LAKEHURST – Unlike many Ocean County communities, the borough is looking to establish a zone for commercial sales of marijuana in the community.
One site that may be utilized is a former Burger King along with an industrial zone in another area of the borough.
Councilman Steven Oglesby said during a recent Borough Council meeting that he was set to attend an online marijuana facility seminar.
“Hopefully that will guide us in any future endeavors,” Oglesby said.
Mayor Harry Robbins said the borough’s land use board would review the ordinance and it “would come back to us for a second reading which will be at our next council meeting which will be open to the public for comment and will be voted on at that time.”
Town Improvements
Later in the meeting, Oglesby noted that while walking along the borough’s lake near some blueberry bushes, he noticed “a tremendous amount of erosion going on around there. If we could – during the next CDBG (Community Development Block) grant – we could if there is any money left over, we could get a section of bulkheading done there until we could get public utilities to rebuild it.”
Councilman Gary Lowe asked about the status of trees to be planted along Union Avenue.
“It got stalled and I’m not sure where it stands,” Oglesby said. He noted that cherry trees were set to be planted to replace those that had to be removed earlier in the year due to the threat of their growth damaging the sidewalks. He said would check on the status of that project.
Councilman Lowe reported that the borough’s firetrucks had recently been inspected and two sections of hoses failed inspection.
It was noted that the borough held a Nerf Wars competition at the ball park on Chestnut Street on July 16. Signage for the new public restroom area at the borough’s lake was also noted by Councilman James Davis. He said that “there is a projection in the next couple of weeks for work on the roof of the Borough Hall.”
Mayor Robbins spoke about the replacement of a popular item at the borough’s lake. A climbing attraction for children was found to be in disrepair in the last month and the governing body has been researching and deliberating on what it could do to either fix or replace it.
“We have been getting estimates and we are going to go with a ladder as it will last longer. We were looking at a couple of choices. We looked at a climbing wall but we were afraid it would break again. We were also afraid of the electric outlets being where they were and if certain options would work,” Mayor Robbins said.
Councilman Robert McCarthy spoke about an on-point program of the borough’s police department which he said was highly effective and worked through social services. He also noted that the borough received a body camera grant.
“We have the National Night Out moving forward,” McCarthy said. He noted this year’s National Night Out program would be held at the borough’s lake on August 3.
During the public comment period resident Bruce Morrison noted that there were still no signs on the bathrooms at the lake. “How hard is it to get signs up? The new bathrooms have been there for months.”
Among the resolutions approved during the meeting was the appointment of Elizabeth Vega as a lifeguard at the lake. The hiring of a lifeguard was a concern earlier in the summer due to a lack of applicants.
The Council also voted to approve a resolution accepting state funds in the borough’s participation in the state body-worn camera grant program. Council members also voted to award a contract for the 2021 New Jersey Department of Transportation Lake Street Reconstruction project.
The governing body also voted to approve a professional services contract with Remington and Vernick Engineers for additional services.
