Library plaza kiosk stalled by supply chain woes as residents press council on lacrosse-ball safety
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The council adopted a proclamation supporting New Jersey's Distracted Driving Crackdown, running April 1–30, 2022, citing state data that distracted driving contributed to 49% of New Jersey's 2019 motor vehicle crashes. Friends of the Library president Gordon Levit gave the council an update during public comment: a library shredding day was set for June 18 with a truck and high school parking lot secured, a "Selected Shorts" literary event with Symphony Space was booked for the Women's Club on October 16, and new library director Tina Marie Dudy was introduced — but Levit reported the long-planned library plaza kiosk and outdoor locker installation remained delayed by supply-chain shortages and design complications with an alternative materials source.
Resident Raymond Donnelly raised eight items, most notably urging the borough to install a safety net or backstop behind the lacrosse field at Carteret Park's Borrows Field, arguing that a lacrosse ball thrown at 70–90 mph could seriously injure a young child playing nearby, and noting the town already protects homes on Lorraine Street with a similar net for baseball. He also pressed for updates on a missing 20 mph speed sign on Hillside Avenue and a long-requested flashing pedestrian signal at Forest and Bay Avenues. On the Hillside Avenue sign, the borough's traffic engineer determined it could not legally be reinstalled without a new traffic study, since state default speed for local roads is 25 mph, and recommended the 20 mph designation simply be removed from the books. On the Forest and Bay signal — located on a county road — officials said the process of a traffic study, design, and county submittal and approval would take roughly a year. A separate resident from Master Street raised a crossing-guard staffing concern, saying a post near the high school went unmanned during a Friday early-dismissal while construction trucks were active nearby.
The council adopted routine payroll authorization (Resolution 64-22), gave final adoption to Ordinance 1761 renewing the borough's energy aggregation program, and appointed Peter Coran to a Class A seat on the Historic Preservation Commission (Resolution 65-22) to fill a vacancy through 2023. Public Works reported LED stop signs and bars newly installed at the Lincoln and Douglas four-way stop, graffiti removal at Carteret Park, and that road paving on Lincoln Street and Woodland Avenue was expected to resume around April 4, while the police pistol range ventilation project was reported as 99% complete.
What to watch
- Library plaza kiosk and locker installation remains delayed pending supply-chain and design resolution.
- Lacrosse backstop net request at Carteret Park/Borrows Field left unresolved.
- Forest and Bay Avenues flashing pedestrian signal expected to take about a year (study, design, county approval, installation).
- Road paving on Lincoln Street/Woodland Avenue expected to resume around April 4, 2022.