THE BRICK
Vol. 19 - No. 7
In This Week’s Edition
TIMES
FOR BREAKING NEWS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper For Brick and Lakewood Townships
Plan Renewed To Help Small Businesses
Ready For The Beach? So Are The Lifeguards Government Page 7.
Letters Page 8.
Community News! Don’t miss what’s happening in your town.
Pages 9-11.
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16.
Dear Pharmacist Page 17.
Inside The Law Page 18.
Classifieds Page 21.
Business Directory Page 22.
Fun Page Page 24.
—Photo by Judy Smestad-Nunn At Brick Beach I, Mobi-mats were installed to make the entrances to the beach safer for beachgoers and for the environment. By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK – Township beaches are f ully staffed with lifeguards and badge checkers, and they’re wider than ever, due to the Army
Cor ps of Engineers Beach Replenishment project, and with some l o n g- r a n g e we a t h er forecasts calling for a hotter summer than usual, the Jersey
shore could see record crowds. Lifeg uard t r youts were held on May 13, and 26 applicants did their best to run a mile on the beach in under
10 minutes, and swim 250 yards in 58 degree bay water, said Director of Recreation Dan Santaniello. By July 4, lifeguards must be (Beach - See Page 4)
Forsythe Refuge Celebrates 80 Years Of Wildlife Conservation
By Kimberly Bosco Eighty years ago it was known as the Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge. Today we know it as the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, spanning 50 miles along the southern New Jersey coast. The Forsythe Refuge stretches across 14 municipalities, from Galloway Township in Atlantic County to Brick Township in Ocean
| June 22, 2019
County, protecting more than 47,000 acres of tidal wetland and shallow bay habitat for migratory water birds. This year, Forsythe Refuge is celebrating its 80th year of conservation efforts. In 1984, the Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge and the Barnegat National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1939 and 1967 respectively, combined to create (Wildlife - See Page 4)
By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK – The governing body voted to renew an ordinance that gives “Mom and Pop” business owners a break by waiving permitting and inspection fees for renting storefronts that have been empty for a year or more and measure 5,000 square feet or less. Some 21 small businesses have taken advantage of “The Storefront Revitalization Program,” that first introduced in 2015, said Mayor John G. Ducey during the June 11 council meeting. “This is a program that has been working very well and filling all of the empty storefronts we used to have around town,” he said. “It encourages mom and pop start-up businesses to go into those empty spots rather than building new or going into bigger spots.” Ducey said the program has been well received around the state, with other municipalities asking the mayor how to go about doing it. “Our township went through all the heavy work of talking to the DCA [Department of Community Affairs] into allowing us to do this program; we were the first ones in the state,” he said. According to township records, there were $35,022 in waived fees since the program began. By way of comparison, the total collected fees from 2017 to the present day is $6,784,885. Therefore, the waived fees make up about one half of a percentage of the total fees collected. The governing body voted 6-1 in favor of the ordinance with lone Republican Jim Fozman voting against it. Fozman said that with the recent municipal tax hike of just under a penny of $100 of assessed property value, it doesn’t make sense for the township to waive the fees. “We did this for two years, I thought it was great to get a jump on the businesses. We had a tax increase this year when we could have had a zero rate, but here we are giving away taxpayer money to start a business in town for somebody else,” Fozman said. Ducey said there aren’t that many qualifying storefronts left. “We filled them all,” he said, but “at the same time we want to continue to incentivize” those who are considering neighboring (Businesses - See Page 23)
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