West Long Branch Council briefs WLB calls vandalism ‘silly’ and ‘senseless’

By Neil Schulman
West Long Branch — Officials ask anyone who has information on the repeated vandalism of the walls by Franklin Lake to report it.
Someone has been repeatedly disassembling the blocks every time the public works department repairs it.

Officials said that there seems to be no reason for this destruction.

“This is senseless. Senseless,” Mayor Janet Tucci said at the June 15 Borough Council meeting.

Borough Attorney Greg Baxter asked anyone with any information to tell the police department.
“This is silly. We fix the thing, they destroy it. Fix the thing, destroy it,” he said.

Code violation issues
The borough is trying to figure out ways to address code violations coming from rental properties, which range from noisy parties to putting out garbage cans days before pickup.
Officials said that there have been an increasing number of complaints, mainly pertaining to houses rented to college students or summer rentals.

Borough Attorney Greg Baxter said they can try to make the laws tougher, but there are legal limits.
Currently, violating West Long Branch’s property maintenance code carries a maximum fine of $2,000. Violating the zoning code carries a maximum $500 fine. Baxter said they may want to raise the latter so the two penalties are identical.

Neither code has a minimum fine for violations, but state law says that if that’s included, it can not be higher than $100.

“That’s not helpful,” Baxter said.

He also said that the borough can’t require special bonds or other financial securities for places rented out to college students.

Mayor Janet Tucci said she would like to consult the prosecutor and see if he has any suggestions for dealing with the situation.

Bulk pickup changing?
In a related note, the borough is thinking of tightening its bulk pickup rules. Some places are putting out much more trash than the department can easily handle.
“We had one house that put out 15 mattresses on one day,” Borough Clerk Lori Cole said.

Tucci said that some the problem comes from the above mentioned rental properties, where the tenants throw out many large items when they leave.