The Borough of Highlands issued a “Catostrophic” storm warning urging all residents to leave down because of coming storm surge waves and winds over 85 mph.
“Failure to following these instructions puts your life in danger”
I didn’t make the Highlands council meeting last night as I was dining in Princeton with Poltical Animals star Sigourney Weaver.
Not really. Weaver was leaving the Blue Point Grill as my party was entering. And we had the same waitress. Still it was cool. Other than politicians and pundits this was my closest celebrity encounter since Bette Midler walked in on me in a Fort Lauderdale Airport mens room.
Political Animals is a fun watch.
Weaver plays a former first lady, Elaine Barrish, who ran for president, lost the Democratic primary, divorced her philandering husband and became Secretary of State for the president who beat her in the primary. In the most recent episode, Barrish tells the president that she is going to run against him again, but not before she councils him to do something more heroic than killing Bin Laden and her ex-husband ex-president punches out the vice president in the oval office.
While all of that high drama is going on, Barrish’s “bad son,” a gay piano player who was outed while growing up in the White House, is in the hospital recovering from a drug overdose and her “good son” is joining the mile high club with a reporter who buried the overdose story while the good son’s fiancee is smoking pot with Barrish’s mother.
Must see TV.
I heard the Highlands council did not vote to put the flood mitigation plan on the November ballot as a non-binding referendum and that Councilman Chris Francy did not deny that he kept the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers off his property when they wanted to study an alternate plan of flood mitigation. When asked about that during the public portion of the meeting, I’m told that Francy said, “that article on the Internet was not really an article, but a blogger’s opinion.”
Whatever. They’ve done the right thing so far. I hope the governing body doesn’t drop the issue now.
The political animals in the NJ GOP were crazier today than the TV show.
By early afternoon, Kyrillos issued a press releasestating that he doesn’t favor raising taxes. He wants to lower tax rates and close loopholes.
12th District GOP congressional candidate Eric Beck, the guy running against Rush Holt, issued two press releases. The first one was announcing that he disagrees with Kyrillos on taxes. The second one was announcing that Huffington Post and Politickernjpicked up the first one. Beck’s campaign manager, Chris Pordon, who got his start in politics working for Kryillos, has been breaking his back trying to get free media for Beck. He got some today, including this mention on MMM for which he’s been dogging me.
Anna Little has not issued a press release throwing Kyrillos under the bus. Michele Bachman endorsed Little and the Bayshore Tea Party is having a bake sale fundraiser for her. Really. What’s next, a car wash? No bikinis. Please.
In Bergen County, Republican County Executive Kathleen Donovan is suing the Republican controlled Freeholder Board to prevent them from dissolving the Bergen County Police.
Kyrillos announced that he will release three years of tax returns at a press conference tomorrow. Senator Bob Menendez responded that he will release five years of tax returns at a press conference next week.
Not a bad day for the Democrats given all the Republican self inflicted wounds.
Highlands resident Derek Gordon street kayaking after this afternoon's storm. Photo credit: Brian Cobb
The center of town, which is both residential and business, is at a lower elevation than the shore line. During a storm, water comes from the Sandy Hook Bay/Shrewsbury River and storm water comes rushing down to the below sea level downtown from “the hill,” the highest elevation on the east coast of the United States which includes parts of Highlands and the Monmouth Hills section of Middletown. During a big storm at high tide and a full moon, downtown Highlands looks like Venice without the charm and romance.
Councilman Chris Francy convinced the rest of the governing body to have T&M Associates, the borough’s engineers, design a flood mitigation system that includes new pumps and pipes to get the water out of town and back into the bay/river. The project is said to be “shovel ready” and will cost roughly $4 million dollars. The governing body is applying to FEMA to cover $2.2 million of the cost. Congressman Frank Pallone is on board to advocate for the project with FEMA. At a town hall meeting on Monday night, Francy, Pallone and Mayor Frank Nolan said that Highlands is currently number three on FEMA’s list of such projects in New Jersey but that only two will be approved. Pallone is working to get Highlands bumped up on the list and secure the funding. That might be good for Highlands and bad for a community along the Passaic River.
The governing body is set to vote on a resolution tonight that will put the project on the ballot in November as a non-binding referendum. The referendum would ask the voters consent to fund the entire project without FEMA money.
Anna Little, with good reason, has been taking credit for John Bennett’s election as Monmouth GOP Chairman. If not for Little endorsing her benefactor and encouraging the County Committee members who are also Tea Party activists to vote for Bennett, Christine Hanlon would be Chairwoman.
Little’s reward, whatever it is, will come sometime after she loses to Frank Pallone in November.
The biggest change that Bennett has made since taking over the helm of the Monmouth GOP six weeks ago is to start to make good on his campaign promise to raise the money necessary for county campaigns. He has informed the Monmouth GOP ticket of Freeholders John Curley and Serena DiMaso, as well as County Clerk Claire French, not to worry about rasing money for the fall campaign. He has instructed office holders not on the ballot this fall, including the legislative delegation and the sheriff, all of whom have campaigns next year, to suspend their fund raising activities effective August 1 so as not to compete with his efforts for the current campaign.
A “major infrastructure failure” at the Swimming River Water Treatment Plant in the Lincroft section of Middletown has shut the water off for 3,000 Holmdel residences and closed Brookdale Community College until further notice.
Holmdel-Hazlet Patch was the first to report the story, scooping the Asbury Park Press pay site by an hour.
A statement from New Jersey American Water Company that was emailed by the Borough of Tinton Falls to its residents and forwarded to MMM by a reader states that the failure includes the loss of two transmission mains leaving the plant and well as the raw water main coming into the plant. New Jersey American Water customers in Monmouth County may be experiencing low water pressure or no pressure at this time.
Photo credit: lostcreekquarnberg blog
Residents of Middletown, Holmdel, Aberdeen, Highlands, Seabright, Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Oceanport, Shrewsbury Township and Borough, Tinton Falls and Long Branch are requested to limit all non-essential water use while NJAW works to restore service.
Save water, shower with friends.
UPDATE 4:32
Middletown Township sent out an automated phone call at 4:30 to residents and businesses announcing that all outdoor water usage is restricted.
Fresh off her 2010 defeat at the hands of Congressman Frank Pallone, former Highlands Mayor Anna Little blamed the fact that she lost in her hometown by 55* votes on the lack of sophistication of her constituents and colleagues on the borough’s governing body.
Little told Politickernj her Highlands loss “was likely to involve some borough employees” who would could be effected by a layoff plan she had agreed to support. One month after the election, lame duck Little killed the layoff plan by voting with the Democrats on the governing body over the objections of her fellow Republicans.
“The council is not politically savvy,” Little said, “They were running too.”
“I think there’s some feeling that I left them behind, too,” she said. “I’m their mayor, and I’m off doing something else. (But they don’t understand), everything I do outside of Highlands will relate back to Highlands.”
Little was the only Republican on the ballot in Highlands who lost in 2010. Republican Frank Nolan was elected Mayor to replace Little. Shaun Golden was elected Sheriff. Rob Clifton and Tom Arnone were elected Freeholder. We’d give you their numbers in Highlands, but the County Clerk’s Office hasn’t gotten around to posting the official election results of 2010 and 2011 on their website.
* News reports at the time indicated that Little lost Highlands by 76 votes. When mail in and provisional ballots were counted the loss was by 55 votes.
Loud moans being heard throughout the Grand Tour neighborhood in Highlands lead to the rescue of four giant pet tortoises that would not have survived the coming winter in New Jersey’s climate, according to a report in The Asbury Park Press.
Richard Hines, 41, moved from North Carolina to Highlands in June, bringing his pets with him. Big Blackjack, a 575 pound native of the African archipelago had been Hines pet for 15 years. Three other tortoises ranging in size from 25 to 120 lbs were also rescued.
The Division of Fish and Wildlife filed charges of possession of an exotic species without a permit against Hines.
Welcome to New Jersey Mr. Hines. Hines’ wife Christina told NJ.com that the couple would not have moved here if they had known they couldn’t keep the tortoises which are valued between $2000 and $10,000 on the exotic pet market.
Monmouth SPCA Chief Buddy Amato told NJ.com that the aninmals were malnournished and had holes in their shells filled with fiber glass. He said they are desert animals that the Hines improperly kept in water.
Members of the Highlands Fire Department will be transporting a piece of the World Trade Center from JFK Airport to the World Trade Center site and then on to Highlands tomorrow, according to Councilwoman and former Fire Chief Rebecca Kane.
Kane said that the Port Authority approved the HFD’s application for a piece of the WTC to be permanently memorialized at their firehouse with a mural and lighting on June 27th.
The steel will arrive at Veteran’s Park in Highlands tomorrow, September 7, at approximately 6PM. Highlands will have a formal memorial service at the park on Sunday September 11 at 4:30PM.
