Pet Shop Hearing, Council Meeting Tonight

The township council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night to conduct a hearing on the status and licensing of the Puppies Galore pet shop, which was by authorities last month.

After being found by the Ocean County Health Department on Jan. 24 to be unsatisfactory in its compliance with health code provisions, the owner, Maria De Santis, volunteered to close the store. Two days later, acting on a complaint from a citizen, authorities removed 39 puppies from the store, 26 of which were said to be ill at the time.

De Santis was the following week with 38 counts of animal cruelty, and , the store's manager, was charged with four counts.

The criminal case is separate from tomorrow's hearing, which will deal with the health code violations.

The township council will conduct its regular meeting following the hearing on Puppies Galore.

An otherwise light agenda is broken up by a planned vote on whether to issue $34 million in bonds to be used to fund the construction of a at the former French's Landfill site on Sally Ike Road.

Under a deal struck with Standard Alternative, LLC, a subsidiary of Iron State Development, the private company would pay back the debt service on the bond and pay Brick an upfront payment of $2.5 million plus annual rent and provide heavily discounted electricity for township and BTMUA buildings.

The township would assume ownership of the solar array after 15 years.