RED BANK – The old adage “One man’s trash is anotherman’s treasure”may soon ring true in Red Bank.
TheBoroughCouncil passed a resolution at the Jan. 28 meeting to begin making plans for a borough-wide yard sale.
According to the measure, there were numerous requests from borough residents to have the yard sale, and it would be seen as a “beneficial community building event” by the mayor and council.
“I keep reading about how we want to bring this community together but we’re all afraid to do something about it.We have so many events in this town that are not for the residents.We have sidewalk sales for people to come and visit Red Bank.We have a jazz festival for people to come and visit Red Bank. We don’t have anything, in my opinion, that is for the residents to get to know one another, to enjoy their sense of community,” saidAudrey Oldoerp, South Street.
Mayor Pasquale Menna called on Oldoerp to speak about the borough-wide yard sale during the workshop portion of the meeting because she was instrumental in bringing the project before council.
Oldoerp said the yard sale could bemodeled after those that are held in other area towns like Belmar, Oceanport and Atlantic Highlands.
“I’mfairly certain that theRedBank residents can be trusted to do something that other townships have been able to do,” said Oldoerp.
Councilman Michael R. DuPont, who is Oldoerp’s neighbor, said that there was a yard sale on his street in the past and everything went smoothly.
“We had a South Street…yard sale last summer and there weren’t any complaints. I think that this is a good opportunity for the community to get together. It was a wonderful opportunity for our little area…to get to know one another,” said DuPont.
Councilwoman Sharon Lee, who is the council liaison to the Public Works Department, brought in Belmar’s bulk item ordinance, which designates fees for participants to purchase stickers for certain sale items.
“Itwould stop any landlords fromdumping. It would stop people coming fromout of the community and dumping. The stickers would be assigned to the specific house, and that is where the collection person would have a list and pick up specific items from specific homes,” said Lee, addressing one of the concerns council members had, which was dealing with the bulk pickup.
Councilwoman Mary-Grace Cangemi, who is the council liaison to the Environmental Commission, also shared some concerns she had about the borough-wide yard sale. She said the cost of the bulk pickup could be very significant and that the solutions offered would only act as a partial answer.
Another concern she shared was about the health conditions, since there has been an ongoing bed bug problemin the borough.
“Anything made out of fabric is a potential carrier of vermin, and that’s a problem in town. We’ve been fighting this all over town, so I have grave concerns about people whowant to sell furniture or even clothing,” said Cangemi.
She added, “It’s something that we’ve been trying to discourage…not just in Red Bank but in some other municipalities. So I’mconcerned thatwemay be creating some problems that are going to be difficult to overcome.”
“I think thatwe shouldmove the resolution ahead. Come back with a plan … that plan can be accepted, it can be abbreviated, amended and decide what we are going to do. It could be a complete rejection in the end, but at leastwe’ve given the opportunity to study it,” said Councilman John P. Curley.
The resolution that the council unanimously passed at the meeting states that the Public Works Department and the Environmental Commission or a subcommittee of both groupswould take charge of the project and direct the plans, which would be later reviewed by the mayor and council.