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.

FAIR HAVEN BACKSTOPS OPEN-SPACE BID

Borough officials are eyeing this Third Avenue property as a potential parking lot for Fair Haven Fields, which is accessible via the backyard. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

With the gates about to open for a piece of the $2 million doled out annually in the form of Monmouth County Open Space Grants, Fair Haven officials were preparing two horses Monday night.

Their presumptive entry: a bid to acquire and demolish a home on Third Street to create a parking lot at the northern end of Fair Haven Fields, where two baseball fields are considered hard-to-reach from the main parking lot.

But should a deal not come together in time, town officials plan to seek funding for improvements to the adjoining nature area, where volunteers have fought to curb rampant invasive species in recent years.

Under the grant rules, towns are permitted to submit just one application per year, and the preferred entry this time around is for the purchase of the property at 110 Third Street, said Mayor Ben Lucarelli.

“For the borough, it has a very strategic location,” Lucarelli said at Monday’s regular meeting of the town council. “We’ve installed two new ballfields in recent years, but they’re very far away from the parking lot.” While no design has yet been worked up for the use of the property, the concept is to clear it for parking, he said.

County tax records show the property is an acre in size and assessed at $323,300. An online listing shows the property priced at $599,900. An appraisal commissioned by the borough put the value at around $520,000, Lucarelli said, noting that he did not have the exact figure.

Monmouth County caps the grants at $250,000 per project, and requires towns to match the grant amounts.

No contract has been entered for the property, and shortly before going into a closed-door executive session with the council to discuss a possible bid, Lucarelli acknowledged that another buyer could swoop in ahead of the borough, “which is why we need this second option” of the natural-area restoration proposal, he told redbankgreen.

Based on an analysis prepared for the borough in 2008, the recommended removal of invasive plants and reforestation at the natural area would cost about $270,000 in today’s dollars, borough Administrator Theresa Casagrande, estimated. Adding a deer fence to the adjoining community garden and a bluestone walkway to connect sidewalks that now terminate at the Church of the Nativity on Ridge Road and Brookside Farm Road at Fair Haven Road would boost the cost to about $470,000, she said.

Noting that the borough would have to bond for its share of the cost, Casagrande said the overall expense could be trimmed by limiting the scope of the project. Dick Fuller, who heads a nature area committee, said that volunteers had tackled some of the work recommended four years ago, which should reduce the cost, he said.

Fuller advocated for bluestone path, as did other residents. His wife, Judy, praised the idea for the garden fence, the lack of which threatened to make the facility the “laughingstock” among nearby community gardens, she said.

Officials are expected to finalize their decision at the September 10 council meeting, in time for the grant application deadline of September 19.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
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 ...