A view down South Street on August 3, above, and a century-old tree being removed Monday. (Photos by John T. Ward, above, and Kenny Katzgrau. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The abrupt removal of nine trees along South Street in Red Bank this week was “unavoidable,” according to interim borough Manager Darren McConnell.
Residents, though, said they were in the dark about the plan until it was too late to change it.
With summer 2023 nearing its end, Red Bank’s public utilities department is reminding residents that there are only two remaining brush pickups scheduled for the year. More →
Though a vendor contract ended eight months ago, Red Bank’s public utilities department is continuing to collect plastic film waste for recycling, said Councilperson Nancy Facey-Blackwood.
That means Wednesday morning’s monthly pickup is still on, she told redbankgreen Saturday.
Smoke from forest fires raging in Canada affected the Greater Red Bank Green for the second time in a month, laying a haze over the Navesink River early Friday morning.
The smoke, which has traveled as far as Europe, is expected to be less intense than the local smothering of June 7, but air quality still “may approach or exceed unhealthy standards,” according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Combined with high temperatures, that could make for especially uncomfortable conditions outdoors.
Here’s the weather forecast for the weekend and beyond from the National Weather Service. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge.)
In the works for more than eight years, Swimming River Park in the River Plaza section of Middletown is set to make its official debut Monday.
Two days early, the Red Bank Environmental Commission hosts an Earth Day Green Fair at the borough middle school Thursday evening.
The council is eyeing requirements for electric vehicle charging in new multifamily projects and parking lots. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
On the Red Bank mayor and council’s agenda for Wednesday night: rules requiring electric vehicle chargers at new developments, and a change in the parking law for a stretch of Spring Street.
Not on the agenda: the burning issue of how to rewrite the town’s cannabis law.
In decades past, members of Red Bank’s North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club, the oldest organization of its kind in America, could count on winters packed with racing and casual sailing.
No more. What’s now called the Navesink River has not frozen well enough for iceboating for five years straight, sending the club’s members, including Mark Petersen and Steve Foster, right, north in search of ice elsewhere. And even that hunt is often futile, as borough resident Brian Donohue reports in his latest ‘Positively Jersey’ video essay for News12. Watch the short video here.
There’s no hope of ice crystals forming Thursday, when local daytime temperatures are expected to crack 60 degrees again (following Wednesday’s peak of 69), according to the National Weather Service. Check out the extended forecast below.
White pails for the program were distributed in 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Yes, Red Bank will collect plastic film for recycling Wednesday, despite the recent end of a one-year pilot program, a borough official told redbankgreen.
A plan for a giant digital billboard at the northern gateway to Red Bank is the subject of a proposal before the zoning board Thursday night.
Cliff Keen on Broad Street last June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
At its first working session of 2023, the Red Bank council fired public utilities director Cliff Keen Wednesday night.
Unmentioned at the meeting: he was replaced on an interim basis, at a cost of $16,500 per month, by Gary Watson Sr., whom Keen succeeded in 2016.
Mayor Pasquale Menna and Councilwoman Kathy Horgan are slated to attend their final session as elected officials. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank may inch closer to turning its onetime landfill on the Swimming River into an eight-acre park under a proposed action on the agenda Wednesday night.
The session, which marks the sunset of Mayor Pasquale Menna‘s 16-year tenure, also includes potential action on short-term rentals.
A fall planting of 75 young trees in Red Bank began with a gingko finding a home on Leonard Street Monday morning.
Temporary sidewalk decals include a QR code that offers routes for Red Bank walking tours. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Environmental Commission began a rollout this week of sidewalk markers downtown aimed at enhancing walkability in the central business district and beyond.
An eastward view of the Navesink River from Red Bank earlier this week. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge.)
The Army Corps of Engineers plans to dredge the Navesink River from Red Bank to Sandy Hook in 2023, according to an announcement by sixth-district Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr.
The borough-owned Tesla gets recharged at a station intended for public use. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s borough government is not yet ready to pull the plug on a donated Tesla sedan, even though keeping the vehicle charged up has been a challenge, interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
A map showing the properties where the DEP plans to do soil testing and remediation. An added arrow indicates the community garden lot. (DEP map. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Homes near Red Bank’s community garden may require heavy excavation work to remove lead-contaminated soil, New Jersey environmental officials told residents Tuesday night.
The Marion Street garden was shut down in 2019 after a private report of possible lead contamination. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is scheduled to update Red Bank residents Tuesday night on its investigation into a report of soil contamination at the borough’s community garden.
Nancy and Phil Blackwood with the car they’ve offered to the town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A fire-engine red Tesla sedan may become part of the Red Bank municipal fleet this week, pending the acceptance of a proposed donation by a borough couple.
Dedicated pails for recycling plastic film waste are available from the public utilities department. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A one-year pilot program to encourage the recycling of plastic film waste enters its second month in Red Bank Wednesday.
Despite some glitches, the first was “a success,” said the borough official overseeing it, as he faced questions about costs.
Pails for segregating plastic film for recycling will be available for pickup October 16. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank residents can now begin setting aside plastic film products for recycling.
Starting November 3, the borough will make monthly collections of everything from dry-cleaning bags to boat wrap.
The zoning board approved the creation of five basement apartments at Tudor Village in 2016. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Pop star Charlie Puth‘s father obtained an extension from the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night on a five-year-old plan to create a handful of apartments on Broad Street.
It was an encore appearance.
Kurt Poehler at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market in May, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The farmer who trigged a backlash over disposed produce at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market Sunday defended the practice as a normal result of sorting Wednesday.
In addition, an organization that puts surplus produce into the hands of those who need it backed him for donating carloads of fruit and vegetables weekly, including Sunday.
Customers of the Red Bank Farmer’s Market were alarmed to see good produce tossed into a dumpster Sunday.
Creating the turtle habitat at Bellhaven involved trucking in a special blend of sand. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank’s Environmental Commission has debuted a pair of completed projects spotlighting turtles and water conservation in recent weeks.