Vol. 4 - No. 34
I N T HIS W EEK ’ S E DITION
THE SOUTHERN OCEAN
TIMES
MICROMEDIAPUBS.COM
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper For Lacey, Waretown, Barnegat, Manahawkin, LBI, Tuckerton and Little Egg
Suspect Caught In String Of Residential Burglaries
How Is Southern Ocean County’s Tourism Faring? Sandy A “Fading Memory” On Industry
Page 4.
Community News! Don’t miss what’s happening in your town. Pages 8-11.
Letters To The Editor Page 6.
From Your Government Officials Page 7.
Doctor Izzy “Tinnitus 101” Page 14.
Dear Pharmacist “Pharmacists Are
Never Sure If We Should Say It Out Loud” Page 15.
Inside The Law “Seeking Customers Who’ve Bought From These Websites” Page 21.
Classified Ads Page 19.
Wolfgang Puck Page 23.
–Photo by Chris Lundy The State of the Chamber breakfast featured a state tourism official discussing efforts with Southern Ocean Chamber of Commerce members. By Chris Lundy STAFFORD – A New Jersey tourism official pledged suppor t for local businesses, and informed them of state efforts to determine the status of the tourism industry. Jake Buganski, acting executive director of the state Division of Travel and Tourism, said tourism is a $43
billion industry, and he is working to have the industry taken seriously. He was speaking at the State of the Chamber 2017 breakfast at the Holiday Inn on Route 72 in Stafford. “It’s hard to find any bu si ne s s i n O c e a n County that cannot be affected by tourism,” he said. He said that Super-
storm Sandy is a “fading memory,” at least in terms of tourism, that is “not really on anybody’s mind.” Tourism is rebounding since the storm, he said, but officials needed to know where people are spending their money and if advertising is effective. To do this, the state is paying for some ser-
vices to gather information about tourism. One is a software called Arrivalist, to determine what advertising is working and what isn’t. Another is DestinationNext, which provides a marketing road map. There is also a public relations program underway where an outside company (Tourism - See Page 4)
| February 18, 2017
Lacey Discusses Budget Concerns
By Chris Lundy LACEY – The planning for how the closure of Oyster Creek Gener at i ng St at ion might impact the future township budgets was again a resident concern during a recent budget discussion before the township committee. The Township Committee discussed the Oyster Creek Generating Station and other factors of the 2017 budget at the January 26 committee meeting. Going into this budget year, Mayor Peter
Curatolo said that the status quo for Lacey is to spend responsibly and bond responsibly. He also credited the department heads for being very successful in going out for grants. A resident asked about Oyster Creek, and what the town’s plan is to replace this large ratable for when the plant is totally decommissioned. Curatolo said the decommissioning process will take at least 8 to 10 years. The tax income from that site was never going to drop to zero (Budget - See Page 5)
Little Egg Harbor Allowed To Notify Neighborhood Of Sex Offender
By Chris Lundy LITTLE EGG HARBOR – After months of not being able to legally notify people of a sex offender living in a neighborhood, police were finally able to go door to door to tell residents, officials said. The situation became public last month when Little Egg Harbor Police Chief Richard Buzby (Neighborhood - See Page 13)
Barnegat Former Police Chief Exonerated, Retires By Chris Lundy BARNEGAT – Former Police Chief Arthur Drexler, who had been suspended without pay last year, has had his status changed to a separation and retirement after a settlement reached recently. For months, residents only knew that the chief had been suspended. There was no public knowledge of why. Now, the attorney for the township was able to release a settlement agree-
Read The SOUTHERN OCEAN TIMES on your...
ment that describes what caused the conflict. Drexler was accused of giving himself compensatory time in a way that the township thought violated his contract. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office was brought in. Their investigation determined that it was a disagreement between Drexler and the Township Committee on how compensatory time could be given. The prosecutor’s office saw no illegal activity in how (Police Chief - See Page 5)
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