Snow! Mantoloking had a lot of snow, thus the February 18th Council Meeting was postponed a week.

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Mayor Dunbar noted if residents are concerned about precautions to take re terrorism and bioterrorism, log onto www.redcross.org for information. The town has not received any formal notification from the State Emergency Management Council.

Is there any way to make Council meetings like New England town meetings, poses Runnie Colie. Instead of public comments at the beginning of each meeting, would Council allow residents to remark during a meeting? . . .Walter Bray praised the snowplowing after last week‚s blizzard. Also, what is being done to make the NW corner of Lyman and Ocean, and the corner at Barnegat and Herbert easier to navigate. It is difficult to see around the bushes and fences to safely turn onto the highway. Those are not the only problem corners in Mantoloking.

Mayor Dunbar opened the meeting a little after 8 pm. Councilman Nebel was excused. The Mayor congratulated Bill Heckman who tirelessly plowed for 24 hours (almost) straight, and Sgt. Bob Faucher who took over from him until the streets were passable.

The Police Department reported 200 incidents during January which included everything from alarms, open doors/windows, suspicious persons, water leaks and accidents to building checks and roadkill removal.

Superintendent Heckman found the beach stairs gone at the 1085 Ocean Avenue beach access and he closed and barricaded same. The railing was damaged at the Newman Street beach access. And he continues to work at the new Borough garage.

The Fire Company responded to 18 incidents, had four drills and one meeting. There were two structure fires, one in Point Beach and one in Bay Head, ten alarm activations, a transformer fire, an ice rescue drill in the north lagoon, three water leaks, an odor of smoke and an electrical hazard. Deputy Fire Chief Gilman dug out lots of fire hydrants and asked able-bodied residents to help, if there is future snow.

Construction Official Wardell issued seven new building permits and three updates mostly for alterations, siding, a room addition and a demolition.

Council passed bills payment of $1,194,209, which included over $900,000 for quarterly taxes to the county.

Because the meeting was postponed, the two ordinances passed by title only in January, had to be re-advertised, and the public hearing will be in March.

In new business, 18 resolutions and two Ordinances were passed by title only. The resolutions passed are: Transfer budget appropriations within the 2002 Municipal Budget; approve the 2003 Emergency Temporary Budget Appropriations; approve self-examination of the 2003 Budget; introduce the 2003 Municipal Budget; amend the 2003 Salary Resolution to compensate the Chief of Police; approve the contract for beach lobbying services; and, approve the contract for state construction reporting software and support services.

Approval of the contract for ordinance codification services was passed. This allows for all ordinances of the Borough to be placed in one book to be available in hard copies, and on the internet, the Borough website. www.mantoloking.org.

And more resolutions were passed: Approve the contract for supply and installation of Borough-owned public telephone; approve the renewal application for exemption from the requirement to appoint a Principal Public Works Manager; approve a revised 2003 Emergency Management Council Roster; approve the return of unused escrow funds to Gilson/Barber; approve the increase of the cost of beach badges (to $10 a season); approve to exempt Borough employees and volunteer Fire Company members from paying for beach badges; approve Payment No. 2 on Downer Avenue roadway improvements to C. J. Hesse; approve advertising the sale of a used police vehicle; approve to support bipartisan auto insurance legislation which directs New Jersey toward a more competitive market with increased capacity.

And approve a Special Council meeting on Monday, March 24th for the public hearing of the 2003 Municipal Budget. CFO Roger Pribush said the Municipal Tax Rate will be $.199; it was $.193 last year. And he also congratulated Councilman Gillingham on his initiating effort for the Budget.

Ordinance #454, to consider amending Salary Ordinance #439 and #449 to include Deputy Fire Official and Police recruit trainees, and Ordinance # 455, to consider amending the Land Use Ordinance, were passed by title only.

Mayor Dunbar stated the new Mantoloking Bridge will probably start in October, 2003. The Borough will have Historic District signs placed on Route 35 north and south of Herbert Street and on the east and west sides of the new bridge. The signs will be cast aluminum 26” high by 36” wide on octagonal mounting posts, 7 to 10 feet long, made of reinforced concrete.

Councilman Jones reported not much dune damage from the storm, but there is little berm. At Lyman, scarping is 10-15‚ high, 20-40 houses north and south. Corrective action should be done when sand comes back. Beach stairways in the center of town should be watched.

Councilman Husted said monies for the preliminary engineering renourishment program have been approved. He will attend a meeting in Washington this week.

Council went into closed session.

Next regular meeting: Monday, March 17th at 8:00 pm. A special meeting for the public hearing of the 2003 Municipal Budget, Monday, March 24th at 8:00 pm.

Mayor’s Office Hours: Fridays 10:00 to Noon