital when entering and exiting a patient’s room and limit touching surfaces within the room.
·       Follow our team’s guidance and instruction on the proper use of personal protective equipment, such as masks, prior to entering the room of a patient with respiratory illness.

For visitors coming to our emergency departments experiencing respiratory illness or flu-like symptoms, we ask that a surgical mask be worn while in the waiting areas.  Masks are available at the entrance of the emergency departments.

For further information on the H1N1 virus or the seasonal flu, please visit meridianhealth.com/H1N1 or flu.gov

Meridian Health is a family of not-for-profit health care organizations comprising Jersey Shore University Medical Center and K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital in Neptune, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Meridian Partner Companies that include home health services, skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, ambulatory care, ambulance services, and occupational health centers located throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties.