63°F clear sky

RED BANK: WATER LINES, CANNABIS ON AGENDA

A map used in a February presentation indicated that 366 properties were known to be served by lead water supply lines, with most others “unknown.” (Image by ENGenuity. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAt its final meeting before a history-making election, the Red Bank council will take up a big cost increase for removing lead water service lines.

Also on deck: adoption of a cannabis zoning law that the planning board said does not comply with the town’s Master Plan.

More →

April 25, 2023 - 8:05 am |

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.

More →

February 10, 2023 - 7:58 am |

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.)

See Correction below

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.

More →

February 7, 2023 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: EXPECT CHLORINE-Y SMELL IN WATER

water faucet dripred bank what's going on hereRed Bank residents and businesses may smell chlorine in water from their taps starting next week.

There’s no need for alarm, the borough government said in an announcement Tuesday.

More →

January 31, 2023 - 10:45 am |

RED BANK: DPU HEAD OUSTED

Cliff Keen on Broad Street last June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAt 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.

More →

January 12, 2023 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL WRAP

Council Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, center top row, chaired the meeting for the first time since her January 1 election as council president. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj

Red Bank’s council debated several issues with less friction Wednesday night than often seen over the past two years.

 

More →

January 27, 2022 - 4:30 pm |

RED BANK: SPEED, POT & BUDGET ON AGENDA

The speed limit on the full length of Front Street/River Road through town would be reduced to 25 miles per hour under a Monmouth County proposal. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA ban on fireworks, a new executive director for the redevelopment agency, a reduced speed limit and more crowd a busy agenda when the Red Bank council holds its only regular session of July Wednesday night.

 

More →

July 21, 2021 - 7:53 am |

RED BANK: RIVERVIEW WATER DEAL DETAILED

red bank riverview 032020 2The agreement ends a lawsuit alleging the hospital illegally connected its Blaisdell Pavilion to the borough water system. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njUnder a “confidential” settlement approved by the borough council last week, Riverview Medical Center will pay Red Bank just $850,000 for water and sewer usage the town contended in a lawsuit was worth at least $5.3 million.

The hospital also will get 10 more years to pay off the obligation, some of which dates to 1984.

More →

December 22, 2020 - 6:15 am |

RED BANK: LOOSE LIPS AT COUNCIL SESSION

Mayor Pasquale Menna, upper left, and Councilman Ed Zipprich, center left, seen on Zoom during Wednesday’s council session Attorney Greg Cannon is in second row, third from left. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njThe final Red Bank council meeting of 2020 included a couple of apparent cases of loose lips.

In one, Mayor Pasquale Menna revealed more than the borough attorney thought he should about the settlement of a lawsuit over Riverview Medical Center’s water bill.

In another, Councilman Ed Zipprich  questioned the qualifications of a newly hired official.

More →

December 17, 2020 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: SUIT SEEKS $5.3M FROM RIVERVIEW

red bank riverview 032020A lawsuit filed by the borough alleges an illegal water connection to the Blaisdell Pavilion, at right. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRiverview Medical Center owes Red Bank $5.3 million for at least half a billion gallons of water consumed over a 33-year period, the borough alleges in a lawsuit.

In its January, 2019 complaint, the town contends the hospital hid an illegal connection and meter when it built the Blaisdell Pavilion wing in 1984.

The East Front Street hospital denies the allegations, and the dispute appears headed to mediation.

More →

October 27, 2020 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: BROWN WATER EXPLAINED

red bank what's going on herebrown-waterRed Bank officials are looking into reports of brown tap water, but believe they know what’s causing it, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said Wednesday.

More →

May 6, 2020 - 12:15 pm |

RED BANK: REPORT DOMINATES FACE-OFF

red bank nj council candidates 2018From left, council candidates Kate Triggiano, Hazim Yassin, Sue Viscomi, Michael Clancy and Allison Gregory at the West Side Community Group’s forum Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

red bank, nj, election 2018A management study that found widespread “dysfunction” in Red Bank’s government provided fodder for contenders at the annual Candidates’ Night hosted by the West Side Community Group Tuesday night.

In the case of Pearl Lee, the first Republican to challenge Mayor Pasquale Menna since 2006, it provided the spark for her to run, she said. For Menna, it’s a document he accepts “ownership” of. And all five council candidates alluded to it.

More →

October 24, 2018 - 11:45 am |

RED BANK: SICKELS SENDOFF, H2O ON AGENDA

Stanley Sickels at a planning board meeting in 2013. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s most powerful unelected official is slated to get an official sendoff at the semimonthly council meeting Wednesday night.

Also on the agenda: the town’s heaviest water users would be subject to higher minimum charges under a measure slated for introduction.

More →

December 12, 2017 - 10:00 am |

RED BANK: EATERIES SPOTLIGHT STRAWS

Kitch Organic on Leighton Avenue, above, is one of eight Red Bank restaurants participating in a monthlong effort to reduce the number of plastic drinking straws that don’t make it into the recycling stream.

More →

December 8, 2017 - 8:40 am |

RED BANK: SECOND-METER ISSUE RETURNS

 Action has been delayed on water meters that would allow Red Bankers to avoid sewerage charges for watering lawns and washing cars, according to the borough administrator. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Where are the water meters that would let Red Bank homeowners irrigate their lawns without incurring sewer charges?

The secondary meters were a hot topic leading up to the borough council’s approval 18 months ago of $3.7 million in bonds to install new primary meters in every home and business, and to cover other upgrades to the municipal water utility.

Since then, though, there’s been little said about the meters — until last week, when the issue sputtered back to life.

More →

July 31, 2017 - 9:30 am |

RED BANK: LAUNDROMAT & APARTMENTS OK’D

The new structure would be built between a six-unit apartment building, at left, and Juanito’s Market, at right, with all three properties sharing parking in back. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank zoning board approved the creation of a new laundromat and four apartments on a vacant Shrewsbury Avenue lot Thursday night.

But before the project can get underway, grocer and restaurateur Juan Torres will have to reduce a possible tab for water and sewer hookups that could total $562,000.

More →

March 17, 2017 - 6:09 am |

RED BANK: NO LEAD IN WATER, OFFICIAL SAYS

al larotonda 011117Alberto Larotonda brought his ruptured water line, complete with a connector made of lead, to the council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03Extensive testing of Red Bank water has found no evidence of lead contamination, despite the presence of lead pipes serving some homes, a borough official said Wednesday night.

The remarks by public utilities Director Cliff Keen, made during the council’s first semimonthly meeting of 2017, came after a resident showed off  a water service line with a lead connector that was recently excavated outside his Spring Street home.

“For more than 20 years, I’ve been drinking out of a lead straw,” Alberto Larotonda told the council.

More →

January 12, 2017 - 6:41 am |

RED BANK: UPDATES ON WATER

rb-meter-swap-110216-1An installer with National Metering Services installing a new wireless meter in a Red Bank home earlier this month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03

Some quick updates on Red Bank water…

The stinky, dirty water that affected some customers earlier this month has been corrected, borough officials tell redbankgreen. But they’re being cautious about turning on the tap too quickly.

And with the townwide water-meter replacement project underway, users should be alert to a change in their billing.

Details on both below.

More →

November 23, 2016 - 6:59 am |

RED BANK: STINKY WATER PROMPTS CHANGE

water faucet dripRed Bank reversed its seasonal water supply arrangement after complaints about taste and odor. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03

After a burst of complaints about stinky, foul-tasting water, Red Bank officials reverted to the municipal water supply earlier this week, redbankgreen has learned.

Now, those officials are waiting for New Jersey American Water Company, which supplies the borough’s water for six months of the year, to clear up an algae problem at the Swimming River Reservoir before resuming the flow, they said.

More →

November 11, 2016 - 12:24 pm |

RED BANK: GOP PAIR SETS “ACTION PLAN”

obosky-colwell-hanlon-101816Republican council candidates Kellie O’Bosky Colwell and Brian Hanlon listen as Councilwoman Cindy Burnham speaks at Candidate’s Night on October 18. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Election_2016_Plain

By JOHN T. WARD

“Tired of hearing politicians make vague promises at election time” only to ignore them afterward, the two Republican candidates for Red Bank council unveiled a “six-month action plan” Monday that calls for a freeze on department heads’ salaries and a study of the water utility.

In their plan, first-time candidates Brian Hanlon and Kellie O’Bosky Colwell pledge they won’t seek re-election if they “do not deliver on their promises.”

More →

October 24, 2016 - 9:59 am |

RED BANK: WATER METER SWAPS BEGIN

rb-water-meter-092816The Navesink Hose firehouse on Mechanic Street got its first-ever water meter Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03

Red Bank’s townwide water-meter replacement project has begun, with homeowners about to get involved starting in mid-October, redbankgreen has learned.

The heavily debated program mandates that every address served by the municipal water utility get a new, remotely read meter, a process that began in recent days with the metering of borough hall, firehouses and other public structures that never had any. More →

September 30, 2016 - 7:09 am |
1 2 3
redbankgreen.com

PO Box 8683
Red Bank NJ 07701

© 2023 redbankgreen.com. No portion of this website or its content can be used without permission. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy