BASEMENT WATERPROOFING IN Freehold borough

5 minute read

It was an incredible time in Jersey Shore basketball history, when future NBA players John Crotty of CBA, Tim Perry of Freehold Borough and Alex Blackwell of Toms River North were running the hardwood locally from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s.

And it was an especially vibrant period in Ocean County, where legends including Lacey’s Chris Fleming and Central’s Jermaine Clay - each with over 2,200 career points - and Lakewood’s Randy Holmes pushed the game to new heights.

“I had to guard Chris Fleming when I was a freshman and I remember that was before the three-point line and he was hitting three pointers back then,” said Manchester High School Principal Dennis Adams, a multi-sport star for the Hawks who helped write that glorious chapter in area hoops lore.

“My kids just think I’m an old dad. I mean, they know what I’m talking about a little bit, but they don’t have a sense of how competitive it was and how good guys were back then.”

The “kids” Adams is referring to include his daughter, Destiny, a sophomore guard at North Carolina, and son, Darius, a sophomore guard at Manasquan High School who has already been offered by Rutgers and Seton Hall.

In fact, Darius Adams is part of a Shore basketball renaissance also pushed along by the Ranney duo of Bryan Antoine, the Shore’s all-time leading scorer with 2,514 points, and Scottie Lewis, drafted in the second round by the Charlotte Hornets; and Manasquan’s Ben Roy, who scored 31 points in the 2020 Shore Conference final as a sophomore.

As a freshman last season, Adams scored 26 points in a Shore Conference Tournmanet semifinal win over Red Bank Catholic and finished the season averaging 14.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.

Beginning with Thursday night’s season-opener, when non-public power Patrick School visits Manasquan, Adams and his teammates look to return the program to the SCT final for the fourth straight time, to go with a fourth straight NJSIAA sectional championship.

“First of all, Darius is my nephew. Not a lot of people know that. So we’re family,” Manasquan head coach Andrew Bilodeau said. “I would say it’s been exactly what anyone really close to him expected from Darius. He’s 365 basketball, like a lot of kids that reach that level of success. He’s been blessed. He knows it. But he has earned it.

“Academically, basketball-wise he’s committed. He has dreams, he has goals, but they’re not just this flirtation with something that might be cool. He’s a worker.”

Stock rising

The last year has been a whirlwind for Darius Adams, with the 6-3 combo guard’s recruiting having blown up. The four-star prospect’s gotten a host of other offers including from St. John’s and Syracuse. He’s even visited North Carolina, on both a visit and to see his sister play.

“The pressure was a little bit difficult as a freshman. There was a lot happening,” he said. “But I feel like I’m ready for that now and my teammates have been great supporting me.”

And if things progress like everyone within the program hopes it will, there figure to be a lot more big-time offers to come.

“I think it will blow up more as more schools around the country see him. Because right now he’s still a little bit underrated nationally because he is still very young and a lot of people haven’t seen him yet, but that will change as the process continues,” said long-time New Jersey recruiting analyst Jay Gomes, the founder of NJHoops,com.

“He plays for one of the top AAU team in the country and he had a good summer, too. But what happens at that age is a lot of the coaches aren’t looking at young kids yet. That’s why he hasn’t blown up with a lot of the big schools nationally he’ll get in another year or two. He has all the tools you need to be a big-time player. He shoots it very well, he’s got a quick release, he’s got range, he’s smooth, he handles the ball well, he sees the floor, too.”

There were plenty of moments that stood out from his first season of high school basketball. Like the 24-point, seven-rebound performance in a 50-48 win at Union Catholic, or the 18 points he scored in a season-ending loss in the Group 2 semifinals against Woodrow Wilson.

“He took a big leap as he started his freshman year he had made a big turn in his skill level,” Dennis Adams said. “It just kind of took off from there, He has a very, very high work ethic and so he really wants to be good, and it showed in his freshman year.

“I did coach him until eighth grade. Going back to that game at RBC, I didn’t know how he was going to be able to handle the pressure and he handled it well. I think what helped him growing up was that he always played a couple grades up. So when he was in third grade he was playing with fifth graders, and when he was in fifth grade he was playing with seventh graders. They were older and more physical, but he would go in there and he would battle and I think that helped him along the way.”

Championship contender

While Adams is the focal point, Manasquan is anything but a one-man-band.

“Darius is very fortunate that he has some good, tough experienced guys with him. There are some Division 1 players on this team,” Bilodeau said. “He’s surrounded by some big-time players.”

Returning from the team that lost to Marlboro in the Shore Conference Tournament final are junior point guard Ryan Frauenheim, who scored 19 points and dished out seven assists in their Central Group 2 final win over Robbinsville, and averaged 9.8 points and four assists.

Sophomore guard Griffin Linstra and 6-7 junior forward Alex Konov return after starting last season.

“We started two freshman and two sophomores (last year). Which is unheard of,” Bilodeau said.

“Two sophomores, two juniors sounds like a really young team. Our other guys, Quinn Peters and Jack Dettlinger and Mike Flanagan, are relatively inexperienced even though they are seniors.”

What hasn’t changed is the challenging schedule Manasquan will use to get ready for tournament play, with this year’s lineup featuring a who’s-who of the state’s best teams, including a Dec. 23 showdown with Roselle Catholic, considered by many to be the No. 1 team in the country.

“We’ve always tried to get the best teams we can get schedule-wise. We’re not afraid to get beat,” Bilodeau said. “Let’s just get ready for February and March. I think the schedule this year is as good as it’s ever been.

“We’re fortunate teams will play us. We’re just a little public school that’s had a lot of good kids and some good fortune.”

FREEHOLD BOROUGH – Parking in Downtown Freehold will soon cost more as officials move forward with a plan to charge motorists in some local lots and on several busy streets.

Borough officials recently invited firms to submit bids to operate a new paid parking system aimed at freeing up parking spots more often and raising some revenue.

“There is not enough available parking for these businesses,” Freehold Borough Business Administrator Steve Gallo said about the effect on downtown merchants. “Parking is a big issue and this has been talked about for a long time.”

Friday is the deadline for firms to bid on the contract that would likely include metered parking areas on several streets for the first time and new required payments for the borough’s three downtown lots.

“It is to manage the parking assets and make sure there is turnover and that people do not park in a spot for 12 hours,” Gallo said. “There are issues with lot maintenance and we could use a revenue source.”

Gallo offered no estimates on increased revenue from the new fees, which are expected to affect at least 500 currently free spaces, according to Downtown Freehold, the local merchants group.

Downtown shoppers and merchants had mixed reactions to the plan.

“It might be good because you can’t find parking, especially for dinner,” said Danielle Levy of Manasquan, who spoke as she ate breakfast at a Freehold Borough sidewalk cafe. “If you have to look for parking, I welcome it if it makes my life easier.”

But Gina Jackson of Howell, who said she visits the borough often, disagreed: “It would be terrible. They should not charge. Things are too expensive now, if you charge to park that is more.”

Ron Haddad, owner of Cafe360 on Main Street, said new fees are not a surprise and may prove to be positive, but with some drawbacks.

“It will be an issue for some people who may stop coming to town,” he said. “There are already times when a lot of customers get tickets. Things are getting expensive for people.”

For Louis Major, owner of Brooklyn Bagel and Deli, located just off Main Street, the move was overdue.

“I think the restaurant customers will be under pressure. But you would have a positive benefit of more turnover, that is a big, major benefit,” he said., “It might draw in a higher end crowd.”

Jeffrey Friedman, Downtown Freehold executive director, said his organization has “long supported the implementation of a user pay parking plan that will fund parking lot maintenance/ improvements going forward. If we all agree that the public parking lots must be maintained and improved then we have two choices, either the taxpayers of Freehold Borough pay for the parking lot maintenance and improvements, or the users of the parking lots pay for it.”

He pointed out that at least 1,000 other borough parking spots are expected to remain free of charge, although most still have time restrictions that could lead to fines if violated.

“We hope the plan will encourage more people to use the free parking around the Hall of Records and on Lafayette Place,” he said. “And therefore reduce the congestion in the Market Yard and McGackin lots."

Mayor Kevin Kane did not respond to requests for comment. But Council Member Annette Jordan, who is liaison to the merchants, welcomed the move.

“Because of the growth of our downtown and the fantastic restaurants we have, we have so many people coming to town we have a parking management problem,” Jordan said. “This will manage it so that the core area will be paid parking.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of three books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at [email protected] and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp

FREEHOLD BOROUGH – Court Street School is back in local hands.

Ownership of the once all-black elementary school that dates back to 1915 was formally transferred from Monmouth County to Freehold Borough, and at no cost.

The Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on Aug. 11 to return the historic site back to the borough, which plans to continue using it as an educational community center.

“The Court Street School Community Education Foundation will continue to operate the facility as before, but now the borough will be able to take care of the routine maintenance associated with the building and grounds,” Mayor Kevin Kane said via email. “This allows the foundation to concentrate on community and educational programs needed to preserve the history and legacy of the school, instead of worrying about the costs involved in maintaining the facility."

He called it an “historic and valuable community asset.”

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Borough Administrator Stephen Gallo said the new maintenance costs will be “minimal,” but offered no specific estimates.

“We do not expect the acquisition to have a significant financial impact,” Gallo said via email. “We need to transfer utility bills and insurance to the borough’s accounts. We had an engineer inspect the facility and found it to be in very good shape. (The Department of Public Works) will integrate any maintenance needs into our current staff. The cost to light and heat the premises will be minimal.”

Monmouth County commissioners marked the occasion by presenting Kane, Court Street School Foundation board members and their president emeritus, Lillie Ham Hendry, with a ceremonial key to the building.

“The Court Street School Education Community Center has incredible historical significance and was declared an official historical site in 1995 and the Board of Commissioners is honored to transfer ownership to Freehold Borough at no cost,” said Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone. “We look forward to seeing the Court Street School grow through their educational programming, community awareness campaigns, and youth engagement to connect with the community in positive ways.”

Dubbed the “university on the hill,” the historic site was where Black children from Freehold and surrounding areas were taught through eighth grade between 1915 and 1948.

"Even though it was segregated, you were proud to go there," Norma Lewis Randolph, 81, one of the last students to graduate from the school before it integrated, said in 2015. "You were deprived of all sorts of things, but you were so educated."

Textbooks were handed down from neighboring white-only schools, some with students’ names still scribbled inside. Multiple grades shared a classroom; teachers taught music in the hallways. And, during recess, the older girls taught the younger ones how to cornrow their hair and decorate it with twigs and acorns.

The red-bricked schoolhouse between Court Street and Avenue A has remained open for after-school programs, summer camp and other community services, but hasn't served as a school since 1974.

In the early history of the school, Black residents were not allowed to attend white schools, live in certain neighborhoods or own businesses. Movie theaters, fairs and beaches, too, remained segregated.

Court Street School first opened in 1913, down the hill from its current location. It was a small, one-story wooden building on Avenue A and served Black students in grades one through eight. The Freehold Borough Board of Education formalized the school in 1915 as it continued educating children of Black migrants.

The student population soon outgrew the original building. In 1919, the department of education built the current structure, just up the hill from the old building. Kindergarten was also added to the school.

The Great Migration, the relocation of Blacks from the rural South to take advantage of burgeoning industrial jobs in the North, only boosted enrollment, historians said. Long-standing Black families in the area combined with new waves of African Americans, heightened the need for Court Street School.

At the time, there were as many as 12 segregated elementary and middle schools for Black children in Monmouth County, but Court Street School was the only one in the western part of the county.

The two-classroom school then grew to four classrooms, with two or three grades to a room.

During World War II, the school was used as an air raid shelter and ration station. It integrated in the early 1950s, serving Black and white students through the third grade.

Veterans from World War II were coming home and pushing for better and more integrated communities, historians said.

Court Street School was closed in the 1970s. It was no longer needed after new schools were built in the area. It was used as a probation office by the courts and then remained unused until a group of alumni advocated preserving the school.

The building was named an historical site in 1995. By then, the Court Street School Education Center Inc. was formed to offer community programs in the school. The nonprofit received more than $800,000 from the New Jersey Historic Trust and the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders to restore the facility.

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of three books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at [email protected] and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(22/P045) TRENTON – The Department of Environmental Protection is awarding $9.95 million in grants to local government agencies, nonprofit groups, universities, and others to fund projects that will improve water quality and reduce the impacts of nonpoint source pollution from stormwater on publicly accessible lakes throughout New Jersey, Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette announced today.

More than $8 million of the grants will fund projects on lakes in or next to overburdened communities in New Jersey, resulting in improved water quality and increased recreational opportunities for residents of these communities.

“These grants will help a diverse group of DEP partners implement projects that will reduce the harmful effects of stormwater, nonpoint source pollution and Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) that will only worsen due to the impacts of climate change,” said Commissioner LaTourette. “On behalf of the Murphy Administration, we are excited to facilitate these projects in various overburdened communities to meet Department environmental justice and statewide water quality goals and objectives.”

Grant funds may be used to improve lake water quality, control nutrient levels to prevent future harmful algal blooms, and to enhance, improve, or protect lake-associated conservation and recreation uses. The funding stems from a $10 million federal American Rescue Plan Act award to New Jersey that was appropriated by the state Legislature for the management and maintenance of lakes for recreation and conservation purposes.

The award recipients and amounts are:

Avon-by-the-Sea (Monmouth County): $490,768 This project will implement the second phase of the Sylvan Lake Living Shoreline Project, a natural solution-based project designed to mitigate nonpoint source pollution impacting the waterway, a coastal lake on the border of Avon and Bradley Beach.

Bay Head (Ocean County): $99,900 The goal of this project is biochar installation and evaluation of its potential for nitrogen and phosphorus removal in Twilight Lake. The project aims to document the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen removed from biochar, a charcoal-like material that can filter out water impurities, during six-month periods.

Burlington (Burlington County): $95,000 The community will create a Lake Characterization Plan and a future Lake Watershed Protection Plan, both of which will identify water quality preservation measures to support stormwater detention/filtration and expanded recreational activities.

Camden County Soil Conservation District: $153,720 Project partners, led by the Camden County Soil Conservation District, propose developing an EPA Watershed Implementation Plan for the Cooper River Lake Watershed that will also address climate change impacts.

Deal Lake Commission: $890,400 Green infrastructure Best Management Practices and other DEP-approved stormwater management devices will be used to reduce nonpoint source pollutant loading and improve lake water quality. A preliminarily designed stormwater quality improvement plan developed with Ocean Township, Monmouth County and Seaview Square Mall also will be implemented.

Florham Park (Morris County): $176,900 This project involves designing, installing and monitoring a system to reduce phosphorus concentrations, decrease HABs and shift to a healthier plankton assemblage that serves as the base of the aquatic food web.

Greenwood Lake Commission: $1 million Working with Princeton Hydro, Montclair State University and Northern Lights, this project will conduct a comprehensive stormwater/nonpoint source management inventory and perform extensive water quality and HAB monitoring. The partners also aim to remove sediment, invasive plants, and debris via hydro-raking, provide nutrient inactivation in Belcher Creek with ferric sulfate and develop a long-term plan to improve Belcher Creek’s water quality and natural functions.

Hillsborough (Somerset County): $246,000 Reducing pollutant loads to Fox Chase Pond will stabilize the pond's eroding shoreline, restore a vegetative buffer and educate the public about the importance of stormwater management and green infrastructure.

Lake Hopatcong Commission: $1 million

This project will focus on reducing phosphorus loading to minimize the magnitude, duration and occurrence of HABs. It involves working with four surrounding municipalities (Jefferson Township, Roxbury, Hopatcong and Mount Arlington) to install and remove biochar sleeves in two stormwater ponds and in a series of stormwater structures, manufactured treatment devices, and inlets into Lake Hopatcong. The project will also include the removal of sediment that has accumulated immediately in front of or adjacent to stormwater pipes or outfalls that discharge directly into the lake.

Lake Musconetcong Regional Planning Board: $572,000 The project will fund the continued operation of a mechanical weed harvester on the lake. Since 2010, the program has removed more than 21.9 million pounds of weeds, according to the applicant, which has resulted in the removal of almost 4,000 pounds of phosphorus from the waterbody.

Lawrence Township (Mercer County): $316,800 A multilayer approach will be used to improve Colonial Lake water quality through hydro-raking, removing impervious surfaces (an asphalt parking lot) and installing a living shoreline.

Moorestown Township (Burlington County): $113,500 An in-lake vegetation removal management project will be implemented in Strawbridge Lake and Pennsauken Creek (North Branch) to remove up to 15 acres of the overabundant noxious species Spatterdock from the lake.

Morris County Park Commission: $722,037.75 Green stormwater infrastructure such as permeable pavement systems will be used to intercept on-site runoff, allowing for structured parking areas while reducing stormwater nutrient loads entering Lake Hopatcong.

Mount Arlington (Morris County): $36,100 Funds will be used to construct five rain gardens across the borough in critical runoff areas and measure the impact of the gardens and mitigation of stormwater runoff. Residents will be able to use a how-to guide on the borough’s website to learn how to plant their own rain garden and track the borough’s progress via social media.

New Jersey Institute of Technology: $788,235 The project will develop lake watershed-based restoration and protection plans by implementing green infrastructure projects at two watersheds using Green Engineered Mulch. An educational component will focus on teaching local high school students about green infrastructure designs and benefits.

New Jersey Water Supply Authority (NJWSA): $825,500 Three projects are planned:

Perth Amboy (Middlesex County): $200,000 Activities for this project primarily include the removal of the invasive plant, Phragmites, from areas surrounding Willow Pond as well as the implementation of measures to prevent regrowth. The project also includes algae control, water quality monitoring, replacement of goose deterrent strobe lights, removal of woody debris, installation of three new aerators, shoreline planting and public outreach activities.

Pinelands Preservation Alliance: $581,500 The project calls for installing 80 green stormwater infrastructure projects surrounding 10 public lakes, five in the Highlands and five in the Pinelands. Converting 130,000 square feet of drainage area to green stormwater infrastructure will improve the functionality of the lakes, which suffer from pollutant overloading and limit recreational uses.

Point Pleasant Beach (Ocean County): $99,300 The borough will develop a Lake/Watershed Plan that integrates standard U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criteria to provide a roadmap to water quality improvement.

South Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council: $243,122 This project will continue implementation of a Watershed Protection and Restoration Plan for the Manalapan Brook Watershed.

South Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council: $102,426 The grant will follow an EPA Watershed Implementation Plan for Smithville Lake Watershed to address water quality impairments.

Spring Lake (Monmouth County): $850,000 Funds will be used to collect pre-project site-specific survey/topographic data, engineering sizing, hydrologic modeling and baseline ecological data. The borough also would perform required lake dredging and safe disposal of dredged material.

Swartswood Lakes and Watershed Association: $361,377 Weed hydro-raking and harvesting will be conducted to reduce nutrients in the lake, improve lake water circulation, reduce lake water temperatures in weeded areas, enhance recreational value and improve fisheries.

Follow Commissioner LaTourette on Twitter and Instagram @shawnlatur and follow the DEP on Twitter @NewJerseyDEP, Facebook @newjerseydep, Instagram @nj.dep and LinkedIn @newjerseydep Photos: Page 1 / John Brennan / FOAP via Getty Images Page 2 / Courtesy Freehold Soil Conservation District Page 3 / Courtesy Rutgers University Page 5 / Courtesy Rutgers University

(FREEHOLD, NJ) -- The Freehold Borough Pitch Event will take place on September 29, 2022, from 6:00pm - 9:00pm at the Court Street School Education Community Center, located at 140 Court Street, Freehold, NJ. This event, similar to "Shark Tank," focuses on the pitch to help launch and grow local businesses and is a perfect way to get valuable advice and mentoring.

The public is invited to share the excitement as the most promising companies will be invited to pitch before a panel of investors and lenders to compete for cash and services essential to small business owners. No experience is necessary, but registration is required.

This community event kicks off the Freehold Borough Innovative Accelerator Program, where local entrepreneurs and startup businesses are invited to pitch their business ideas to an audience and panel of judges.

The top 10 finalists from the Freehold Borough Pitch Event will be accepted into an accelerator cohort.

The participants will engage in a 15-week program. The program will require each to complete the Entrepreneurship Certification Program and Digital Blueprint Certificate programs and participate in bimonthly mentorship forums and specialty events.

Interested participants can start by submitting a brief summary of their business idea. Or just come to check out the hottest innovative ideas on the Jersey shore and join the fun rooting for your favorite presenter!

There is no fee for the pitch event. Participants must be Freehold town residents and may present in Spanish or English.

The Freehold Borough Pitch Event is also dedicated to giving entrepreneurs from Minority groups or diverse backgrounds the opportunity to get sponsorship and opportunity. Applicants from these underrepresented communities will be prioritized.