MANCHESTER – The township sold a number of property lots during recent council meetings.
Five ordinances were approved recently, one of which authorized the exchange of land between the township and Jeffrey Jerman. Jerman also purchased 2128 First Avenue and 833 Englemere Avenue at $45,000 each. Breckenridge Properties bought 501 Englemere Avenue for $25,000 while Moshe Wolfson purchased lots on Madison Avenue for $9,800.
The council also approved an ordinance that authorized the sale of a property lot on Lakewood Avenue for $1,343 to Jaqueline Gonzalez and the sale of a lot on Montgomery Avenue to David and Jamie Green for $10,000.
Bad Renters And Quad Riders
Resident Vanessa Cisneros spoke about the ongoing issues concerning a rental unit in her neighborhood. She told The Manchester Times after the meeting about her issues with the owner of a home who has been renting their place to various temporary tenants who have caused noise issues on the block. She also experienced a bullying issue directed toward her young son as well in recent months.
“She keeps bringing more people in and out,” Cisneros said during the meeting. “Things are not getting any better. There were people walking around back and forth and I’m not feeling safe. We have the feeling we are being watched by people who we don’t know.”
Resident Laura Flecker spoke about issues at the Heritage Minerals site noting that there were still problems with people driving their quads in the restricted area. Police Chief Robert Dolan said that patrols have been out there at various times but the area was difficult to monitor at all times.
Town Business
Mayor Robert Arace recently appointed Wade Drew to the Economic Development Board and Andrew Kerstein as an alternate member to the Rent Leveling Board during the meeting.
Manchester Day and the township’s summer concert series, Concert Fest 2023 at Harry Wright Lake got rave reviews by the Mayor and Council. Council Vice President James Vaccaro noted that he and Councilman Craig Wallis and members of their family had attended concerts during the summer.
“The evening was beautiful and the concert was well attended,” he said.
He also noted attended a Wildfire Safety Committee meeting “which resulted in the completion of the community wildlife protection plan – which is an action plan for wildfire mitigation in cooperation with the New Jersey Forest Fire service… I thank my colleagues very much for their approval of the action plan,” Vaccaro said.
Councilman Wallis also noted that “the Veterans Committee had a meeting with a gentleman from the VFW and Vet.Net and they were talking about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and the programs they have out there for veterans.”
“We have a large number of veterans here and have a number of large senior communities that all have veteran organizations so we are going to try to hook up this guy to talk with some of them to see if he can provide some of his services. All of his services are free of charge. They are just there to try and help the veterans,” Wallis added.
Councilwoman Michele Zolezi said she was glad to hear about what Wallis had referenced concerning aiding veterans who have PTSD. “We do have a very large veteran population.” She also noted the recent visits by the township high school football team to The Haven, an assisted living facility in Whiting.
“I think it is a great opportunity when we see our youth resonating and connecting with our seniors here and the coaches over there who are bringing them into the community,” she added. The councilwoman said that during a recent Board of Education meeting “there were about 27 or so AP (Advanced Placement) students recognized (for their high scores) and I think that is really wonderful.”
Mayor Arace said he received a “lovely letter from the daughter of a resident at The Haven and they were quite excited and it has been two weeks and they are still talking about the guys (team members) coming by. The boys played bingo with them and had fun and they let the residents hold a football. It is extremely impactful for our residents to have our football team go there and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
