JACKSON – Officials said that fewer traffic violations were noted when police educated drivers in some problem areas.
A 30 to 40% reduction in traffic violations was seen, Council President Jennifer Kuhn said. A traffic safety detail was implemented, putting officers on the road in various areas.
“There were 30 to 40% less incidents give or take,” she said. Staff marked parking areas and drivers were educated about safety. Additional education of 30 hot spots would be provided to inform drivers where cars couldn’t be parked or stopped.
“The chief requested red paint so you will see it along with the stop sign,” she said. “That will give people a visual of where they can and not park …because a lot of residents are saying they don’t know where 50 feet is.”
She discussed these issues at a Township Council meeting. The information had been provided to her earlier by Police Chief Matthew Kunz and members of the township police department administration.
Bus safety is also an issue. “We discussed plans to have pick-ups of students on the same side of the road, on the road where they live where the speed limits are 35 miles per hour or more,” Kuhn said.
“This change was made to change the safety of K-8 grade children and we are looking to possibly implement this in September of 2025. We’ve gotten a lot of complaints which is why the traffic safety e-mail is very important. I am on that and I do read it. There are seven of us on there.” She noted some of the concerns involve children crossing a county road “that people are going around busses. We hear you and we are working on that,” she added.
The council president remarked that “after reading all these reports I called (Ocean County) Commissioner Frank Sadeghi and said ‘our town is growing and we are having a lot of issues can you commit to me if anyone could come to our quarterly meetings with the engineer to help us with our traffic concerns?’”
Kuhn said she wanted to put four dates on the calendar focusing on the 42 county roads in the township. The town can’t make any changes to county roads. “If we want to do anything we have to get their approval. He has committed to that.”
Police Retirements
“We have 13 officers who are eligible to retire in 2025. We need to hire and keep our staff in our police department,” Kuhn noted. The retirements “will leave a lot of gaps and would leave us under the 100-member mark which we are barely at right now.”
Kuhn said this was “raising a lot of concerns” noting there were plans to hire more Class I officers, Class II and full-time officers. “The Class Is the business administrator (Terence Wall) has already given us approval on that. Class IIs we already have the mayor’s approval on that and we are awaiting the Class IIs and we are waiting on finding full time officers and flipping the Class IIs to full time.
“It is good financially for the town to have Class Is and Class IIs and the Class IIs can be flipped to full time and get the full benefit package,” she added.
All-Stars Receive Recognition
It was the 8-year-old division of the Jackson Little League’s turn to be recognized at a township council meeting. The 9 UAll-Star players were honored a few weeks prior.
“They won not one but two championship titles for the first time in over 20 years,” Council President Kuhn said.
The council president read Mayor Michael Reina’s proclamation to the 8-U All-Star Players stating their victory “set a remarkable example of sportsmanship and excellence. It is not just a win on the scoreboard but a triumph of spirit and determination. The members of the team have shown exceptional skills on the field as well as discipline and commitment off the field.”
“Their coaches and families have fostered an important role in encouraging growth, resilience and success. We extend our congratulations to the team on their outstanding season and earning the title of District 18 and Section 3 Championship finishing the season fourth all around in the state of New Jersey,” she added.
