JACKSON – City officials recently discussed a new traffic light in the city while also changing employee health insurance benefits and awarding a contract for a handicapped-accessible playground.
Councilman Mordechai Burnstein reported that the county has approved a traffic light for the streets at the intersection of West Commodore Boulevard (Route 526) and Diamond Road. “This job was approved by the Ocean County Engineering Department. They need approval from all the surrounding property owners. They said there are several areas there that they need to evaluate. They put the package together and it has to be sent to all the different departments that make the traffic lights because each traffic light is different.”
“I asked them what we could do to make sure it wasn’t a five-year process. They told me that the procurement process had become a little more relaxed and that they hoped to put the project out to bid by the end of the fall season,” Burnstein added.
Council members also awarded a contract for the ADA Field of Dreams playground in the Justice Complex to Ben Shaffer Recreation. They also voted to end participation in two state health programs that included dental insurance and drug plans.
The Council also voted for a resolution opposing the construction of any offshore wind farms.
Councilman Steve Chisholm noted in his council report, “The longer I live, the more convincing evidence I see of the truth that God governs the affairs of men,” he said, paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin. “I may not have lived as long as Ben, but I have seen some of those convincing truths, and the good Lord has intervened in our affairs and preserved us as a nation.”
“For the fourth time in history, a president has been spared from an assassin,” he noted, referring to the shooting that occurred in Pennsylvania earlier this summer. Chisholm, who frequently addresses federal and state issues and complains about Democratic officeholders, also noted that Governor Phil Murphy was out of state at the time of the council meeting “driving to the swamp to get a new job with the Harris administration. God help America if he does that.”
He pointed to Murphy’s support of offshore wind energy projects in light of the resolution passed that evening. “We have no say here in Jackson when it comes to wind turbines and offshore wind farms, but they are a disaster. They are a safety hazard. Thank God Congressman (Chris) Smith is working against the Murphy and Biden administrations. These things are a serious threat to our wildlife, the marine environment, our fishermen, radar navigation, national security, tourism and these things must be stopped.”
The Council then adopted, at second reading, a regulation laying down rules for lead paint inspections in rental properties. This regulation was adopted unanimously.
There was one speaker during the public comment period, Ryan Archer, who noted that the council had extended its Open Access Request (OPRA) for 26 business days.
The investigation referred to a letter from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection “sent to the township for non-compliance with the consent order for the recent lawsuits. I just want that on the record.”
