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: TOWN HALL GOES REMOTE AGAIN

fair-haven-borough-hall-011921-2-500x332-6335749Fair Haven’s borough hall and library share the same building on River Road. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

UPDATE: On Tuesday, Little Silver announced it was closing all borough buildings to public access starting Wednesday and until further notice. Details can be found here.

By JOHN T. WARD

hot-topic_02-220x137-6360205Amid a steep rise in positive COVID-19 tests, Fair Haven has put its government and public library at arms-length for the second time in the pandemic.

Borough hall and the library, which share the building at 748 River Road, will be “closed to the public until further notice, due to an increase in Coronavirus cases throughout the region,” the town announced in its daily newsletter Monday afternoon.

The cumulative number of Fair Haven residents infected since the start of the pandemic has risen 25 percent in the past eight weeks, from 618 as of November 1 to 778 as of Monday, according to a report by the Monmouth County commissioners.

Countywide, case totals have grown by 17,798 in that time, with 3,521 added between December 23 and Monday, the county said in its twice-weekly report Monday.

Sixty-six county residents have died from the virus since November 1, according to the reports.

The county has seen 113,623 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in March, 2020, according to the New Jersey Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Fair Haven’s move comes amid an “exponential” rise in infections in multiple countries, driven partly by the Omicron variant identified in late November, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the variant has so far proven less lethal and less likely to cause serious illness than earlier versions of the virus, and on Monday, the CDC shortened its recommended isolation period for those infected but without symptoms to five days, from ten.

The change was “motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after,” the agency said in a statement.

Fair Haven’s offices will continue to operate during regular business hours, with employees reachable via telephone and email, the notice said. Office visits “will be available by appointment on an as-needed basis,” it said.

The annual municipal government reorganization meeting, scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m., will be accessible both in-person, at borough hall, and via Zoom, according to the newsletter.

Library requests may be phoned in to 732-747-0241, extension 220.

Both facilities reopened in June following a 15-month COVID-19 pandemic closure to the public. At the time, Business Administrator Theresa Casagrande said the “entire central office” staff had been vaccinated.

As of early Tuesday, Red Bank and Little Silver had not followed suit. Red Bank is scheduled to hold its reorganization session via Zoom Saturday at 3 p.m., following an in-person swearing-in ceremony at noon, and Little Silver’s is slated for Monday, both in-person. [Correction: the original version of this story incorrectly reported that Red Bank’s reorganization meeting would be in-person.]

If you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen, please become a financial supporter for as little as $1 per month. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
SIDEWALK GOES FROM WORST TO FIRST
P (photo by Brian Donohue) What had been, in our estimation – and apparently in the eyes of the several people who have emailed and te ...
RED BANK: PEERING FROM ON HIGH, ACROSS THE DECADES
Roofers on the Azalea Red Bank top off the project in the shadow of a sculpture depicting another generation of construction workers who toi ...
BRICK FACELIFT CONTINUES ON MONMOUTH STREET
A million-dollar brick sidwalk makeover of Monmouth Street in Red Bank continues.
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.
STRIPER RUN AT MARINE PARK
An angler pulls in a striped bass from the Marine Park bulkhead Tuesday evening. (photo by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
COLD AS CANADA? CHECK.
A pair of goose sculptures propped atop an air conditioning unit on River Street in Red Bank.
SUNRISE OVER A GLASSY NAVESINK
Sunrise over the Navesink River, seen from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim)  
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
NJ Transit "heritage" locomotive makes an appearance at the Red Bank station.
RBFD SNUFFS OUT SMALL APARTMENT FIRE
A small fire that started in a light fixture at the Colony House apartments in Red Bank was quickly put out by members of the Red Band Volun ...
HEAVENLY RED BANK
Rays burst from behind clouds at the sun begins to set over the Navesink River. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
IN THE FLOW STATE AT RIVESIDE GARDENS
Flow artists in Riverside Gardens Park Friday night. ( photo by Partyline Contributor Karly Swaim)
MAILBOXES HEAD TO HISTORY’S SCRAP HEAP
Sign of the digital age: mailboxes hauled away from Red Bank post office to storage.
HOVERING CHOPPER
What’s going on here? Last Sunday. Hovering around for quite a while. (Photo and text by Partyline contributor Rosaleen Perry)   ...
RBMS HOOPS CHAMPS HONORED
The Red Bank Middle School girls basketball team is honored for their championship season. (click for more)
NAVESINK SUNSET
Sunset sunburst over Riverside Gardens Park (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
RIVERSIDE SUNSET
Sunday’s sunset shot from Riverside Gardens Park. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus) —