The JACKSON Times Vol. 21 - No. 6
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Courtesy Busing Kept, But Deep Cuts Made To School Budget
BREAKING NEWS @
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Government Pages 6
Photo courtesy Jackson Schools
Community News
New state funds were appropriated to Jackson School District in the amount of $2.5 million that will be used to keep courtesy busing for the 2024-2025 school year.
Pages 7-11
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 12
Classifieds Page 18
By Bob Vosseller JACKSON – “This is not the budget we wanted. In fact, it is heartbreaking,” Superintendent Nicole Pormilli said, describing the current status of the school district’s spending plan. The school district’s
war with the state to get more aid is pending but the Board had to move forward with its budget despite voting it down. Pormilli said, “there have been no changes to the budget that was presented, which means that the 2024-2025 bud-
Fire Inspection Process Changes By Bob Vosseller JACKSON – Three representatives of Fire Districts in the township explained a change of policy concerning inspections during a recent Township Council meeting. Council President Jennifer Kuhn invited Scott Rauch (Fire District 2), Michael Grossman (Fire District 3), and Stanley O’Brien (Fire District 4) to the meeting to go over changes.
She noted that an ordinance was being presented and that the governing body was seeking to repeal the current certificate of occupancy regulation “and move the fire and state laws to the fire department where the building department and myself feel is the best place for it. We wanted a Q and A with the fire officials.” Kuhn noted to the public that it (Fire Inspection - See Page 5)
get will move forward as presented.” “No matter how much our circumstances, costs and student needs have changed over the past seven years and no matter how responsibly we have acted to keep this district afloat during the
overwhelming loss of state aid, we were required to present a balanced budget and we did that,” she added. “To accomplish this ‘Mission Impossible,’ we worked hard to (Courtesy Busing See Page 4)
August 3, 2024
578-Home Development Approved
By Bob Vosseller JACKSON – The Township Planning Board recently approved a 578-unit development between Grawtown and Bowman roads. In the last two decades, plans to develop the 303-acre parcel were stalled but residents and Planning Board members recently listened to t he pla n t hat was unveiled and ultimately, unanimously approved. T he developer’s planner, Ian Borden, stated the development involves the building of 96 affordable housing units, which were required under a COAH sett le me nt , a nd 482 f ive-bedroom single-family homes, with basements. The Council On
Affordable Housing requires a certain nu mber of homes to be set aside for people with low to moderate income. Borden commented, “This property is zoned for residential housing for relatively high-density housing and it has been that way for over 40 years.” “We a re a confor m i ng u s e. We will not be asking for any variances,” Borden told t he Planning Board. The plan had been 189 single-family homes when it was f i r st proposed i n 2011 but the board rejected that plan u n d e r t h e t ow n ship’s “conditional use” ordinance. The ordinance had a (Development See Page 4)
Local Holocaust Survivors Share Their Stories By Stephanie Faughnan TOMS RIVER – The haunting echoes of World War II reverberated through the Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library as Holocaust survivors Gela Buchbinder and Mona Ginsburg shared their harrowing experiences with over 100 stunned attendees. The event, the fourth in the “Combatting Hate” series, offered a stark reminder of the horrors inflicted
upon millions during one of history’s darkest chapters. Both women, now residents of the same Toms River senior village, were mere children when the world erupted into chaos. Their stories, while different in detail, share a common thread of unimaginable suffering and resilience. Gela Buchbinder At 99 years old, Gela Buchbinder is a tiny woman with a spark of
feistiness that likely helped her survive as a teenager. Her life, as part of a family of six, took a dramatic turn in 1939 when the Nazis invaded their hometown of Sosnowiec, Poland. Gela was only fourteen at the time. “The first thing they did was round up all the Jewish men, whoever they could find,” Gela recounted. “Unfortunately, they (Holocaust - See Page 5)
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