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RED BANK: WEST SIDE LEAD PIPE PLAN OK’D

Eighty percent of Red Bank properties have an unknown type of water service line, according to ENGenuity. (Image by ENGenuity. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03Red Bank’s West Side streets will soon be abuzz with street-opening backhoes as as the borough embarks on a massive, decade-long effort to identify and replace lead water lines.

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RED BANK: PIPES, RENTALS, VOTING ON DECK

Branch Avenue resident Alberto Larotonda with a lead pipe he brought to a council meeting in 2015. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topicThe Red Bank council may authorize spending up to $2.4 million to replace water service lines made of lead when it meets Wednesday night.

Also on the heavy agenda: possible adoption of a controversial law restricting short-term residential rentals; a study of water rates; a change in the zoning law governing cannabis sales; and authorizing early, in-person voting for an historic May election.

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RED BANK: WIRE SNIP SNAPS UTILITY POLE

red bank utility pole down No injuries were reported, and power was not immediately affected, after a utility pole snapped and fell against a building on English Plaza in Red Bank Thursday afternoon.

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RED BANK: WHITE STREET FIXES OUTLINED

The makeover plan would affect English Plaza and the stretch of White Street from English Plaza to Broad Street, above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s chaotic English Plaza and White Street area may become a part-time oasis under a concept plan unveiled Wednesday night.

Working with a $500,000 zero-interest loan from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Red Bank RiverCenter also aims to make the space safer for pedestrians an motorists, officials told the borough council.

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BUILDING THE RANKS OF FEMALE ENGINEERS

jacki flor 041814Jacki Flor on the site of the Sea Bright municipal parking lot reconstruction, which she’s overseeing, and Christine Ballard, giving a presentation in Red Bank below, say their interest in solving mechanical problems was nurtured when they were girls. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

c ballard 52609Of the 565 towns and cities in New Jersey, only 19 have female municipal engineers. And two of them serve towns on the Green: Christine Ballard in Red Bank, and Jaclyn Flor, in Sea Bright.

Municipal engineers are the brains behind public infrastructure, designing everything from crosswalks to sewer lift stations. They pursue grants to pay for ballfields and bulkheads. And they serve as emissaries, navigating the often choppy waters between zoning board applicants, contractors, elected officials and taxpayers.

In that realm, a woman’s point of view and way of communicating can often be helpful, Ballard said.

“There have been a lot of men doing this for a long time, and I’m sure they did it well,” she told redbankgreen. But “there’s been a wonderful transition to women in government,” and it turns out that other women are “sometimes better at translating projects, and why we need to spend a million dollars to fix the water plant,” to diverse constituencies, she said.

In fact, the broader field of engineering could use many more women, which is why the American Association of University Women and the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore are putting on an event at Brookdale Community College on Saturday to encourage girls to consider careers as engineers.

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