By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr
Sea Bright – On Tuesday night, May 19, the borough held its virtual council meeting. The biggest topic of the night was the huge crowds expected to arrive this weekend for the Memorial Day holiday. Governor Murphy has opened the beaches as long as strict rules and requirements are followed.
Councilman Charles H. Rooney, said that Sea Bright is much different than other oceanfront communities. “We have big beautiful beaches and limited parking,” he said. The borough has their own public beach in the heart of the community as well as several private clubs that charge thousands of dollars to be a member. “I would like to see a path marked off in the center of the beach that would allow the police vehicles to travel without weaving in and out of people.” The borough attorney was authorized to contact Police Chief Brett M. Friedman to ask him to develop a plan to accommodate the vehicles on the beach.
The governor also wants municipalities to restrict the number of beach goers as well as parking. Sea Bright, which has 600 parking spaces for the public beach access, will reduce the parking by 15-20 percent. “We are going to get swamped this weekend as New York City has not opened their beaches and Sandy Hook will be reducing their numbers,” said Mayor Brian P. Kelly.
Sea Bright will not have a heavy handed police presence on the beach. Their focus will be in educating those who don’t social distance instead of enforcement. Rooney, along with Councilman Kevin Birdsall, stated that borough has never been in better shape and credited Shawn Thomas, deputy director of public works, for all his hard and tireless effort.
“We all have our own lives and family, and worry about them, but Brian Kelly has been doing an amazing job during this pandemic,” said Rooney.
“It’s easy when everyone works together,” said Kelly. He also thanked all council members, directors and managers for pulling together and keeping focused on the borough needs.
The agenda from the May 19 council meeting can be viewed at:
http://www.seabrightnj.org/sbnj/Administration/Minutes%20and%20Agendas/2020/Agendas/05-19-2020%20Regular%20Meeting%20-%20Revised.pdf?1589983237
Eatontown Memorial Student is 10,000th Child to Benefit from Free Vision Screening by New Jersey’s Eatontown Lions Club The Eatontown Lions Club began its sixth year of vision screening with a bang on Thursday, September 14, 2023. As a result of partnering with the Eatontown and Ocean Township School Districts the Lions club provided the 10,000th free vision screening. On Thursday in recognition as the 10,000th screening recipient, Ashton Vassor, an eighth-grade student at Eatontown’s Memorial School, was given a citation and gift card from the Lions Club. Ashton has been screened annually by the Lions since second grade. Also given a Lions Club Certificate was Memorial School Nurse Lucy Craig, one of the first Eatontown School District nurses to collaborate with the Lions when vision screening began in 2017. She was Ashton’s school nurse at Meadowbrook School when his vision was first screened. Working in conjunction with school nurses, vision screenings are done annually by the Eatontown Lions in September and October for students in Pre-K through 8th grade. “We really appreciate your help as well as the support of the Lions. Your work and partnership with us make a difference. The vision screening process as well as the resources the Lions provide to our students if a vision problem is discovered help our students to be in a better position to learn and succeed. Thank you.” said Scott T. McCue, Superintendent Eatontown Public Schools More than 12 million school-age children in the United States have some form of vision problem. Many vision problems run the risk of becoming permanent if not corrected by the time the eye reaches full maturity. Vision also plays an important role in education. According to educational experts, 80 percent of learning is visual. “Early screening leads to early detection, which helps ensure that children get the follow-up care they need,” said Club President Linda Butler. “We want to make sure that cor