In 2005, Brick Township acquired the run down marina property with the intent to turn it into a public recreational waterfront park, saving it from a high density condominium development project.

Shortly before Hurricane Sandy struck, the municipality was awarded an additional $600,000 matching grant by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJ DEP) Green Acres Program and was engaged in the second phase of the project, which included the installation of utilities, curbing, parking areas, sidewalks and construction equipment.

The first phase consisted of replacing bulkheads and docks and repairing boat slips. Despite the destruction all around it, Trader’s Cove made it through Hurricane Sandy relatively unscathed, in part due to the four feet of added height that was required to build the project which limited damage mostly to the docks.

In 2012, township council delays had pushed the project’s timetables back, according to Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis, but when complete, plans call for a bay front amphitheatre, a nautical and marine educational center and museum and an access trail to the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

BRICK – The New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) hosted a weekend community design program starting on April 27th at Emma Havens Young Elementary School on Drum Point Road, here, to help develop a plan to rebuild Camp Osborn in Brick Township, which was devastated by a fire after Hurricane Sandy.

The program, formally known as a Sustainable Design Assessment Team or SDAT, combined local resources with the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of professionals to create a viable solution for rebuilding the Route 35 community. The volunteer participants included architects, planners, engineers, landscape architects, attorneys, officials and stakeholders.

“As architects, we have the ability to not only rebuild structures, but entire communities,” said Jack Purvis, president of AIA-NJ. “In an effort to help rebuild one of our local communities, which was devastated by fire as a result of Sandy, we’re using an SDAT as tool to help mobilize local support and foster result-driven cooperation. This fast-paced, exciting program will help us design and rebuild Camp Osborn in a sustainable way as quickly as possible.” Read More

Photos-  Top: AIA Rendering of Camp Osborn.  Middle: Camp Osborn on fire by Sean Furey.  Bottom: Camp Osborn days after Sandy, still smoldering by Patrick Day, NYOnAir.

Mayor Acropolis greeting Prince Harry of Wales, Tuesday, May 14, 2013.

by Phil Stilton

BRICK—More than six months after Hurricane Sandy struck, Brick Township Mayor Steve Acropolis once again took to the offensive with federal agencies who he said were hindering rebuilding efforts they were supposed to be assisting with.

On Friday, May 18^th, at a meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and three private contractors hired for debris removal, here, Mayor Acropolis to know why not a single home in Brick had yet to be approved for demolition…Read More

Memorial’s Chris Gehrsitz pitched a complete game shutout, giving up just four hits and striking out four.  Spencer Young was 3-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Mike Petrizzo came off the bench for Jackson to hit a two run home run making the score 4-0. Ed Guippone added an RBI single in the 4th inning.

On the other side of Jackson, Jackson Liberty defeated St. Rose with a single solo home run.  Danny Serreino went the distance on the mound for the Lions striking out eight.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, James Sofield hit his first home run, sending a 2-0 fastball from Brad Currao over the fence.

Liberty will play the tough number 2 seed, RBC on the road Wednesday.

Brick Memorial lost 1-0 to Wall.  CBA blanked Brick High School 9-0.

Toms River South’s Spencer Kapp broke a 3-3 tie wide open in the fifth inning with a two run double as the Indians defeated Monmouth 6-3.    On Friday, Toms River North defeated Central 5-3.  North and South will face each other Wednesday at North.

On May 15, 2013, the Brick Township Police Department released a sketch of a subject who was wanted for questioning in connection to an Armed Robbery and Stabbing which occurred on May 13, 2013 at approximately 10 pm.  The incident took place at 150 Brick Boulevard, Brick, NJ. The subject should be considered armed and dangerous.  Please do not approach.  If you see the subject please contact the Brick Township Police at (732) 262-1100, or your local Police Department.

Anyone with information regarding the armed robbery is asked to contact Det. Robert Shepherd at (732) 262-1112 or Det. Thomas Cooney at (732) 262-4708.

Officers surrounded the immediate area to search for the suspect. Assisting in the search was the Brick Township Police Detective Bureau, Brick Police K-9 unit, the Lakewood and Toms River Police Departments, and the NJ State Police Aviation Unit. The search continued until 3:00am with negative results.

The Brick Police EMS Unit and MONOC Paramedics transported the victim to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where she is listed in stable condition.

The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 6′ 00 tall, having a full beard, wearing a dark colored hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.  Suspect fled towards the area of Lions Head Office Park on foot.

Anyone with information regarding the armed robbery is asked to contact Det. Robert Shepherd at (732) 262-1112 or Det. Thomas Cooney at (732) 262-4708.

The team, consisting of  Emily Golembiski of Little Egg Harbor, Jillian Hubbard of Toms River, Gillian Schriever of West Creek, Michael Signorelli of Toms River and Megan Tumpey of  Brick, will represent New Jersey in the 2013 North American Envirothon at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana in August.

The Ocean County students competed against 33 other teams on knowledge of natural resources-related topics, including soils, forestry, aquatics, wildlife ecology and a current environmental issue. This year’s theme was “Sustainable Rangeland Management: Achieving a Balance Between Traditional Agricultural Uses with Non-Agricultural Uses on Montana Rangelands.”

“For 20 years, New Jersey high school students have had the opportunity to participate in this valuable competition and learn more about the environment, natural resources and science,” said Secretary Fisher. “We hope they take advantage of the skills they learned and consider careers in agriculture and natural resources-related fields.”

Each of the MATES team members received $1,000 scholarships from the New Jersey Association of Conservation Districts, $2,000 scholarships from Richard Stockton State College and $1,000 scholarships from Applied and Health Sciences at Kean University.

Two 5-member teams of MATES students competed in last year’s Envirothon with all but one of those students graduating. The two MATES teams placed first and second in 2012. An almost entirely new set of 10 students made up this year’s two teams.

“I am very proud of the hard work and dedication put forth by our members,” said MATES Advisor Adam Sprague.  “It was quite an accomplishment considering it was the first year competing for nine out of the 10 team members. We now turn our attention to Montana which offers an exciting variety of challenges in terms of preparation for our students.”

The second-place team in this year’s Envirothon was West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North and third place was taken by High Tech High School, North Bergen.

The Envirothon is sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, State Soil Conservation Committee; New Jersey Association of Conservation Districts; the 15 Soil Conservation Districts; United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; and Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

The 15 Soil Conservation Districts in New Jersey follow county boundaries and implement the New Jersey Soil and Sediment Control Act, which governs certain aspects of new development.  These semi-autonomous bodies are locally governed and play a strong role in the protection of New Jersey’s natural resources.

“As part of our annual overlay program, we will be starting work shortly on safety improvements including stormwater drainage work, new paving and reconstruction on several roads throughout Ocean County,” said Ocean County Freeholder Director John P. Kelly, Director of Law and Public Safety. “All totaled we will be repairing more than 13 miles of roadway starting in the next few weeks.”

The Board of Freeholders is scheduled to award a contract to Earle Asphalt Company, Farmingdale, in the amount of $2 million to reconstruct portions of seven roadways.

“This work will get under way in the next few weeks and while there may be some inconvenience to motorists during the work surely the completed repairs will make for better and safer traveling around OceanCounty,” said Freeholder Deputy Director James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Road Department.

The roadways to be improved under the contract are 1.05 miles of Herbertsville Road in Brick Township from the Monmouth County line to Lanes Mills Road; 1.24 miles of Farraday Avenue in Lakewood; one mile of Long Beach Boulevard from 31^st to 59^th street in Long Beach Township; almost one mile of James Street, from Main Street to Hooper Avenue in Toms River; 6/10ths of a mile of Massachusetts Avenue, from Cox Cro Road to Route 70 in Toms River; 1.12 miles of Vermont Avenue, in Toms River, from Cox Cro Road to the Lakewood border and Buckwald Drive at Ocean County College in Toms River.

In addition, the Board is scheduled to go out to bid to provide safety improvements to four additional roads with work expected to begin in July.

Those roads include 2.16 miles of Church Road in Toms River, from Hooper Avenue to North Bay Avenue; 1.39 miles of Lanes Mills Road in Lakewood and Brick Townships, from Route 88 to limits of Garden State Parkway Interchange 91; 1.11 miles of Lighthouse Drive in Ocean Township from Route 9 east to Barnegat Bay and 2.34 miles of West Bay Avenue in Barnegat Township from Pine Street to Route 72.

“We maintain more than 620 county road miles so it is imperative we have a program in place to maintain our infrastructure,” said Kelly, who serves as liaison for the Ocean County Engineering Department. “Each year we perform improvements to a number of roadways. Well maintained roads certainly are safer for our motorists and pedestrians.”

This edition of the watershed-wide trash and debris cleanup has taken on special meaning as it is the first blitz to be held since Superstorm Sandy pounded the Barnegat Bay region at the end of October. Some events will entail removal of Sandy-related debris and dune restoration in addition to typical litter and debris cleanups

Volunteers are coming from all over the state and the 37 municipalities in the 660-square-mile watershed, which encompasses 33 municipalities in Ocean County and four in Monmouth County. The bay is suffering from degraded water quality caused by many factors, including excessive algae growth caused by nutrients from fertilizers and other sources.

The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to around dusk. It will be held rain or shine.

The following is Commissioner Martin’s itinerary:

*     8:30 a.m. Opening remarks, Surf City Municipal Boat Ramp, on Barnegat Bay at the end of Division Avenue. Attending will be students from the MATES Academy at Ocean County College, the Southern Regional Middle School and Ethel Jacobson Elementary School, local residents.

*     9:30 a.m. Cleanup of marshland impacted by Sandy debris adjacent to the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, 120 Long Beach Boulevard, Loveladies.

*     10:45 a.m. Planting grass and shrubs on dunes impacted by Sandy, 36th Street and the oceanfront, Brant Beach.

More than 11,300 volunteers have participated since the first Barnegat Blitz in May 2011, collecting thousands of bags of trash and filling dozens of dumpsters and dump trucks with a wide assortment of trash and debris.

The DEP is the core organizer of the Barnegat Bay Blitz, providing staff captains who work with the local community to identify cleanup locations and coordinate local volunteers. Captains are also in charge of event-day logistics.

Reporters are welcome to contact staff captains to coordinate local cleanup stories. Team captain contact numbers and other information about the Barnegat Bay Blitz can be found at:

http://www.nj.gov/dep/barnegatbay/bbblitz.htm

For additional help, contact the DEP’s press office. For assistance the day of the event, contact the Press Office or the Press Officers at the numbers listed on this advisory.

For information on the Governor’s Barnegat Bay Comprehensive Restoration Plan, visit: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/barnegatbay/

JACKSON–Jackson Memorial, the number one seed in this year’s Ocean County Tournament defeated Toms River East at home on Sunday 7-5.   Across town, Jackson Liberty lost a 1-0 game against Toms River South.   Liberty had runners in scoring position twice, but were denied by the Indians, including a close out at home plate to avoid a tie in the sixth inning.

Toms River North defeated Brick Memorial 3-0 and Monsignor Donovan shutout Brick 2-0.

Scores:

Toms River South 1 Jackson Liberty 0

Photo Gallery: on.fb.me/13b0mG3

Toms River North 3 Brick Memorial 0

Monsignor Donovan 2 Brick 0

Jackson Memorial 7 Toms River East 5

Semi Finals:

Toms River South @ Jackson Memorial
Toms River North vs. Monsignor Donovan