The BERKELEY Times Vol. 29 - No. 41
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Bill Would Reimburse Towns For Disabled Vets
Solar Project, Park Among Projects Underway In Berkeley
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Government Page 7
Community News Pages 9-15
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Inside The Law Page 18
The solar project is expected to bring a cost savings to Berkeley residents. By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – A professional sign marking Holly Park Beach stands in the middle of the reconstruction, as a handmade sign stating “Save Holly Pa rk Be a ch” le a n s against it. This shows one of several projects under construction in town right now. Holly Park, at the end of Main Street, ove rlook s t he Ba rnegat Bay in a small coastal neighborhood.
Locals fought hard to restore the beach to its former glory.
Photos by Chris Lundy The nice sign was a beacon to local residents, informing them that the park will be reborn. Seaside Park can be seen in the distance. This was a community recreation site where families could go. Nat u re had ot her ideas. Superstor m S a n d y d e m ol i s h e d the small Holly Park Beach Club building. The roof was deposited in a swamp a mile
a w a y. T h e c e m e n t footprint of the building remained for more than a decade. T he b e a ch it s el f suffered erosion, and the bulkheading was sh redded and overrun with water. The town fought with the State Department of Environmental Pro-
tection. The point of contention was that the town wanted to rebuild the park up to the old bulkheading. The DEP wanted the land to be as natural as possible – which meant making the eroded shoreline be the new border. The town had been successful in getting a Green Acres grant for $130,000 to develop the park years ago, which frustrated (Projects - See Page 4)
Fishermen Get Equipped For Emergencies At Sea
Photo by Stephanie Faughnan Despite the bitter cold, commercial fishermen put on survival suits to ensure they knew what to do if it was necessary to abandon ship.
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By Stephanie Faughnan BARNEGAT LIGHT – Some local commercial fishermen recently found themselves faceto-face with members of the United States Coast Guard. However, the reason behind their meeting wasn’t because they were in any kind of trouble or
in need of rescue. Instead, the 42 fishermen were all students participating in day-long classes conducted in conjunction with Fishing Partnership Services, a non-profit organization. The emphasis of the program was on Safety and Survival Training to stay safe at sea.
Lecturers for the program came down from the Boston area, where Fishing Partnership Services is headquartered. Most were fishermen themselves with additional credentials as Coast Guard members, firefighters/EMTs, and
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By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – If a veteran is 100% disabled, they are not required to pay property taxes, per New Jersey law. For most towns, this is a drop in the bucket. But for towns with a lot of senior developments, the cost is much more. Berkeley’s leaders have long supported this law, even though it impacts them more t h a n ot he r mu n icipalities. It’s because other property owners in town have to make up the difference. Furthermore, the town is the collecting entity for both school districts, the county, and other taxes. In other words, the town has to collect more from all other property owners to make up for the exempt veteran-owned properties. During the most recent meeting, there were five homes that ha d prop e r t y t a xe s cancelled due to either being owned by a 100% disabled veteran or the widow of one. Every meeting usually has one or more added to the list. “I agree with this 100% but that money has to come from somewhere,” Mayor John Bacchione said. He and members of the Township Council have no problem with
prov id i ng vet e r a n s this service, but they want the town to be made whole. This is why Berkeley officials have supported bills that would require the state to reimburse the towns for this state law. The newest version of t he bi l l, S -2559 and A-3705 was introduced in the Senate a nd refer red to the Senate Militar y and Veterans’ Affairs Committee in February. Senator Carmen Amato and Assemblymen Brian Rumpf and Gregory Myhre were the authors of the bill. W hen Amato was mayor, he and the governing body supported the bill when it was introduced by his predecessor, then-Senator Christopher Connors, and Assembly members Rumpf and DiAnne Gove. In 2020, Berkeley quantified the amount of property taxes that t hey forg ive. T hey ha d 279 proper t ies that were exempt from taxation due to them being owned by a 100 percent disabled veteran. If you add the property values of all of t hese homes to gether, it amounts to $54,825,500. Mu lt iply i n g t h i s by the tax rate at the (Veteran Bill See Page 4)
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