RED BANK: SETTLEMENT FORCES LOT RE-DO

Aug 24, 2023

Workers laying the sidewalk that blocked access to White Street from the Better Housekeeping Shop, the beige building visible at far right, in October, 2020. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

Less than three years after a complete makeover, downtown Red Bank’s main parking lot would be reconfigured to comply with the terms of a lawsuit settlement up for approval Thursday night.

At issue: an 84-year-old appliance shop’s truck access to the street.

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August 24, 2023 - 8:45 am |

RED BANK: CHURCH BLOCK TO BE RENAMED

Feb 26, 2023

The Red Bank council is set to answer a church’s prayers for a new address.

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February 26, 2023 - 4:45 am |

RED BANK: PAVING TO CLOSE ROAD OVERNIGHT

Jul 25, 2022

One of Red Bank’s main east-west thorughfares is up for repaving this week, with two overnight closings planned, borough police announced Sunday.

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July 25, 2022 - 5:45 am |

RED BANK: TEMPERS BOIL OVER WATER JOB

Apr 8, 2021

Neighbors John Shepherd, left, and Charlie Oliver, on the grassy island between East and West Lake roads. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The temporary takeover of a block-long island of grass and trees that spans the Red Bank-Little Silver border has neighbors furious.

Red Bank officials said they had no advance notice of the New Jersey American Water Company project, and only learned last week, months into the project, that it had camped out on borough property.

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April 8, 2021 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: FOOD TRUCK EYES VACANT SITE

Jul 2, 2020

A food truck called Your Sister’s Balls hopes to set up “a few days a week” on a Shrewsbury Avenue lot. (Nicole Montecalvo photo. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Less than a year after the latest effort to remove Red Bank’s ban on food trucks got a flat tire, the issue is back.

Leading the charge: a food truck called Your Sister’s Balls.

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July 2, 2020 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: COMMENTING POLICY UNDER FIRE

Nov 14, 2019

Business Administrator Ziad Shehady has allowed little deviation from the council’s commenting protocol since his arrival in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council moved to eliminate a citizenship requirement for business licensing and approved a debt refinancing Wednesday night.

And once again, the protocol for comments at council meetings was put to the test. Here’s a recap of  what went down at the semimonthly session.

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November 14, 2019 - 9:30 am |

RED BANK: FOOD TRUCK BAN TO CONTINUE

Aug 16, 2019

A proposal would have allowed food trucks to operate on underused property outside the downtown, including the vacant gas station at Riverside and Bridge avenues. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A push to end Red Bank’s ban on food trucks ran out of gas Wednesday night.

Over the objections of one of their colleagues, council members sided with owners of brick-and-mortar restaurants, who say trucks would unfairly undermine them while rewarding other property owners for neglect.

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August 16, 2019 - 8:10 am |

RED BANK: FOOD TRUCKS UP FOR DISCUSSION

Jun 12, 2019

John Yarusi risked a summons when he parked his Johnny’s Pork Roll truck on Wallace Street in a short-lived experiment test of borough law in 2013. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Is Red Bank ready at last to unlock the gates that keep out food trucks?

The idea of easing restrictions on food truck operations came up at last week’s borough council workshop meeting, as it has in the past. But this time, it’s not being summarily rejected by the agency that promotes the downtown business district.

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June 12, 2019 - 7:45 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL RECAP

May 15, 2019

Piero Vescio swears the oath as a policeman as his father, Lieutenant Errico Vescio, watches with other family members. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Here are some highlights from last week’s Red Bank council meeting.

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May 15, 2019 - 5:00 pm |

RED BANK: SIGNAGE MARKS COUNCIL AGENDA

May 7, 2019

The council plans to allow sandwich-board signs on downtown sidewalks through 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council is expected to take up a number of housekeeping measures concerning signs, false alarms and more Wednesday night.

Here are the highlights.

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May 7, 2019 - 3:30 pm |

RED BANK: SNOW TOSSERS TO FACE TICKETS

Jan 21, 2019

How it’s done: a snowblower pointed away from Broad Street during a storm in January, 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

You know who they are: the folks who shovel snow from their property into the street after plows have been through. Hey, maybe you’ve done it yourself.

Red Bank officials say it’s a costly pain in the neck, and plan to make it a violation enforced with “zero tolerance.”

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January 21, 2019 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: NEW FOUR-WAY STOP GOES LIVE

Jan 10, 2019

With the installation of oversized stop signs Wednesday, a new four-way stop is now in effect at East Bergen Place and South Street in Red Bank.

The big signs will also be posted at Oakland and Pearl streets, where the borough council created another four-way stop last year, said public works Director Cliff Keen.

Don’t know how a four-way stop works?

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January 10, 2019 - 10:00 am |

RED BANK: HUNT FOR GRANTS CONTINUES

Nov 13, 2018

A grant seeking $821,000 for improvements to Broad Street is among the nearly three dozen applications pending, according to a report. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Six months after hiring a professional contractor to seek out grant funds, the Red Bank council is hopeful that a cash pump has been primed.

Business Administrator Ziad Shehady told the council last week that while no grants have yet been secured under the contract with Millennium Strategies, there is now “several million dollars” worth of potential funding “in the pipeline.”

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November 13, 2018 - 9:00 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL MULLS STREET ISSUES

Nov 9, 2018

A plow clearing Broad Street during a storm in March, 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Stop signs, snow removal, street sweeping and other road-related issues were on the agenda at the Red Bank borough council’s workshop session Wednesday night.

Some new ordinances are expected to follow.

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November 9, 2018 - 11:00 am |

RED BANK: LIGHT ‘NOT FEASIBLE’ SAYS DOT

Nov 15, 2017

A car, at right, waits for a break in the traffic to turn onto Riverside Avenue from Bodman Place. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Creating a new signal-controlled intersection on a busy stretch of Red Bank highway near the Molly Pitcher Inn is “not feasible,” according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Still, Mayor Pasquale Menna is hoping the DOT will reconsider its oft-stated position if and when there’s a new owner of the former VNA Health Group headquarters building, located on a problematic corner, he told redbankgreen Monday.

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November 15, 2017 - 7:00 am |

RUMSON: NIGHTTIME ROADWORK PLANNED

Nov 13, 2017

Motorists using some Rumson roads may encounter detours for milling and paving work over the next eight days, the Monmouth County public works and engineering department announced Friday.

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November 13, 2017 - 7:11 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL PRESSES FOR LIGHT

Oct 12, 2017

A car, at center, waits for a break in the traffic to turn onto Riverside Avenue from Bodman Place. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Hoping to nudge the New Jersey Department of Transportation to act, the Red Bank council adopted a resolution Wednesday night calling for a traffic light on a curving part of a road that Mayor Pasquale Menna says motorists “zoom” down.

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October 12, 2017 - 10:30 am |