PLUMSTED — Construction is under way to provide downtown New Egypt with its third public parking lot on Main Street. Thirty additional parking spaces are expected to be available in early March, according to Mayor Ron Dancer.
The Plumsted Township Committee awarded a contract to the lowest of six bidders, Marlin Construction, in the amount of $146,665. The committee obtained funding from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Downtown Business Improvement Zone fund to pay for the new parking lot, the mayor said.
When completed in March, the new 30- car parking lot will have entrances and exits from Main and Front streets. Additional amenities call for the installation of lighting, landscaping, benches, a bicycle rack, a Victorian-style clock and an American flag pole to create a park-like setting.
In other news, Dancer said Ocean County’s recent reconstruction project of the Route 539 and Route 528 intersection in Plumsted will remain in its present “interim phase” until the county completes the acquisition for additional land on the undeveloped and wooded northeast corner presently owned by the state’s Green Acres program.
Once the additional right-of-way land is acquired, the final phase of intersection improvements will commence with an extra lane being constructed on the northeast corner that presently has only the one lane.
The mayor reported that Plumsted’s Senior Outreach Services (SOS) Committee now has 27 members serving the needs of senior citizen residents with the appointments of Patricia Johnson, Marie Williams and Margaret Powell by the Township Committee.
Plumsted’s SOS offers transportation to senior citizen residents who need rides for medical appointments, to purchase groceries or other necessities. Call Senior Outreach Services at 609-758-2241, ext. 111, for appointments and more information about the new senior citizen meeting and activity room in the municipal building.
The SOS Committee’s office is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to noon for personal visits or calls to connect “people with programs.”
“Colonial and Victorian Christmas Traditions” is a free program that will be presented by historian and tea expert Judith Krall-Russo at the Plumsted branch of the Ocean County Library, 119 Evergreen Road, on Dec. 12 at 11 a.m.
Also scheduled at the library is a senior movie matinee on Dec. 17 at 1:30 p.m. featuring “Star Trek: The Future Begins.” For more information and reservations for these free events, call the library at 609-758- 7888.
Meet personally with the mayor at the library on the second Wednesday of each month 7-9 p.m. to discuss local concerns or state issues. Residents may call the library (609-758-7888) in advance to schedule a specific time.
The Plumsted Township Committee will meet on Jan. 5 at 6:30 p.m.