Recent News Articles of Interest

Written by Paul Jeffrey on June 25, 2016. Posted in News

Governor Christie promises additional funds to Toms River for Sandy Recovery.

Patch Article on Additional Sandy Aid

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Ortley BeachJam 2016 was a huge success with 600 people in attendance!

The schedule of amazing BeachJam 2016 events that everyone enjoyed can be found at this link: OB BeachJam 2016 Schedule events

The event and the contests were only possible because of over 40 people who donated ther time to plan, set up, conduct and take down all the events. Please note our wonderful business sponsors in Ortley Beach and frequent their businesses:

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On Wednesday, August 17th the Toms River Planning Board heard comments from residents of Toms River, including Ortley Beach, about public comments collected as input to revision of the Master Plan. Comments and recommendations collected at our OBVTA meetings and at other venues received from Ortley Beach residents and OBVTA members are shown at the link below. Please note that the Township and Planning Board have not yet taken a position on these recommendations and comments provided by Ortley Beach residents. During the Wednesday evening meeting The Planning Board was presented with all the comments regarding rezoning and redevelopment area requests. The purpose of the meeting was to get policy direction from the public and the Planning Board regarding these matters only.

The next step will be public hearings on the proposals put forth by the Toms River Planning Dept. to the Planning Board. Those hearings will probably occur in October and we will keep you informed of the dates.

A complete list of public input for all of Toms River for the revised master plan can be found here

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See recent communication below from the NJ DEP on dune and beach replenishment:

As of July 29, the State of NJ conveyed all the necessary properties (including associated paperwork) to the US Army Corps. NJ DEP discussed timing with US Army Corps at an event with Senator Booker. They are finalizing their plans and are striving to conclude that by end of August. In all likelihood, the actual bid will start beginning of September. Between the DEP and Senator Booker, NJ DEP is applying as much pressure to have this huge project out to bid as soon as possible. There should be a firm bid date in the next couple weeks. In the interim, NJ DEP has focused their workforce to tackle the outstanding properties in Pt. Pleasant, Bay Head, and Berkeley (the “option” areas for the contract). They hope to have those properties completed by end-of-year.

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Also see the article HERE on Toms River’s plans for temporary dune work that will likely be needed prior to the project completion.

And an article HERE about the ongoing issues with property owners in Bayhead. ———————————————————————————————————

OBVTA had a successful meeting with the Ocean County Utility Authority and again pleaded that a portion of their property be converted to a public park. While the Authority Chairman, John Parker, raised several objections, OBVTA had a counter argument for each objection. Several OBVTA members spoke including Paul Jeffrey, President, Mike Wymbs, Director, and OBVTA members Paul Lagana, Sherman Barton, Bill Kastow and Robert Steigelman. Together we made strong arguments for OCUA to consider our proposal. Press coverage included Asbury Park Press, WOBM 92.7 FM Radio, News Channel 12 and ShoreBeat. Links to the articles are below

At the end of the meeting OCUA Chairman John Parker agreed to speak with the other OCUA commissioners and discuss our proposal. He, himself, remains strongly against any change.

Asbury Park Press Article: OBVTA at OCUA 7-28-16

ShoreBeat Article on OBVTA at OCUA

WOBM, 92.7 FM Radio, Toms River article, photos and Chairman Parker response.

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