Contract Awarded for New Bike Path in Brick

Path could eventually run all the way to the ocean

The Brick Township council has awarded a contract that will expand an existing bike path to a picturesque section of town near Barnegat Bay. The $168,623 contract, awarded to High Safety System Inc. of Hammonton, will be funded through the state's Bikeways program as part of a grant the township received in 2011. The project will open up the township’s Airport Tract bike path to the Seawood Harbor neighborhood, as well as provide additional path openings along the trail. According to bid specifications, the new trail will be more than a half-mile long and six feet wide. The contract also calls for wetlands restoration, landscaping, test pits, fencing, signage, traffic and erosion control associated with the trail extension. It will run …

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Hurricane Sandy

The List: Brick Streets Approved for Power Restoration

Inspections took place through Tuesday

Brick officials have released a list of streets approved for power restoration following inspections completed Monday and Tuesday. Township officials blasted JCP&L's protocols during a council meeting Tuesday, saying the utility changed policies in the midst of storm cleanup, leaving township residents in the dark by requiring inspections of neighborhoods. "To me, the change of protocol is just a delay on their part," said Council President John Ducey. "Something is wrong with JCP&L, the whole situation stinks. Whether [your electric] is out or not, put in a complaint to BPU (Board of Public Utilities)." Brick Patch will have a followup article on what led to the inspection requirement in the coming days. The township announced Tuesday …

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A Year Later, Some Seaweed Returning to Bayfront Neighborhood

Township may tackle issue with county assistance

A little more than a year after so-called "toxic seaweed" began washing up in one township neighborhood, officials are devising a plan to put seaweed cleanup on a regular maintenance schedule so there's no repeat of the incident that took place during the summer of 2011. Residents of the Seawood Harbor neighborhood brought their concerns to local, county and state agencies in July 2011 after seaweed had collected in Barnegat Bay and washed up on a beach. The rotting seaweed caused hydrogen sulfide to be released, emitting a noxious odor in the air. Several residents said the gas caused sore throats, headaches and even vomiting. The seaweed is back again this summer, residents have said, though the township has been relatively quick to …

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Brick Accepts Bayfront Lot 'Gift'

Lot is not eligible to be developed

Brick's township council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to accept the donation of a bayfront lot from its owner, Mae M. Maxwell. The lot, located in the township's Seawood Harbor section, is considered wetlands and cannot be developed. Business Administrator Scott Pezarras said the township only generates about $300 per year in tax revenue from the lot, and accepting it as a gift would be an easier prospect than foreclosing on it if its owner decided to stop paying property taxes. "The cheaper option is to accept the gift," Pezarras said at a workshop meeting where the acceptance of the gift was discussed. The township receives around $300 per year out of a total $1,200 tax bill. The acceptance of the lot does come with benefits, …

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Brick Council to Consider Gift of Wetland Lot

Lot is not build-able, township officials say

The township council is set to consider the gift of a non-buildable lot at its meeting next week. The prospect of the township taking ownership of the lot, located in a wetlands area in the Seawood Harbor section, was discussed at a caucus meeting Tuesday. "The taxes on it are very low, so it's not a tremendous loss to the tax rolls," said Business Administrator Scott Pezarras. Taking ownership of the small plot of land could also come with some pluses, Pezarras said, including the potential for the township to use to lot as part of a larger Green Acres funding plan. "It would certainly be beneficial for the town," said Pezarras. According to public records, the lot, which sits off Knoll Crest Avenue, generates about $1,200 in tax revenue …

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Committee Formed Over Seaweed Issue

Local residents will serve on an ad-hoc committee

Local residents will serve on an ad-hoc committee, organized by the township council, to help township officials keep tabs on the seaweed situation in Brick's Seawood Harbor development. Several residents came to Tuesday's council meeting to thank the council for its efforts last month to clean up rotting seaweed which was releasing hydrogen sulfide gas into the air. The hydrogen sulfide gas emitted a foul odor and caused some homeowners in the neighborhood to get sick. But while the residents were appreciative of the township's decision to take the lead in removing the seaweed, several wondered if the situation would happen again. "The area is a catch-all," said Christina Papianni, a Seawood Harbor resident. "And we all know the history […

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Brick's Seaweed Troubles Date Back to the '60s

In 1968, Brick hired 15 men to clear the local bay beaches of weeds, as other Barnegat Bay communities dealt with their own weed struggles

Seaweed problems, such as the debacle that has unfolded over the past couple of weeks in the township's Seawood Harbor development, are nothing new in Brick. Complaints of too much fertilizer flowing into Barnegat Bay are nothing new, either. Experts have said too much food flowing into the bay from lawn fertilizers is taking a toll on aquatic plants. It was those plants that were in the crosshairs of upper bay officials in the summer of 1968. There were too many of them. Brick Township was hiring 15 men during the summer to try to rid its beaches of what were branded “weeds.” Former Brick Mayor Frank Neri was a councilman who had long warned of the growing weed problems, not only in the bay, but in the Metedeconk River,  as well. Neri had…

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Cleanup of Rotting Seaweed Begins

Crews working in Seawood Harbor section

The cleanup of rotting seaweed in the township's Seawood Harbor section is under way. Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis ordered township officials to take the lead in the cleanup operation after residents of the neighborhood flocked to a township council meeting Tuesday, saying they were getting sick. Rotting seaweed that had become trapped in the bay adjacent to the neighborhood had caused hydrogen sulfide to be released into the air, causing a noxious odor in the air and what several residents reported as sore throats to vomiting. County, state and federal agencies had all investigated the seaweed over the course of nearly two weeks, but residents told township officials at the meeting that none of those agencies seemed to be willing to do …

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Township to Take Lead in Cleaning Up Rotting Seaweed

Seawood Harbor residents have reported getting ill from rotting seaweed

Brick residents lining up to tell stories of how they've suffered throat irritation, loss of voice and even vomiting was enough to convince Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis that something had to be done - quickly - to clean up a growing swath of rotting sea grass adjacent to homes in the township's Seawood Harbor section. He would go on to announce at a Township Council meeting Tuesday night that the township would take an immediate lead in ridding the bay waters adjacent to the neighborhood of rotting sea grass that has plagued residents for nearly two weeks. For nearly the entire length of those two weeks, what residents say is hydrogen sulfide gas, released into the air from rotting seaweed in a cove off Barnegat Bay, has kept people and …

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Watchman

11:13 am on Thursday, July 21, 2011

Is this a joke? If yes I'm laughing. If not ,good idea, bad timing.The Town Council just put bamboo on the invasive plant list last week.   more ›