The HOWELL Times
Vol. 22 - No. 34
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Young Girl Raises Over $7,000 For Animal Shelters
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Community News Pages 7-10
Inside The Law Page 12
Dear Pharmacist Page 13
Classifieds Page 16
Photo by Liz Ciocher Ariya Barrell and her family attended the latest Town Council meeting, where she was awarded a proclamation. By Liz Ciocher HOWELL – In recognition of her fundraising achievements, an 8-year-old Howell resident was given a proclamation on behalf of the governing body at the last Township Council meeting. Ariya Barrell, 8, has picked a cold winter day to stand outside and sell hot chocolate for the past three winters. Her objective for the hot chocolate
stand was to raise funds to donate to local animal shelters to help various rescue dogs and cats. “The governing body of the township of Howell wishes to make this opportunity to recognize Ariya Barrell and commend her for her generosity, determination, compassion, and wish her continued success in all her fundraising endeavors,” Mayor (Animal - See Page 2)
Officials: Beware Fake Texts From Toll Companies
By Chris Lundy HOWELL – No, you don’t owe money to EZPass or whatever other toll company you got a text about. Officials are warning you to ignore those texts, or report them. The text tells you to
pay your tolls by a certain day to avoid a fine and risk losing your license. Then it directs you to a bogus website where it records your information and demands payments. Sometimes the sender claims they are from
EZPass. Lately, a lot of these spam texts come from “FastTrak.” FasTrak is the company that monitors tolls in California. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority said they first learned of the scam on April 11, 2024.
“This scam does not appear to target New Jersey E-ZPass customers. The bogus text messages are being sent to phone numbers in New Jersey area codes regardless of whether the recipients are E-ZPass account hold-
ers,” they said. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) noted that they’ve been getting reports about these scams since March of 2024. The details change, but the scam (Texts - See Page 4)
February 1, 2025
New Low Income Housing In Development
By Liz Ciocher HOWELL – In accordance with a vastly growing population, many new residential homes have been approved for construction in Howell Township, including some areas with designated low income housing. Every town in New Jersey must provide a certain portion of housing for low-to-moderate income based on a complex calculation. This was started after a lawsuit claimed that the town of Mount Laurel was intentionally keeping the poor from living there. The Council On Affordable Housing (COAH) estimates the present and prospective need for low and moderate income housing. COAH was founded in 1985 as a result of the Mount Laurel lawsuit. A presentation on COAH and the planned properties was made available to the public at a recent Town Council meeting. “In New Jersey, every municipality has a constitutional obligation to provide for its fair share of affordable housing,” said Andrew Bayer, the affordable housing and zoning board attorney for the town. “Howell has always aimed for compliance.” COAH has ‘rounds’ that are to be complied with by all New Jersey municipalities, which go back to as early as 1987. The third and latest round is currently in motion, filled with new developments for Howell township. Previous rounds included the development of the council’s requirements as well as adaptations to previously established laws and regulations. This third round is set to implement the previously developed laws with physical architectural developments. The round is set to be completed throughout 2025 and currently has four projects in motion for Howell. Some projects are under construction, recently completed construction or are in the beginning phases of development. Officials discussed developments that are satisfying Howell’s obligation. An example of a completed project is the Howell Family Apartments on West Farms Road. This complex has just recently completed construction with 72 affordable housing units available. FP Howell is the name of another development (Housing - See Page 2)
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