With a new year right around the corner, the Independent staff thought it would be fun to imagine what our coverage area might be like next year if we let our imagination run wild. All that thought led to the following unrealistic predictions for 2001.
Belford will never see a ferry. Instead, staunch ferry opponent Robert Riker will be found in the year 2001 sailing to Pier 11 in Manhattan with one passenger on board a Sunfish, margarita in hand. Then again, Riker may just say "The heck with it," down the margarita and sail on to Key West instead.
The Food Circus clown that sits on the Azzolina-owned Spirits Unlimited store property (fronting Route 35) will come to life, run away to a deserted island and build his own town center. This way, Azzolina’s dream of a town center will be realized and critics won’t have anything in their view to criticize.
Middletown Superintendent of Schools Jack DeTalvo was last seen lying underneath the temporary gymnasium dome praying for more expeditious construction at High School North when a monsoon hit and the dome collapsed. DeTalvo escaped just in time to lay the last brick at Thorne Middle School before it burst at its seams.
Hazlet will dedicate its new post office, which is complete with a drive-up window and indoor amusement park, and due to its new location between Costco’s and the Hazlet Multiplex Cinemas, provides ample parking.
GPU Energy will continue to shiver when it hears the names Hazlet, Holmdel and RAGE (Residents against Giant Electric).
Now that the power line has been scrapped, NJ Transit will build a new 10-story parking garage, complete with garage-to-station shuttle service, along its right of way between the Aberdeen-Matawan and Hazlet train stations.
Middletown train station commuters, meanwhile, will have their choice of satellite parking lots in Deal and Atlantic City.
The new Hazlet Democratic Township Committee majority will go out of its way to include the lone committee Republican in the tough decision-making process about how to shorten meetings from the current 10 minutes to five minutes.
Newly elected Holmdel Township Committeeman Larry Fink will ask that committee meetings now be held along Ramanessin Brook so that he can keep in touch with his roots on the Environmental Commission.
Holmdel Township Commit-tee meetings will end before midnight.
Holmdel Township Committeeman Terence Wall will open a flea market at a yet-to-be-announced site. Deputy Mayor Art Davey has promised to be a faithful customer.
The Holmdel Zoning Board will boycott 7-Eleven products.
The Matawan Borough Council will ask outgoing Councilman Jim Shea to show his dedication to the borough by holding his finger in a reported leak at the Lake Lefferts dam.
The all-GOP Matawan Borough Council will ask outgoing Democratic Councilwoman Laurie Zalepka to follow councilmen Joseph Penniplede and Jim Shea’s lead and switch parties.
The Matawan Police Department will get an opportunity at the end of 2001 to review a preliminary draft proposal for a police wing at the Broad Street Community Center. The council hopes to complete the work before the next millennium.
Members of the all-Democratic Aberdeen Township Council will break tradition and dissent from the majority at least once every six months.
Aberdeen resident Joseph McAleer will finally come around to agreeing with Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Superintendent Michael Klavon.
The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District will receive 40 percent of a proposed construction referendum cost from the state, and voters will finally approve the referendum after five tries.
Route 34 will be become a model of planning that went awry in the state of New Jersey.
The former Aberdeen Jamesway store will become an indoor satellite parking station for the Aberdeen-Matawan, Hazlet and Middletown train stations.
New Keyport Chamber of Commerce President Sid Becnel was last seen on Route 36 christening an abandoned boat The Cheerleader. Becnel then proceeded to sail the boat down the Route 36 corridor to Naval Weapons Station Earle where he offered to transport supplies in exchange for the Navy’s buying a few Chamber of Commerce raffle tickets.
Keyport Councilman John Merla was overheard saying he will treat the entire Borough Council to an Italian ice if they say "Republicans rule" 100 times and agree that the ferry should be berthed in Keyport.
Keyport ferry passengers will be be asked to stack their cars in the old municipal building instead of parking them on the waterfront.