Atlantic Hub News Briefs, Feb. 2

Rumson Garden Club, a member of the Garden Club of America, announced it will offer a new scholorship in memory of Catherine B. Gonska, a committed gardener and environmentalist.

The scholarship will be presented to a Two River area student who plans to attend an accredited college and has a demonstrated interest in any area of horticulture, landscape design or environmental studies, i.e., conservation, marine science or earth science, according to a press release.

The applicant is required to write an essay outlining his or her interests and accomplishments, which should include academic studies and extracurricular activities.

Essays should be mailed to Rumson Garden Club, Attn: Scholarship Chairman, P.O. Box 121, Rumson, NJ 07760 or emailed to Susan Olson at [email protected]. The deadline for applications is April 15. Additional information about the club may be found at www.rumsongardenclubnj.org

 

Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a nonprofit organization based in Highlands which focuses on improving the degraded water quality of the marine waters off the New Jersey-New York coast, will give a special lecture on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. at Bingham Hall in Rumson. The lecture will be free and open to the public.

Serial dumping of waste into local rivers and ocean waters in the 1970s and 1980s led to the formation of the Ocean Dumping Task Force in 1983, a group that included the Rumson Garden Club, which later became a founding member of Clean Ocean Action, according to a press release.

In her presentation, Zipf will highlight news about plastics reduction efforts that are underway, as well as the progress on improving water quality on the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers.

She will also talk about pending offshore wind proposals and how individuals can get involved in ongoing efforts to keep the Atlantic Ocean and all the waters in the New York-New Jersey watershed healthy for all to enjoy, according to the press release.

“Rumson Garden Club is a founding member of Clean Ocean Action’s coalition and is an essential partner in the success of ocean protection over the last 33 years,” Rumson Garden Club President Kathryne Singleton said. “We are so proud to have a part in their mission of educating the public as to the importance of cleaning up and protecting our ocean.”

For more information about the Rumson Garden Club, visit www.rumsongardenclubnj.org

 

The Borough Council in Eatontown has authorized the borough engineer to perform services as part of a project to convert a parcel at the former Fort Monmouth into a park.

On Jan. 26, council members voted to authorize T&M Associates, the borough’s engineering firm, to provide engineering services related to building demolition and soil erosion permitting in connection with the Nicodemus Park parcel at Fort Monmouth. T&M Associates will provide bid specifications for the work in an amount not to exceed $25,000, according to a resolution.

According to the resolution, Eatontown is under contract to purchase the Nicodemus Park parcel from the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) and will need engineering services in connection with the demolition of the existing buildings on the property upon closing.

The engineering services will be performed so the property may be converted to a public park after the borough purchases the parcel.

And, council members authorized contracts for professional services in Eatontown.

Through a resolution, Andrew Bayer of Pashman, Stein, Walter, Hayden received a contract as borough attorney; T&M Associates received a contract as borough engineer; Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri received contracts as prosecutor and labor attorney; Brown & Brown Benefit Advisors received a contract as health insurance broker; Robert Oliwa of Oliwa & Company received a contract as auditor; Archer & Greiner received a contract as bond counsel; and Chapman Environmental received a contract as engineer for special projects.

In addition, the council appointed James Carton, Mike Lynch, John Lane, Suan DeSimone and Ron Sage as alternate prosecutors for municipal court in 2022.

Finally, the council appointed Herman Redd as a member of the Eatontown Sewerage Authority for a term that will run from Feb. 1, 2022 through Jan. 31, 2027.