FAIR HAVEN: POWER OUT FOR 100 HOMES
A stretch of Fair Haven Road in Fair Haven remained closed at mid-afternoon Monday as utility workers replaced a pole downed in a brief storm Sunday night.
RED BANK: GAS SITE MAY GET ‘JET GROUTING’
The sewage pump station at the foot of Cooper’s Bridge was once used as a gas manufacturing plant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
More than a century after it served as a gas works, a riverfront Red Bank property may get some 20th-century environmental remediation.
Coal tar and other toxic wastes beneath the town’s Bodman Place sewage pumping station overlooking the Navesink are slated to be immobilized by technology known as ‘jet grouting,’ according to borough officials.
FAIR HAVEN: PETERS BLASTS JCP&L ON LAMPS
An easterly view along River Road from Cedar Street earlier this week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[See UPDATES below]
By JOHN T. WARD
Electricity supplier JCP&L may be unplugging itself from an agreement to install low-energy streetlamps in Fair Haven, Environmental Commission Chairman Ralph Wyndrum said Wednesday night.
That prompted some choice words about the utility from commission member and former councilman Jon Peters. Among them: “They are the princes and princesses of darkness.”
RED BANK: THREE-WEEK DETOUR PLANNED
Yes, the flashing sign shown above has a typo. But starting Friday, the eastbound lane of East Bergen Place from Broad Street to South Street in Red Bank will be closed for utility work, the borough announced Wednesday.
RED BANK: POWER LINE STRUCK
A backhoe operator was lucky to be alive after his machine struck a live power line in Red Bank Tuesday morning.
RED BANK: POWER BACK ON AS HEAT DIALS UP
Six days after Tropical Storm Isaias, electrical service was almost fully restored on the Greater Green early Monday, just in time for some uncomfortably hot weather.
As of 6 a.m., 11 homes and businesses in Fair Haven were awaiting restoration of power from First Energy/JCP&L, down from more than 2,300 at the peak, according to the utility’s outage map. Fewer than 5 each in Red Bank and Little Silver were still without service, the map indicated.
Ambient temperatures and humidity will combine to create feels-like peaks to nearly 100 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The extended forecast for the Greater Green is below.
RED BANK: POWER OUTAGES CONTINUE
The effects of Tropical Storm Isaias continued to disrupt life on the Greater Green early Friday, three days after it passed through the region.
As of 6 a.m., 80,411 homes and businesses in Monmouth County did not have electrical service from First Energy/JCP&L, or more than one in four customers, according to the utility’s outage map, shown above.
See details about Red Bank, Fair Haven and Little Silver below.
RED BANK: WIRE SNIP SNAPS UTILITY POLE
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.
FAIR HAVEN: OUTAGES LINGER AFTER STORM
Fair Haven and other towns on the Greater Red Bank Green were abuzz with the sound of power saws Tuesday morning as residents worked to clear downed trees and limbs following Monday evening’s brief, intense storm.
RED BANK: STORM LEAVES POWER OUTAGES
A brief, intense storm Monday evening blew a tree down onto an apartment building on Spring Street in Red Bank, above, and left numerous power outages across the Greater Green, according to the JCP&L service map, at right.
More thunderstorms, some severe, were possible overnight, according to the National Weather Service. (Photo by John Tyler. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: POWER OUT AFTER POLES SNAP
Jersey Central Power & Light’s outage map showed electricity out for up to 100 Red Bank customers Friday following an early-morning incident in which two utility poles on Maple Avenue snapped.
RED BANK: POWER SWITCH IN THE WORKS
Billing for service would continue to come from JCP&L even for those customers who participate in the aggregation plan. (Image by Concord. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In an effort to head off shocks to residents about anticipated changes to their electricity bills, Red Bank official kicked off a public outreach effort Thursday.
Driving the effort: the borough’s planned entry into the “energy aggregation” marketplace, where the local government serves as a bundler of customers to obtain better rates than those offered by Jersey Central Power & Light.
RED BANK: HOUSING & MORE PACKS AGENDA
The former home of the Visiting Nurse Association is seen as the answer to a chunk of Red Bank’s affordable housing obligation. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan to resolve Red Bank’s so-called Mount Laurel affordable housing obligation is up for resolution Wednesday night.
Also up for votes: a series of small-bore zoning changes, help for motorists at a dicey corner and more. Here’s a look at the busy agenda.
RED BANK: ELECTRICITY DEAL IN THE WORKS
JCP&L’s power distribution facility adjoining Mohawk Pond in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials are considering passage of a law that would automatically turn Jersey Central Power & Light customers in the borough into customers of another electricity provider unless they opt out.
RED BANK: LIVE WIRE LANDS ON VAN
Charlie Velazquez said he was “still shaking” after his near brush with death. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Middlesex County man said he was “lucky to be alive” after a live electrical line landed on the van he was driving in Red Bank Wednesday morning. Read More
ON THE GREEN: OUTAGES & DELAYED OPENINGS
A storm that dropped several inches of wet, heavy snow on the Greater Red Bank Green Wednesday left dozens of customers without electrical service early Thursday morning, as shown in JCP&L’s outage map above.
RED BANK: POLE DOWNED ON BROAD STREET
A pedestrian suffered minor injuries when she was hit by falling debris as a FedEx truck exiting the Red Bank Post Office caught overhead wires and pulled a utility pole down on Broad Street at about 4:40 p.m. Thursday, according to police Chief Darren McConnell.
LINCROFT: OUTAGE CLOSES BROOKDALE
A power outage prompted officials to close Brookdale Community College Wednesday, the school announced on social media.
LITTLE SILVER: HIGH WINDS PROMPT OUTAGES
Crews from JCP&L and Little Silver cleared a fallen tree and electrical line on Branch Avenue, where a service line was torn away from the house at left during a wind storm Sunday morning. The utility company’s outage map showed up to 100 customers in both Little Silver and the River Plaza section of Middletown without power, with lesser numbers in Shrewsbury and Fair Haven.
The National Weather Service had a high-wind warning in effect until noon, with possible gusts of of 50 to 60 miles per hour. And . (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
RED BANK: WARNING ON FAKE JCP&L CALLS
Red Bank officials are warning residents of a phone scam making the rounds.
In an alert issued Wednesday, the police said the scammers use methods to trick residents into believing the calls come from electric utility JCP&L.
RED BANK: HERE’S WHY YOU’RE STUCK, AGAIN
Traffic was heavy on Bridge Avenue and other roads surrounding Hubbard’s Bridge during Wednesday’s morning rush. Below, an unidentified worker carries a granite block, one of many such paving stones and old red bricks unearthed during the first day of work on the intersection on the Red Bank side of the span. (Photo below by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Message to motorists stuck in the somewhat-suddenly-worse-again traffic surrounding Hubbard’s Bridge between Middletown and Red Bank: think of the kids.
That’s one spin that officials put on a two-to-three-week closure of the span that was announced late last Friday and took effect Wednesday morning.
RED BANK: COPS WARN OF PHONE SCAM
The Red Bank Police Department issued this notice early Wednesday afternoon:
WARNING: GREEN DOT PHONE SCAM
In the recent weeks, Red Bank Police Department has received a large number of reports from victims of a telephone fraud operation. These frauds have been documented on the news and are occurring throughout the nation.
In the scam, the victim is contacted by a person representing themselves as an employee of a business. In many of the scams, the callers have been identifying themselves as representatives of JCP&L (power company) however other business names and agencies have been used as well. The caller tells the person that they are late on paying their power bill and their power will be shut off if they do not pay immediately. The caller then directs the victim to purchase Green Dot MoneyPak cards.
SHREWSBURY SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON JCP&L
By: REBECCA DESFOSSE
In case it wasn’t already getting the message, JCP&L will now hear it from the Borough of Shrewsbury: get your act together.
At Monday night’s town council meeting, a resolution that resulted from a recent Snow Summit of Monmouth County town officials won approval. It includes 10 recommendations aimed at getting the power utility to improve communications in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
One council member voted against the measure.
RED BANK: SEX, POWER AND GENERATORS
The Red Bank council wants JCP&L to send company representatives to any town with more than five percent of its customers experiencing outages. (Photo by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)
By WIL FULTON
Electrical utility JCP&L and sexually oriented businesses were foremost on the agenda at Red Banks bimonthly council meeting Tuesday night.
Mayor Pasquale Menna and council members began the meeting by putting forth a resolution that will urge the state Board of Public Utilities to look into JCP&Ls handling of Hurricane Sandy-induced power outages. The resolution also seeks to persuade legislators in Trenton to pass measures that will force the power giant to provide each municipality with direct, in-person company representatives in emergency situations.
During the storm, we effectively became employees of JCP&L. Mayor Menna said. We were the only real connection between the people and the company, and that needs to change.”
RED BANK: DRIVER ESCAPES DOWNED WIRES
Electrical wire burned on the ground and on the lip of a raised dumptruck bin after an accident at Red Bank Recycling on Central Avenue in Red Bank that took down a utility pole around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. The driver of the truck, whose identity was not immediately known, did not appear to be seriously injured, but was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Power was knocked out locally. (Click to enlarge)
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