Hi folks - Late summer is supposed to hot, hazy, and lazy, right? Well, not if you live in Neptune Township.

Neptune Township Police Chief Howard O’Neil uses the term "24/7 - Cutting Edge" when he speaks of our dedicated men and women in blue. Nothing could be more true. They set a high bar for success in this town.

So, what's going on in Neptune? We're never at a loss for hot issues.

Let's start with the Senior Center.

As many of you may know, we had planned and budgeted to expand our current Senior Center, beginning this summer, but then an unexpected opportunity came our way.

In the midst of a buyout of the Eckerd chain, Rite Aid decided to close their store on Route 33 West at Hamilton Avenue and sell the building. The former Rite Aid property is about 4,000 square feet of space - about what we would have added to the existing Senior Center - and is on a larger lot with more parking. There is room for future expansion of the former Rite Aid site, whereas the proposed buildout of the current Senior Center would have been built to capacity and would have a severe parking problem.

We intend to sell the current Senior Center, after we take all the steps required by the agencies who funded the Senior Center operations over the years to offset the purchase price of the new site. This will keep our Senior Center close to its original location and also give us the flexibility we need for future use.

It's the right decision for Neptune, and given the growing numbers of people who utilize our Senior Center services, it will allow us to upgrade and expand the services we offer.

I have been getting a lot of calls and emails about the horse and carriage in Ocean Grove. As you may be aware, I was not in favor of this idea and voted against it, for the sake of the horses.

I have spoken with Nancy Hoffman about the horse and carriage not parking in the designated horse and carriage spot and I and others on the Committee have discovered the horse and carriage in the bus zone on Main Avenue and once, the horse was on the sidewalk at Main and Pilgrim Pathway, still attached to the carriage, which was still in the street. If you have concerns about the horses' safety in the heat, please call the Township and ask for the Animal Control officer to investigate. If you see the horse and carriage parked in a spot other than its designated spot on Central, please call the police. In either instance, when you call 732/988-8000, you do not have to give your name, and the call will not be traced. The Camp Meeting Association and the Township Committee are both committed to ensuring that the horse and carriage operation is carried out properly that the horse is treated humanely.

For those of you in the Bradley Park section of Neptune, there is a meeting of the Neighborhood Preservation Program Committee on Monday, August 4, 2008 at 6 pm in basement room B-11. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the usage of the Neighborhood Preservation Program funds for housing rehabilitation (things like repairs and paint) for homeowners who live in Bradley Park. The area beginning at the west side of Memorial Drive, north to the south side of Route 33, south to Sixth Avenue, and running west to the Neptune City border up by Jersey Shore's medical building that sits between Sixth and Route 33 and you own the property in which you reside, you may be eligible if you meet certain financial criteria. If you're interested, please call Ollie Jordan at 732/988-5200, extension 298 for more details.

Committeeman Jim Manning and I met with a subcommittee of the Ocean Grove Homeowner's Association to begin talking about residential parking in Ocean Grove and what we can do to provide some relief.

Contrary to incorrect information provided in a letter to the editor in another publication, this does not include having residents park offsite and take a shuttle to their homes. That is definitely an option we are exploring for future years for seasonal visitors coming for the day, but not residents.

We are creating a coalition of stakeholders, including the Chamber of Commerce, OGHA, the Police Department, and the Township to take a comprehensive look and see what we can do. This problem dates back to when cars began appearing in Ocean Grove, and between the Historic District status and the state's Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS), there are a lot of regulations. This will be a war of inches, but we're confident that with all of our heads put together, we will find a way to make some improvements.

The Neptune Township Police Department, MURC and the TNHA Resident's Patrol will be hosting the annual National Night Out event on Tuesday, August 5, from 4-8 pm. There are two locations this year: the main site at the Ridge Avenue School site, and the Monroe Avenue playground, both in Midtown. The First Pentecoastal Church on Oxonia Avenue has adopted that playground and has been cleaning it and ensuring that children in that area of Midtown have a safe place to play. There will be hot dogs and ice cream at both locations; there will be pony rides, a DJ, a rock-climbing wall, a bike rodeo and much more at Ridge Avenue. Come on out and join us, but if you can't, just leave your front porch light on that evening. Light is the cheapest and best deterrent to crime, and having your front porch light on Tuesday night will show your support in fighting crime in Neptune.

Tax bills are delayed in being sent out. Due to all the state changes in the formula and the many revised submissions that were necessary, the state has not yet certified our budget, so we cannot yet legally send out a bill. Our tax assessor is working to get our budget certified so we can send the bills out and, of course, the due date on the tax bills will be extended to reflect the delay in getting them out to you.

On a final note, please keep Mayor Randy Bishop and his partner, Dan Margo in your thoughts. The Mayor's brother passed away very suddenly over the weekend of July 26. Our condolences are with him and his family.

I love to hear from you!

Email me at mjahn@neptunetownship.org or call me at 732/897-1518 - our offices at Town Hall are torn up and since I don't physically have a phone there, it sometimes becomes difficult to retrieve voice mail messages from the system.

Have a happy and healthy summer, and see you next month!

Regards, Mary Beth Jahn
Committeewoman/Police Commissioner
Neptune Township